Alta Newspaper Group Limited Partnership is a

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

-based publisher of

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. It owns three small daily newspapers and more than a dozen weeklies. Alta, also known as Alberta Newspaper Group and Southern Alberta Newspapers, is one of two Canadian newspaper companies run and partially owned by David Radler, a former business partner of

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-British writer and former politician, Publishing, newspaper publisher, Investor, financier, and Fraudster, convicted fraudster. Black's father was businessma ...

in Hollinger Inc. Both Alta and

Continental Newspapers Continental Newspapers, formally known as Continental Newspapers Canada Ltd., is a Canadian daily newspaper publisher based in Kelowna, British Columbia. It publishes two British Columbia dailies and '' The Chronicle-Journal'' of Thunder Bay, On ...

are descendants of Horizon Operations (Canada) Ltd., a company Radler founded at the end of the 1990s.

History

Most of the newspapers that currently make up Alta and Continental were purchased from

The Thomson Corporation Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organization and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form Thomson Reute ...

between 1999 and 2001 by Horizon, a family of companies owned by David Radler and Conrad Black, independently from Radler's and Black's roles as COO and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, respectively, of Hollinger Inc. During the 2000s, both men were convicted of defrauding Hollinger and served time in prison; Black sold his interest in Horizon in 2006; and Radler organized his Canadian holdings into two companies, including a limited partnership for his two Alberta dailies and associated weeklies. The chain, originally called Southern Alberta Newspapers and renamed Alta Group Newspapers, consisted of the former Thomson dailies ''

Lethbridge Herald The ''Lethbridge Herald'' is the leading daily newspaper in greater Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Alta Newspaper Group and also publishes and distributes a weekly newspaper, the ''Lethbridge Sun Times''. Early history On November ...

'' and ''

Medicine Hat News The ''Medicine Hat News'' is a daily newspaper published in Medicine Hat, Alberta. It features a city news section, a national news section, a world news section, a sports section, a comics section, and a classifieds section. The paper is owned ...

'', and a group of weeklies covering suburban and rural communities in the

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

area. The oldest of the weeklies was ''The Taber Times'', which dated to 1907 and had built the chain in the 1970s before being bought out by Hollinger and then Thomson. In the mid-2000s, Alta purchased three weeklies in southwestern Saskatchewan, and in 2006 it acquired ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'' of

Sherbrooke, Quebec Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

, from

Glacier Media Glacier Media is a Canadian business information and media products company. It provides news, market information and sector-specific data within North America and internationally. Glacier is headquartered in Vancouver. Its primary operations ar ...

, which took an ownership interest in Alta. Radler noted that ''The Record'' was a nostalgic purchase: it was the first newspaper that he and Black owned, back in 1969. The company has not made any major acquisitions since 2006, although it has bought out biweekly newspapers that competed with its dailies in Lethbridge and Sherbrooke.

Ownership

As a

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

, Alta Newspaper Group is not required to publish an annual report, and Radler has been "tight-lipped" about its ownership structure, telling reporters that he is "a shareholder" in the company but declining to specify how much he owns. Alta was formed, however, out of a subsidiary of Horizon Publications Inc., a company acknowledged to have been owned and operated primarily by Radler. In 2006, as part of the deal that added ''The Record'' to Alta's holdings, Vancouver-based publisher Glacier Media took a 50% share in Alta. It later increased its ownership share to 59%. Glacier is also part-owner of two other newspaper companies connected with Radler, Continental Newspapers and RISN Operations. Sam Grippo, Glacier's

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

, was a group publisher at Hollinger during Radler's time as

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

Properties

Although the company is headquartered in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, none of its properties are located there. Alta publishes newspapers in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and Quebec. Its sister company

publishes dailies in British Columbia and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Alberta

Two dailies and six weekly newspapers in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat area were part of the original Southern Alberta Newspapers chain owned by Horizon Operations. The ''Lethbridge Journal'' was added in 2011. Together, the following papers cover the cities of

and

, the

Municipal District of Taber The Municipal District of Taber is a municipal district (MD) in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 2. Geography Communities and localities The following urban municipalities are surrounded by the MD of Taber. ; ...

