Village Media is a Canadian media company which operates a number of

hyperlocal Hyperlocal (also reckoned Hyper-local) is an adjective used to describe something as being "limited to a very small geographical area", and in particular, to anything " tremely or excessively local", in particular with regard to media (commu ...

online news and community websites throughout

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 ...

."Media outlets partner to expand Northern news network"
''Northern Ontario Business'', October 2, 2014. Village Media's news sites focus on providing local stories written by local journalists in the communities that they serve. In addition to local news, the sites offer weather, events, obituaries, and a wide range of community information. Village Media is known for supporting local events and charitable causes. The company also maintains content and marketing partnerships with community newspapers in several other Ontario cities, including '' TBNewswatch.com'' in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

and ''Manitoulin.ca'' on

Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island ( ) is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia (bioregion), Laurentia. With an area of , it is the Lake ...

. Village Media was also a partner with the defunct '' LocalXpress'' in Halifax, providing them with the publication platform.

History

SooToday.com was originally launched in 2000 as a regional tabloid shopping and business directory,"Sootoday.com a hit". ''Northern Ontario Business'', April 1, 2004. owned by former broadcaster Dick Peplow. Following significant news cutbacks at MCTV, which merged all of the region's local television newscasts into a single regional program produced in Sudbury, SooToday began producing locally focused news content. In doing so, they became one of the first prominent Canadian ventures in hyperlocal web-only media. Peplow launched sister site BayToday.ca in 2003. Following Peplow's death in 2007,"Peplow left a legacy"
'' Northern News Services'', July 18, 2007. local IT consultant Jeff Elgie, formerly a minority investor in the site, increased his ownership stake, and eventually became CEO. Inspired by the SooToday.com model, a different company launched TimminsToday.com, which was acquired by Village Media in 2014. The company's recent expansion efforts have concentrated on midsized cities in Southern Ontario, typically launching soon after the closure of the community's prior daily newspaper."Village Media expands to Orillia"
''Northern Life'', January 4, 2018. It launched BarrieToday.com in October 2015 in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

, GuelphToday.com in February 2016 in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

,"Village Media rushes to fill local news void left by Guelph Mercury"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', February 7, 2016. and OrilliaMatters.com in

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

in 2018. Village Media also operated HalifaxToday.ca in Halifax, OttawaMatters.com in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and KitchenerToday.com in Kitchener, in conjunction with

Rogers Radio Rogers Radio is a division of Rogers Sports & Media (a subsidiary of Rogers Communications) that specializes in the radio broadcasting industry. Rogers Radio is Canada's fourth-largest commercial radio broadcaster after Stingray Radio, Vista Ra ...

-owned news radio stations in those markets, although all have since been converted to the Rogers-owned

CityNews City''News'' is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as City''Pulse'' as a standalone local newscast on the network's CITY- ...

brand. In 2020, the company acquired the assets of Laurentian Media Group, including the Sudbury.com news website and the business magazine ''Northern Ontario Business''. Village Media ceased publication of Laurentian's twice-weekly print newspaper ''Northern Life'' while retaining the Sudbury.com web edition. In early 2021, the company expanded into the United States for the first time, with the acquisition of ''The Longmont Leader'' in

Longmont, Colorado Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Its population was 98,885 . Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. It is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain th ...

. The news website was shuttered in 2024. The company formerly operated the video news portal local2.ca in Sault Ste. Marie, and the VM Radio network of

internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

streams. Local2 was fully integrated into SooToday. VM Radio was shut down. In 2024 the company announced plans to launch Spaces, a localized

social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

platform that will enable users to join customized groups to discuss topics of community interest, such as local sports and history.Connie Thiessen
"Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast: Lacy Atalick on Village Media’s ‘Spaces’ social network"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', September 25, 2024.

Assets owned by Village Media

Ontario

International

*''Alimosho Today'' —

Alimosho Alimosho is a Local Government Area in Lagos State, Nigeria with the largest population of about 4,082,900 which is according to Population 019''– Projection'' The 2006 Census says the population was 1,288,714 (but the Lagos State Governme ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

*''Soo Leader'' —

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Specialty publications

*''Northern Ontario Business'': Business news in the

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

region. *''The Trillium'': Reportage on Ontario provincial politics. *''Village Report'': National news portal comprising reportage from other Village Media titles and

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a private, not-for-profit c ...

. *''Village Life'': Lifestyle news.

References

External links

* {{Canadian journalism Mass media in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Internet properties established in 2000 Canadian news websites 2000 establishments in Ontario Internet radio in Canada Newspaper companies of Canada Companies based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario