After twenty years of operation, Quadra Island’s only weekly news publication suspended operations on March 25. As publisher/editor Amanda Smith explained, “the COVID emergency and the subsequent cancellation of all social events and shutdown of businesses meant that advertising revenue plummeted and I can no longer cover the bills.” Since then, a number of community members have kept encouraging her to bring it back. This morning there is good news: the Bird’s Eye is back.
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How COVID 19 Changed The Quadra Island Food Bank
The Quadra Island Food Bank has been open on the first and third Wednesdays, of every month, for years. They provide food for 50-60 people every time. Anyone with a Quadra Island address and photo ID can register. Up until recently, they have operated out of a storage facility next to the Quadra Community Centre. There was not enough room to comply with the new social distancing regulations, so they moved into the community centre. I recently asked coordinator Amanda Smith if there were other ways the COVID 19 crises has changed how the Quadra Island Food Bank operates.
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Media Aid An Unlikely Cure For Quadra Newspaper
National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
As a small island newspaper was dealt a deathblow by COVID-19 on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced financial aid for Canadian media, which the newspaper industry promptly decried as inadequate.
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The Bird’s Eye Suspending Business
One of Quadra Island’s foremost local news outlets is suspending publication until further notice. “The Hungry Eye” was originally an advertising and events sheet. Quadra Island news items started appearing after it was rechristened “the Bird’s Eye” in 2013. Amanda Smith brought 26 years of experience to the periodical when she took over as Publisher/editor four years ago. She is a former reporter, and editor, of daily newspapers in the UK and Calgary. In the Bird’s Eye’s March 25th edition, Smith announced that as a consequence of the “huge drop in advertising revenue due to the closure of businesses and cancellation of events … we cannot cover the costs of printing and Canada Post distribution at this time.”
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