Whitby Free Pressi Wecfriesday, Dome7 94,ae Demnise of a daîly The Oshawa Times, Durham's only daily newspa- per, died on Sunday. Nobody stayed around te write the obituary. Oh, sure, there were news stories in every local news outiet. Every news outiet had been covering the strike regularly since it began. Nobody had predicted -- publicly, as far as I know -- that the strike would end as it did. It is history now: that last week Times publisher Mac Dundas announced the 123-year-old newspaper wouid close for good. Nobody lingered Wo mourn fully the passing. It may I.. be some time before the community realizes the extent of the loss. Sure, the announcement br ought forth the usual brays: " .. . a sad day in the analso ournalis ... a newspaper dies . . . etc etc etc." Those were standard mumblings, coverng up the reality that Thomson headquarters was right: the n ewspaper h ad marginalized itself so thoroughly *that the community m4y not miss it. My heart goes out Wo those who worked at the Times; especially those who worked there until the strike and now find themselves without a job. Several of these I knew as journalism students. I watched them on their first wobbly journalistic legs; feit pride as they grew fite professionals. Talent will tel. After this first trauma is over, the news writers will and write side Up. Why did the Times die? On the surface, the word from Thomson Newspa- pers Ltd. makes sense. The newspaper had just lost teo much money over the past three years. The strike by the 80-odd employees pushed that deficit beyond the acceptable limit. Business is business. Twenty-three years ago, the Times had a circula- tion of about 27,000. When the strike closed the paper last month, that circulation had dropped te about 21e000. This was during a time when the population of Oshawa went from 70,000 Wo 130,000 and sur- rounding areas of Whitby and Courtice grew by another 50,000. Had the Times kepýt pace with that growth, it would have had a circulation of upwards of 75,000. Mark Stewart, a spokesperson for the striking Guiîd workers, said the Times continued Wo put out a product for the fifties. Attempts Wo adapt te a char.ging world ended in failure. Remember the special Whitby Edition of' a few years ago? Thomson once pursued a policy that measured editorial excellence by the number of local names in the paper. Well, that's a good thought. No one bothered te ask whether the names were spelled right. Or why they were there in the first place. Or that the telephone book beat them hollow at that game. Gather former Thomson employees anywhere -- not bard, since every newsroom Li the country bas its own corps of former Thomson people -- and you'll get a collection of horror stories. Could a company be s0 cheap and short sighted? Yes and no. Should we cail short-sighted a policy that bas made Ken Thomson one of Ch 10 richest people in the world? It wil take some time Wo sort out the losers. Market forces are market forces. Other agencies will rush in Wo fil whatevtr gaps remain. The Star and The Sun will fil some of the void. Start counting the number of front page and front section stories Enth now carry as they begin te establish market share. They will not provide the detail of local news. In this, Whfitby is lucky. Residents have a community- oriented paper that provides on-the-record accounts of local organizations and detailed coverage of local governinent. Ir I UPTOWN WHITBY RALLWAY STATION, 1924 This station was buit where Hickory Street is now, south of Dundas Street, in 1871, for the Port Whitby and Port Perry RailIway. The tracks were torn up north oithe CPR but the station remained as an express office until 1963. It was demolished in the winter of 1969/70. Whltby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO From the Wednesday, December 5, 1984 edition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS " The Town of Whitby wiII spend $4.3 million to improve Iroquois Park over the next three years. " Don and Bey Rogers of Signet Signs have been named Business Persons of the Year by the Whitby Chamber o f Commerce. " Dr. J.O.. Ru ddy General Hospital will construct a heliport to provide 24 hour access by air ambulances. " Mayor Bob Attersley turned the sod for a new house to be the prize in a raffle by the Whitby Rotary Club. 35 YEARS AGO Fromn the Thursday, December 3, 1959 edition of the WHITBY WEEIKLY NEWS " Willard Dodd and Stan Martin are challenging Harry Jermyn for the mayor's chair in the municipal elections. " Forty-two members of the Ontario Hospital nurses' alumnae association held a Christmas dinner at St. John's Anglican Church. H Hrry Inkpen is seeking re.election to the Town Council. * omUEwards is seeking a seat on the Public School Board for the first time. 125 YEARS AGO From the Thursday, December 2 1869 edition of the WIIITBY CHROi4ICLE " Thomas Davies and Son of the Don Brewery in Toronto have opened an agency to sell their ale and porter in Whitby " Baker William Cullen catered t h dinner for the St. Andrew's Day celebration in Whitby on Nov. 30. " Hatch and Brother are advertising $10,000 worth of hardware, stoves, tinware, ceai oul and Iamps for sale. " Undertaker George Cormack advertises "coffins kept constantly on hand."