City council’s decision to potentially pursue digital advertising for public notices is all about expanding its community reach and won’t necessarily eliminate advertising with local media, says the mayor.
“I sit on the youth advisory committee and the kids are coming on almost a weekly basis with a new app or a new level of communication. You hear kids and they don’t use Twitter, but they use WhatsApp,” Mayor Fraser Tolmie said during a media scrum after the March 8 council meeting.
“So this is an evolving conversation and I think what we’re doing is we’re casting a net to a wider audience and without throwing out the baby with the bathwater with the traditional media.”
Tolmie pointed out that city hall spent roughly $2,000 last year to advertise policy notices, with that cost almost evenly split between the Moose Jaw Express and Discover Moose Jaw.
For other advertising, though, a report presented at the Dec. 7, 2020 meeting showed city hall spent $219,246.84 to advertise with local media from 2016 to 2020. From 2016 to 2018, municipal dollars went to the Times-Herald, while during the full five years, city hall spent $114,818.42 with the Express and $61,470.17 with Golden West Broadcasting, which owns Discover Moose Jaw.
To modernize how the municipality advertises, city council voted unanimously during its March 8 regular meeting to have city administration bring forward amendments to the public notice policy to allow digital advertising options. Currently, city hall must advertise public notices in a local newspaper seven days before council discusses the issue.
When asked why the municipality doesn’t simply focus on the main mediums that most residents use to communicate, Tolmie reiterated that it was about capturing a wider audience and encouraging more people to become involved.
“So you think about how media has changed over the years and you’re looking to the next generation while still respecting the traditional forms of media,” he continued. “As administration has pointed out, this is really only a $2,000 annual impact. And again, you’re looking to keep others informed and not neglect them and not neglect that generation, who do want to get involved … in their city.
“I think what we’re doing is a positive move forward for the City of Moose Jaw.”
The current policy guidelines that the province has set out say municipalities can advertise such notices in one way, so this proposed change would make such advertising more inclusive, added Craig Hemingway, communications manager. City administration will present a motion for council to consider amending the current policy, but it doesn’t mean anything will change; it simply allows for more communications options.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, March 22.
