The first issue of The Terrace Standard hit the streets in April of 1988. But it seems like the paper has always been the information lifeblood of this growing northwestern B.C. city. The Standard has become the trusted voice of a disparate region where loggers and fishermen rub elbows with teachers and businessmen, where craggy peaks and glaciers mesh with cedar rainforests and red salmon. Wednesday is 'paper day' to many readers here. And no wonder. The pages of the weekly broadsheet are eagerly anticipated by locals as well as subscribers all over North America. The Terrace Standard is a classic community newspaper in that it has sections for news, community and sports. But where the Standard has always stood out is its ability to dig out the stories and issues important to the area and deliver them in a comprehensive package.
"We like hard news," says founding editor Rod Link.
"We do a lot of it."
"Our goal is to every week tell people something new and important, and to do it with accuracy and integrity."
The paper has a string of awards for coverage of northwestern B.C.'s issues that routinely outperforms provincial dailies.
When B.C.'s first modern day treaty was completed with the Nisga'a - catapulting the Terrace area into the national spotlight and controversy - the Standard was there. The paper likewise has played a key role covering the collapse of major forest industry employer Skeena Cellulose and its subsequent purchase by the provincial government.
It has acted as a window into important changes in the area, and a reflection of its citizens, their activities and ideas. Nowhere is proof of the paper's following strongest than on its vibrant opinion pages, where local letter writers clash weekly on the issues of the day.
The Terrace Standard is printed in Williams Lake by Black Press. The B.C. chain of papers is owned by Victoria resident David Black, who owns newspapers in B.C., Alberta, Washington State, and Hawaii.
The Standard employs 15 editorial, sales, production and support staff in the office, plus dozens of part-time collators and newspaper carriers.
As part of David Black's philosophy of making employees partners in the advantages of ownership, the paper's staff benefit from regular profit-sharing and a program that gives them shares in the company.
The Standard's Wednesday circulation is 8,400. There are also many paid subscribers further away.
Your Community News Team
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