Two Columbia Valley Newspapers Enter Joint Operating Agreement

In what may be a first in Canadian media circles, the Invermere Valley Echo newspaper (published since 1956) and its upstart competitor, the Columbia Valley Pioneer, (published since 2003), have entered into a joint operating agreement.

The Valley Echo is owned by BC's dominant newspaper chain, Black Press, and the Columbia Valley Pioneer is owned by Bob Doull and his company, Misko Publishing, which has a number of newspaper properties in B.C. Doull purchased the Columbia Valley Pioneer from former publisher Elinor Florence several years ago.

Rose-Marie Regitnig, current publisher of the Columbia Valley Pioneer, has also been named publisher of the Invermere Valley Echo.

The concept is to keep the subscription-based Valley Echo as a mid-week Wednesday edition and the Columbia Valley Pioneer as a free Friday edition.

“ I'm excited to work with great teams of both papers to preserve and grow the two unique identities of each paper while enabling some cost sharing and joint operational tasks such as sales, administration and accounting,” Regitnig said in an interview in the Valley Echo. “Other synergies may be considered if it benefits both newspapers.”

Black Press owns and operates newspapers in every East and West Kootenay marketplace including Cranbrook where they publish two sister newspapers, namely the Cranbrook Daily Townsman and the Kootenay News Advertiser.

An online poll by one of the papers involved, The Pioneer, indicated 72% of the respondents are somewhat skeptical of the joint operating agreement with 42% saying, “It doesn't seem like the right move.”

Only time will tell if the Invermere business community will buy into the concept of two former competitors now functioning under a joint operating agreement.