Burnaby Beacon makes it to second anniversary, then cuts staff loose
The Burnaby Beacon, at least in its current form, is no more. It is the latest move by Overstory Media Group (perhaps its OMG abbreviation inadvertently tells part of the story) to stem its losses in a brave but apparently foolhardy attempt to resuscitate community journalism online. The Beacon’s two remaining staff members have been laid off. Much has been said about Overstory’s promises and ownership, particularly when it laid off half the staff at its flagship online outlet, the Capital Daily in Victoria. That move came just before it was announced that there was a unionization drive underway. The Beacon served Burnaby - a difficult community for local media. When I was a student at Langara journalism school, we were told by program director Nick Russell that “Burnaby was the graveyard of weekly newspapers.” Many had come and gone by that time (1977). Another one started up soon thereafter, and one of my classmates even took a job there. That newspaper and its staff are long...