IT TOOK 28 YEARS BUT WE ARE #1 TODAY

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret or Sorrow. - ONE DAY AT A TIME - I remember back 28 years ago. A similar scenario as to what played out this week took place. A newspaper after 100 years, closed. The Oshawa Times... after a long battle with the union. One day, decided enough was enough and locked the doors. Sold the assets and never looked back. Employees were left behind. Some still have not been paid. Life moved on. Metroland dominated the newsprint arena. After 45 years, Metroland had the front and center position. The Central had just hit the market. I remember people thinking we were the Oshawa Times employees coalition. We were not. I remember the many critics denouncing our efforts and making statements like ‘they will not last 6 months.’ The question I kept being asked was how are you to compete with such a large publication like METROLAND? I always said the same. I am not competing with them, I will lead The Central on our own path and slowly watch Metroland die off. I was right. In the publishing business it is easy to get greedy. To loose you direction and be sidetracked. The key to success is simple. Keep costs down and investments under control. In the newspaper industry. The biggest cost is printing. Followed by distribution. Followed by staff and related services. Revenue generated must cover the expenses as in any business. Our rates are competitive and negotiable. Our mission is to serve our community and assure prosperity for local businesses. Without them. We would not exist. Our success is no magic. Just good planning, solid direction and sound leadership. Something Metroland compromised when the corporate speculator acquisition took place from the original owners. Metroland became a corporate entity with no real publishing experience and ambitions. The only thing that matter was the bottom line. The only thing that matter was to liquidate with little or no regard to it’s structure. This is wrong. Early in the life of the Central. I learned a very valuable lesson. The most important. Respect and appreciate your workers. Without them. You get no place fast. I also learned two important things: 1st. Don’t compete. Set your own market and your own pace. 2nd. Create your own corporate philosophy and do not compromise your integrity. The Central corporate philosophy is simple. ‘Give the advertisers value. They will keep coming back.’ I always told my account executives. Work with people. If their budget is minimal. Give the most for the least... once they get their feet on the ground. They will remember you. The Central was never interested in money. But is very much interested in clients business. Nothing is more valuable than developing a good relationship. Nothing is more corporate sacred than a client allowing the Central the opportunity to earn their business. This is our formula for success. In the publishing and newspaper business a balancing act must be maintained between the business side and the intellectual side. The business side keeps the door open. The intellectual side keeps the readers, reading. One can’t operate without the other. Or you become like some of these fly by nite type of outfits that have attempted to publish only to fail. Outfits like The Courtice news, The Oshawa news, City Living, The Snap, The Snap’d, The Express, Neighbur, Neighbor and so on. All fly by entities. In some cases socialites out to make a quick buck further compromising the integrity of the industry. Advertisers do not be fooled by these small so called newspapers/magazines that may be popping up any time soon. As an advertiser keep this in mind. Any free publication by their own admittance has no real readership and are at the mercy of people picking it up. If the rate is to low question the reach and the value. Don’t be fooled. Metroland now is out soliciting online only advertisers.... really. They failed in hard copy print. Who in their right mind will follow them to online publishing. Think. Who goes on line to read newspaper. Who wants to subscribe. Who want to click over and over advertisers that keep popping up? Failure only breeds failure. Their attempt to deceive advertiser to online only. Tells you of the value you will receive. The Central has been around for 28 years. The Central is time tested. When the tough get going. We get tougher. Much like during COVID. Some publication stopped publishing. We plan ahead for the best but prepare for the worst. We never stopped printing. As a responsible publisher in the newspaper industry. We will hire all former employees of Metroland and assure you future financial security. As your largest and oldest independent newspaper. We vow to bring you the news as it happens. We are expanding and soon we will also bring you live tv. This compounded with our award winning newspaper will take us to new heights in the media industry. Please stay tuned. The Central newspaper at your service.