Local independent news will carry on in the West Kootenay. 

After several years on the market, the Valley Voice, an independently owned and operated newspaper covering communities in the Slocan Valley, Arrow Lakes Valley and North Kootenay Lake Valley, has a buyer. 

As reported in the Nelson Star, owners Dan Nicholson and Jan McMurray feared the paper, which publishes every two weeks, would have to close altogether if they didn’t find a buyer as the pair was eager to retire. 

Enter Nikko Snyder.

Snyder moved to Winlaw, B.C. — an unincorporated community in the Slocan Valley — in 2021 to take over her parents’ blueberry farm.

While she has most recently worked in health care and non-profits, Snyder’s career began in magazine publishing 20 years ago. 

“I’ve basically been trying to kind of make a community impact and build community for my whole career,” she told CBC’s Daybreak South. “When I heard that the Valley Voice was for sale … I realized it was just a fantastic opportunity for me to use the skill I have to give back to my community in a really important way.”

Initially, Snyder said she realized buying a newspaper may not be the most lucrative decision, given the number of outlets that have shuttered in recent years.

“You’d have to be crazy. That’s not something anyone would ever wanna do.”

She weighed the pros and cons, and after a couple of months, decided to go for it. 

“Independent local media, I believe, is really tied to local democracy. And I think democracy is struggling,” she said.

“I just feel really called to do whatever I can to help strengthen our communities and find common ground and really try to help folks engage in respectful civil discourse.”

The Valley Voice features community news and a robust section of community letters and opinions. 

“I think they’ve done a lot of work to try to create a space where people can speak their voices in the community,” Snyder said. “And I really want to see that continue.”

Snyder’s not the only one in British Columbia taking a chance on local news. In 2024, Alaska Highway News reporter Todd Buck revived the 80-year-old newspaper after it was shuttered by Glacier Media, now Lodestar. In December, four former Lodestar reporters printed the first edition of Freshet News, covering Burnaby, New Westminster and the Tri-Cities. 

Like those who have come before her, Snyder recognizes the challenges that may lie ahead. 

Funding for the Valley Voice comes largely from advertising, she said, so she’ll be relying on community partners to buy ad space in order to pay staff and operate the paper. There are currently three full-time staff, including the two owners and a reporter funded by the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI). They also hire freelancers for both editorial and distribution.

Snyder said LJI funding was cut significantly at the beginning of the year, putting more financial pressure on the newspaper.

“It has been a difficult time for print publishing, obviously, for years, and I’m not naive that it is a tough business model.”

Snyder said she will run the Valley Voice as of May 1.