Cypress County Cypress County is a municipal district in southeastern Alberta, Canada that surrounds the City of Medicine Hat and the Town of Redcliff. The municipality is part of Census Division 1, Alberta.http://www.albertafirst.com/profiles/statspack/2 ...

, the County of Forty Mile No. 8 and

Lethbridge County Lethbridge County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada. It is in Census Division No. 2 and part of the Lethbridge census agglomeration. It was known as the ''County of Lethbridge'' prior to December 4, 2013. Its name was chang ...

: * ''Bow Island Commentator'' (Tuesdays) * ''

'' (daily) * ''

Prairie Post The ''Prairie Post'' is a weekly newspaper for Canadian farmers in the southern areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is published by Alta Newspaper Group. The ''Prairie Post'' east edition is printed by the Medicine Hat News, while the west ed ...

'' (Fridays) * ''The Sunny South News'' (Tuesdays) * ''The Taber Times'' (Wednesdays) * ''The Vauxhall Advance'' (Thursdays) * ''The Western Canadian Pipeline'' (magazine)

Saskatchewan

Alta publishes four weeklies in southwestern Saskatchewan; all but the ''Prairie Post'' were added in 2006: * ''Maple Creek News'' (Thursdays) * ''Maple Creek Times'' (Tuesdays) * ''The Shaunavon Standard'' (Tuesdays) * ''Prairie Post East'' (Fridays)

Quebec

Alta acquired the smaller (of only two) English-language newspapers in Quebec, and its associated weekly product, in 2006. It added a competing semimonthly paper in 2009: * ''Brome County News'' (weekly) * ''

The Record (Sherbrooke) ''The Record'' is the only daily (Monday–Friday) English language newspaper based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It serves the Eastern Townships region of that province. It is one of the French-speaking province's last two English-language dail ...

'' (daily) * ''The Townships Outlet'' (biweekly Tuesdays)

TriCube Media

Most of the websites associated with Alta and Continental properties are credited to TriCube Media, a division of Alta Newspaper Group based in

. TriCube Media bills itself as "a full service branding and business development company". In addition to the newspapers, its clients include governments, nonprofits, blogs and private businesses. Services it provides include web design, web hosting graphic design, online advertising and promotions.

California

Alta through its subsidiaries have acquired a number of newspapers throughout

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

: * Gold Mountain California News Media Inc. (2022) '' Auburn Journal'', '' Big Bear Grizzly, Folsom Telegraph, Hi-Desert Star, (Lake Arrowhead) Mountain News, Lincoln News Messenger, Loomis News, Placer Herald, Roseville Press-Tribune, (Twentynine Palms) Desert Trail and Desert Mobile Home News.'' * Gold Hill California Media Inc. (2021) '' Grass Valley Union'' * Santa Maria California News Media Inc. (2020) '' Santa Maria Times'', ''Hanford Sentinel,'' ''

Lompoc Record The ''Lompoc Record'' is a newspaper in the town of Lompoc, California. History Donrey Media acquired the paper in 1979; it became part of the MediaNews Group-led California Media Partnership in 1999. Pulitzer bought the paper in 2001. Lee En ...

'', ''Santa Ynez Valley News'' * Sound News Media Inc. (2019) ''

Bakersfield Californian ''The Bakersfield Californian'' is a daily newspaper serving Bakersfield, California and surrounding Kern County in the state's San Joaquin Valley. History ''The Bakersfield Californian'' is the direct descendant of Kern County's first newspap ...

'', '' Tehachapi News'' * Antelope Valley Press Inc. (2017) '' Antelope Valley Press'' * Central Valley News-Sentinel Inc. (2015) ''

Lodi News-Sentinel The ''Lodi News-Sentinel'' is a daily newspaper based in Lodi, California, United States, and serving northern San Joaquin and southern Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat ...

'' * Imperial Valley News Media, Inc. (2015) '' Imperial Valley Press'' * Vista California News Media, Inc. (2013) '' Marysville Appeal-Democrat'', ''Tri-County Newspapers'' * RISN Operations (2013) '' Porterville Recorder'', (2019) '' Sonora Union Democrat.'' * Horizon California Publications, Inc. (2000) '' Inyo Register'','''' (2001) ''Mammoth Times''

References

{{Canadian journalism Newspaper companies of Canada Companies based in Vancouver