Nykole King
Regina Leader-Post
Regina’s Prairie Dog and Saskatoon’s Planet S alternative magazines are slated to fold at the end of September due to persistent financial struggles.
“We’re shutting down because running a news website costs money and, unfortunately, many local organizations, businesses and entertainment and music venues can’t afford advertising,” Stephen Whitworth, editor of both publications, said in a message to the Regina Leader-Post on Monday.
“Reader support was good. It beat my personal expectation. Sadly, that isn’t a realistic revenue model for a local media outlet in a small city in a small province.”
Prairie Dog launched in 1993 while Planet S debuted almost 10 years later in 2002. Both publications are owned by Hullabaloo Publishing Workers Co-operative Ltd.
The biweekly publications had a combined 17 staff members at their peak in the 2000s, said Whitworth, noting they began 2025 with three staff members and one contractor across the two magazines.
Whitworth said it wasn’t just one thing that led to the shutdown. The loss of advertising from Crown corporations in 2008 was one of the biggest hits to the business and the COVID-19 pandemic was another “devastating” blow.
Hullabaloo Publishing tried to cut costs in other ways, too, with Prairie Dog closing its office in 2019. Planet S closed its office in December 2023.
Whitworth hasn’t been shy about the need for additional funding to keep the business running. Prairie Dog asked for sponsorship and advertising support in a Facebook post on June 27, aiming to reach a goal of $33,000 before Sept. 1.
“We’ve just had another spring season where our advertising revenues — still the lifeblood of text-based media — are in the dumpster. And that’s put us in a position where we’re having trouble paying our bills, let alone commission stories, hire reporters and all that stuff that’s so important to the community,” the post said.
The call for support sought 25 advertisers over a 10-week campaign in each location. Only three pledges came in for both markets, according to the editor.
Whitworth said the business faces “substantial shutdown expenses” and that any final donations would be of help.
“There is no sustainable revenue model for local media outlets,” Whitworth added in a text message. “It’s an industry-wide problem.”
Article content
— With files from Trillian Reynoldson
