Summerside Journal Pioneer returning as a weekly paper

Summerside's Journal Pioneer newspaper is returning as a weekly publication in early November, according to a story published on the paper's website.

Halifax-based SaltWire Network stopped publishing the Journal Pioneer print edition seven months ago, citing economic challenges caused by COVID-19.

In Wednesday's online article, SaltWire president and CEO Mark Lever said the company's economic situation has improved enoughto bring back the Summerside paper as a weekly product.

"I've heard regularly from the mayor and I know the product has been missed in the communities that were used to having a daily as part the community's identity," he said in the article.

'Part of the community'

"We're excited to remain a part of the community identity, but we're also a business that has to be able, at the end of the day, to pay our employees and pay our bills."

The Journal Pioneer, founded in1865, published six days a week before the shutdown. The Guardian, based out of Charlottetown and also owned by SaltWire, had been providing Summerside customers with news, although it too was cut back by 23 positions.

Lever told the paper some of SaltWire's weeklies in Nova Scotia that shut down during the pandemic will also be restored.

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