Richard McGuire has been named South Okanagan Digital Editor/Photographer and will provide multimedia content for the Osoyoos Times, Oliver Chronicle and Okanagan Sun and their websites. (Keith Lacey photo)
Things have changed immensely in the newspaper business over the past decade and Aberdeen Publishing is changing with them as the company has committed to becoming the daily news source in both Oliver and Osoyoos.
Starting last week, veteran reporter-photographer Richard McGuire has had his job title switched to South Okanagan Digital Editor-Photographer as his new duties will include providing daily content to the respective websites for the Osoyoos Times and Oliver Chronicle.
For loyal readers of the Osoyoos Times, they will be glad to know that McGuire will still be lending his superb reporting and photography skills to the paper, but much more of his focus will switch to providing daily news updates to both websites.
Local readers will be seeing the name of Dan Walton much more moving forward in both Osoyoos and Oliver and he was hired a month ago to become the new regional reporter for both publications.
Keith Lacey, the editor of the Osoyoos Times, and Lyonel Doherty, editor of the Oliver Chronicle, will continue to lead their respective publications, but will also be providing more material to be posted on a daily basis to the newspaper websites.
McGuire, who was hired by the Osoyoos Times in December of 2012, said he’s really looking forward to his new duties.
“I have been involved in providing content to online media dating back to the 1980s before the onset of the worldwide web,” he said. “I was hosting an online forum on GEnie for General Electric dating back to the late 1980s and I ran a monthly newspaper called INPUT, which published from 1984 until 1991, that focused on writing about computers before they really came of age in the early 1990s.”
McGuire said he’s been fascinated by the many progressive changes being made in digital media and he’s really looking forward to his new job responsibilities.
“I see the way news is going and how much it has changed and I wanted to use those skills that I have acquired over the years,” he said. “I think what I’ve noticed the most is that online content really appeals to a different demographic.”
Besides posting daily news updates to both websites, McGuire will also be responsible for updating social media such as Facebook and Twitter on the Osoyoos Times and Oliver Chronicle accounts. He will also be updating the website for the Okanagan Sun monthly magazine.
McGuire, who left the newspaper business for 14 years to work on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, said he’s very excited about his new position and the fact local readers will be able to access daily news updates in Osoyoos and Oliver.
“I like to change things up on my job every few years,” he said. “I will still have the chance to report and take photographs for the Osoyoos Times, but I will be providing daily news updates for both websites and I’m very excited about that.”
Linda Bolton, the managing director for Aberdeen Publishing’s newspapers in Osoyoos, Oliver and Peachland, said the company is committed to becoming the trusted daily news source in all three markets and is confident McGuire will do an outstanding job in Osoyoos and Oliver.
“I truly believe that in today’s world that you have to provide breaking news as quickly as you can and that’s what we’ve committed to doing,” she said. “The days of the reader waiting for the newspaper to hit the street once a week are pretty much over as the readers want to know what’s going on as soon as the news breaks.
“We will still proudly produce great newspapers in both communities, but we want people going on our websites to find out what’s going in their community every day.”
The websites at both the Osoyoos Times and Oliver Chronicle will be upgraded over the next two months with the goal of becoming more user-friendly and easy to use, said Bolton.
“We have to change and progress in order to maintain the success we’ve managed to attain already and we’re looking forward to change.” She said. “We will continue to produce great newspapers and our goal is to provide the same quality to our websites once they are updated before the end of the summer.”
Alex Johnston, the internet operations director for Aberdeen Publishing, said it’s imperative that quality community newspapers provide quality information on good-looking and functional websites and he’s looking forward to upgrading the sites for the Osoyoos Times and Oliver Chronicle before the end of August.
“In today’s world, people want their news immediately and if you can’t give it to them right away, they will go somewhere else to get it,” he said. “It’s important that we stay competitive by allowing our readers to go online every day and get the news they want about their community.
“We have committed to keeping our readers in the community informed on the day to day activities in their town and we have committed to making the Oliver Chronicle and the Osoyoos Times websites the trusted news sources for this.”
Doherty said he’s looking forward to ensuring the Oliver Chronicle continues to win major awards as it has the past several years, while providing local residents with a trusted news source each and every day.
KEITH LACEY
Special to the Chronicle
