The Equity newspaper has been a community news staple in the Pontiac region for over 140 years.
Managing it for the last 70-plus years has been the Dickson family, reporting on everything from council meetings to community events and New Year’s babies.
"My grandparents bought the business in 1953,” says Sophie Kuijper Dickson, who is editor of The Equity, and working alongside her father Charles Dickson to publish the weekly editions.
"It’s completely a family business. It's almost like a family member is what I’ve realized."
But in recent times, the Dicksons say they have watched as similar community newspapers have folded in the face of changing times and the demands of the digital age. The recent Canada Post strike as demonstrated the fragility of the paper’s business model.
That led the family to decide to sell the business.
"I think a big part of it was that we realized that neither I nor my dad had the skill set needed to grow the business into kind of this to meet this current moment, which is digital,” said Kuijper Dickson.
In 2024, The Equity worked with digital marketing company Calumet Media, owned by local Jon Stewart, to revamp its website.
Recently, the Dicksons signed a letter of intent to sell The Equity, and the accompanying Pontiac Printshop, to Stewart in order to stave off any short-term closure.
“I grew up in the area and The Equity and The Citizen are venerated in my life,” Stewart says of has affinity for newspapers.
“I was one of these weird kids who used to go up to the library at lunch and actually read the newspaper, rather than going and play in the schoolyard.”
Despite his fondness for local journalism and the written word, Stewart is not oblivious to the struggles the newspaper industry has encountered, having previously been the regional advertising director for the Ottawa Citizen.
Stewart says a time may come soon where The Equity will print it’s final weekly edition and move to an entirely digital format. He says this would also allow readers to access local news and information sooner.
"No changes in the, I would say, near future and probably medium future, but we have to have a conversation with our readers in terms of what content and how do they want to receive it on a regular basis."
For Kuijper Dickson, despite the sale out of the family, she sees this new era for The Equity as a positive one.
She and her father plan to stay on and continue reporting on stories in the Pontiac region.
“This is really ideal for us because it enables the business to keep growing to see another 10 years, another 20 or 30 years, and it enables me to keep doing the part that I love, which is the newspaper.”
Stewart sees the collaboration similarly. He admits the newspaper itself may never be profitable, but is hoping to lean on the printshop side of the business to carry it into the future.
“It's been around since 1883,” says Stewart.
“I anticipate it's going to be around for another 140 years. It is the paper of record for the for the area, I feel.”
