Local news website in central P.E.I. needs money for 'fighting chance' to stick around

The editor of an onlinevolunteer-run news website based in central P.E.I. says due to a lack of fundsit'll be forced to cease publication later this month.

For the past fouryears, the Stanley Bridge Centre website has published local news and columns.

Until recently, the project has been funded mainly by the Stanley Bridge Memorial Society, with some added revenue from donations and advertisements.

But Jim Brown, a member of the board of directors of the societyand editor of the website,said with recent renovations to the Stanley Bridge Centre including the purchase of new commercial kitchen equipment there's no additional money to fund the project.

"It would take ads and it would take donations, or a bit of each," said Brown. He saidwithout an influx of donations or advertising commitments, the news side of the website will shut down on Jan. 16.

"If we had a $2,500donation, that would keep us going for another year. But again, there are no guarantees because it's a non-profit that we wouldn't be facing this exact same situation next year.But it would give us a fighting chance to establish our brand and make it much more accessible to people."

'People stepping forward'

Brown said that since the announcementof the pending shutdown, he's heard from a lot of people offering support.

"There have been people stepping forward, saying that they'd like to participate in fundraising efforts and they're bringing ideas forward," said Brown.

"But again, I don't know if that can translate into actual dollars."

Brown said the Stanley Bridge Centre website publishes news from 20 outlets around the world in addition to six orseven original local stories per week. But with endless news and content available for free online, it's difficult to compete.

"I don't know if local content at this point is something that people necessarily feel is the most important thing in their lives," said Brown.

"And that's a sad thing to say, but if you just look at newspapers everywhere there's all kinds of closures every day it seems."

'The magic of journalism'

He said in the last year, the website was visited over 15,000 times, with more than 6,000 first-time visitors. It was accessed from all across Canada, and as far away as Belgium, Singapore and China.

Brown said traffic to the website was growing,and thatlocal journalism is more important now than ever.

"I think that if you want to be an optimist in this very difficult age you have to believe in the magic of journalism," Brown said.

"The magic of sharing stories about people that are around you."

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