We ve been working on an updated look for theManitoba Co-operator for several months now, and finally decided to take the plunge.
What you re seeing this week is the culmination of a number of design changes intended to make the paper look more visually interesting and easier to read without compromising our commitment to content.
We don t make these changes lightly. TheCo-operatoror its predecessorThe
Scoop Shovelhas been going into Manitoba farm homes since 1925, making it one of the oldest farm newspapers in Western Canada. In its early days, it was a house organ for the co-operative movement and although it morphed into a respected newspaper over the course of time, it remained owned by a co-operative until its sale to the publicly traded media company Glacier Media in 2003.
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As you can see from the timeline on Page 5, our look has undergone continued change as the newspaper itself reflected the issues and trends that shaped the world in which farmers operate.
One thing that stands out as you scan through our archives is how this little farm paper has religiously taken a big-picture view. It s strived to capture the forces outside of agriculture that have implications for how farmers live and work, from the dirty thirties, the war years, the postwar era and the birth of the baby boomers, onward to today s debate over how the food industry will adapt to the retirement of those boomers and the rising consciousness among the largely urban population about food issues.
Although these changes are about the future, it s always helpful to take a look back in time to reflect on our past. That doesn t necessarily determine our path forward, but it may spare us from repeating past mistakes.
We plan to continue that. One of the features we ve made room for is a section on our Opinion/Editorial pages called Our History, where we will provide historical snapshots of headlines, photos and issues of the days gone by.
You can be part of that too. Do you have clippings, photographs, old sales tickets, or documents that are of historical interest? Scan them and send them to us electronically and we ll consider them for publication.
Among the other features we ve added is information on Page 2 on how to access our website, in recognition of our readers ongoing transition into an electronic age. Subscribers who wish to, can even receive theirCo-operatorin an electronic format.
We also explain how subscribers can conduct online searches of our archives. Many of our readers like to be able to look back and find a story they remember seeing on our pages but they may not remember in which issue it appeared. Using the keyword search function, they are now able to track it down.
Our popular fictional farm family, The Jacksons, by comedian and musician Rollin Penner, will continue to appear biweekly, but now in our Country Crossroads section. The weekly Sudoko and monthly Prairie Sky Map can be found in our Classified section.
And finally, a word about our name and what it represents. Although we are no longer owned by the co-operative movement, the nameManitoba Co-operatorremains our brand.
We are about Manitoba, a unique place that we like to think of as being in the middle of everywhere, rather than the middle of nowhere.
And we still aim to encourage co-operation within the farming community by connecting people through the news coverage and analysis we provide. A newspaper provides a community with a common talking point, a basis for informed conversation, even among those who disagree.
Take a look. Tell us what you think.
The Question Is How
Assuming, briefly, that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is correct, and there is a strong, viable voluntary wheat board in an open market, how will it work?
Will the voluntary board make a sale and then go cap in hand to the grain companies it is competing against for access to the delivery system? Or will it approach the grain companies first for supply and then go out and make a sale? How will it determine delivery dates when the customer wants it, or when it can access capacity to move it?
Similar questions apply to producer car shippers. While their right to a car is enshrined in legislation, their access to port capacity is in the hands of the same companies that are losing their business in the country.
If you were looking for answers to these and other questions, you won t find them in the report released last week by the minister s marketing freedom working group. All it contains is platitudes about letting the market work (until it doesn t) and thinly veiled efforts to blame the CWB for its own demise. The board is being slammed for not coming up with ideas about how it can survive with no capital and no facilities. The members of the working group don t seem to have any ideas either.
Farmers will hold the federal government accountable. Ritz needs to do better.
