March? That happened.

It’s a couple days late, but this post is itself a recap of old news so no biggie.

Anyways, in case you missed it the first time, here are some recaps from March with a little bit of new information thrown in here and there to keep you on your toes.

The Vancouver Courier’s Cheryl Rossi was applauded for her coverage of the Olympic Village fiasco.

Prince George Citizen sports editor Jim Swanson was reportedly turfed because the paper had too much hockey coverage. Which seems weird. Jim’s now helping organize Prince George’s World Baseball Challenge.

The husband of slain Salmon Arm Observer office manager Louise Phillips was charged with her murder.

I like the Kamloops Daily News’s reader’s reporter feature.

Black Press made $17.9 million last year. Mo’ money, mo’ problems for David Black?

In the space of a week, this blog gained two friends on the Googles. Kamloops Daily News associate editor Catherine Litt started the B.C. Newspapers Blog on Tumblr. So far she posts a lot about social media while conducting an ongoing search for the perfect design. Sheesh, designers…

The Northern Reporter, meanwhile, is a blog started by an anonymous, um…, northern reporter. It offers cheeky tales from the newsroom and frequent proclamations that he/she won’t be able to post anytime soon (while following up with posts not too long after).

Both blogs are highly recommended.

Langley Advance reporter Roxanne Hooper blasted “media specialists.”

Finalists for the 2011 BCYCNA Ma Murray Awards were released. The Yukon News led the pack. I analyzed the nominees by company and found Black Press #winning in the General Excellence category but under-represented (given the number of papers) in writing categories.

I batted around the contentious issue of dailies competing with non-dailies in newspaper competitions.

I explained why race is important before, but not after, a suspect is arrested.

An American newspaper reporter is nearing a profit on a community newspaper he started from scratch. I still find this story interesting.

The nominees for the 2011 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards were announced. Again I broke down  the B.C. nominees by company.

I chuckled at a pair of ambiguous headlines, including “Crook family history revealed in new book”.

The Province stole, whole hog, a story by Black Press reporter Jeff Nagel. It gave credit to him and the Victoria Times-Colonist. It was, all in all, hilarious, but Black Press bosses weren’t impressed. The next day I explained what the inadvertent theft said about our industry. Bonus factoid: The day The Province feat. Jeff Nagel was released, March 22, this blog experienced its heaviest traffic in its still-brief history. The above-average numbers continued for two more days, in case you were wondering.

I considered whether newspapers should use RCMP-supplied images and video after receiving an email from someone with major qualms about the practice.

I played around with a new strategy when applying, or soliciting applications, for a job opening.

The Powell River Peak launched the first B.C. community newspaper app for iPhones etc. I wondered, why’s it free? (I now think that’s probably a good idea, something I may elaborate on later).

I exposed Coast Reporter associate publisher Cathie Roy as a publisher who actually writes news stories and covers committees of the whole.

And, finally, I liked the Glacier Media refocus on email subscriptions.

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This blog had more visitors in March than any previous months. It’s still a one-person show, though, so any help would be great. It’s easy, quick and the pay is shite. E-mail bclocalreporter (at) gmail (dot) com.

Have I made an error? It wouldn’t be the first time. Leave a comment and I’ll shamefully update the post.

We’re making inroads into our census of B.C. community newspapers, but there are still a lot of blanks in the Journo-lust Spreadsheet. How many journalists work at your paper? How often do you come out? Who’s your publisher? Participation is free! The benefits unlimited! The exclamation points boundless!