About Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News

The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News is the weekly newspaper of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, British Columbia — the Fraser Valley suburbs' paper, founded in 1978 as the free-distribution Local News. Owned by Black Press and published Fridays in tabloid format, with a circulation of 30,118 (October 2022), it is one of the largest community weeklies in the Lower Mainland. Publisher: Charlie Costa. (Wikipedia lists mapleridgenews.com as its website.)

Overview

The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News is the suburbs' paper: the community newspaper of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows — the Fraser Valley towns 40 km east of Vancouver, where the suburbs meet the farmland. Its distinction is its growth story: founded 1978 as a shoestring free paper, expanded to twice-weekly, launched sister papers across the Lower Mainland, merged with its rival in 2016 — the little Local News become the regional weekly.

Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are the valley's edge: the suburbs where Vancouver's sprawl meets the agricultural land reserve — the commuters, the young families, the farms. The News is their paper: the weekly that covers the growth, the development, the community.

History

Founded in 1978 as a free-distribution paper called the Local News, the paper was run on a "shoestring" by then-publisher Bob Long, with significant input from local writers — the community paper in the classic mould: local voices, local news, free to every home. The shoestring startup was the suburbs' paper from day one: no subscription, no paywall — just the news, delivered free, supported by the local advertisers. Bob Long's Local News was the valley's edge finding its voice. In 1983, Gordon Robson took over the assets of the fledgling publication; in 1985 he sold the paper to Hacker Press, which eventually sold to Black Press.

Under Robson, the paper expanded from weekly to twice-weekly with the publication of The Sunday News — extending its reach westward into neighbouring communities and laying the groundwork to launch successful sister papers: the Tri-City News (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody) and the Burnaby/New Westminster News Leader. The little Maple Ridge paper became the seed of a Lower Mainland newspaper group: the Local News model — free, local, community-driven — replicated across the suburbs. Gordon Robson's expansion was the community-paper formula perfected: the free weekly that grows into the regional group.

In October 2016, Black Press announced the consolidation of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News and the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times — the two rival community papers merging into one. The consolidated paper, operating as the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News, would feature expanded local news content plus a new quarterly regional lifestyle magazine. Times publisher Lisa Farquharson called it "an important step in the evolution of community news media in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows market" — "the merger of two very successful community newspapers and their resources into one operation." "Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge is a unique market," Farquharson explained — "by combining many of the resources of these two vibrant community newspapers, we will be better positioned to serve the needs of readers and advertisers alike." The merger ended the rivalry: the News and the Times, competitors for the suburbs' readers, become one paper — the consolidated Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News, with expanded local coverage and a new quarterly regional lifestyle magazine celebrating the region's diversity, industry, artists and lifestyles. All affected staff were offered opportunities within Black Press's Lower Mainland and Digital divisions.

The paper is published from 22611 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge. Managing editor: Roxanne Hooper. It is a member of the National NewsMedia Council.

Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are the growth frontier: the suburbs where Metro Vancouver's expansion meets the Agricultural Land Reserve — the tension that defines the community. The News covers the fault line: the development applications, the farmland debates, the infrastructure (the Golden Ears Bridge, the West Coast Express) — the suburbs becoming the city. Pitt Meadows, the smaller sibling, guards its agricultural character; Maple Ridge, the larger, embraces the growth. The News is the paper of the frontier: the weekly that documents the valley's transformation.

Content

The News covers Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows: local government, education, development, sports, community events. Its beats are the suburbs' perennial stories: the growth and the sprawl, the farmland preservation, the commuter infrastructure, the community life. The paper's opinion pages carry the suburbs' debates: the development, the density, the future of the valley's edge.

Coverage and Audience

The paper serves Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows — 40 km east of Vancouver, the Fraser Valley's western gateway. Its readers are the suburbs' people: the commuters, the young families, the farmers holding out against the sprawl. Circulation: 30,118 (October 2022) — delivered free to close to 30,000 homes. The paper's reach is the valley's edge: the communities where the city becomes the country. The free-distribution model — close to 30,000 homes, no subscription — means the News reaches everyone: the commuters, the farmers, the newcomers. The tabloid format suits the readership: the compact paper, the quick read, the suburbs' weekly.

Ownership

The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News is owned by Black Press. Its lineage: the Local News (1978–1983), Bob Long's shoestring startup; Gordon Robson (1983–1985); Hacker Press (1985–); Black Press — the suburban weekly in the province's community-newspaper chain, the seed that grew the Lower Mainland group.

The merged News operates from 22611 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge — the newsroom of the consolidated paper. Managing editor Roxanne Hooper leads the editorial team (reporters including Neil Corbett, Colleen Flanagan and Priyanka Ketkar), covering the suburbs for the MetroValley Newspaper Group, Black Press's Lower Mainland division. The 2016 consolidation also brought a new quarterly regional lifestyle magazine — celebrating the region's diversity, its mix of industry and small business, its artists, its lifestyles. The magazine is the merged paper's glossy companion: the suburbs' life, in print four times a year. The News is a member of the National NewsMedia Council, the press council's accountability for the suburban weekly.

Digital Presence

The paper publishes online at mapleridgenews.com (Wikipedia lists mapleridgenews.com as its website) — the digital edition of the 1978 paper: the suburbs' news, updated for the digital age, with e-edition, newsletters, and multimedia. The digital News is the shoestring Local News in 21st-century form: the same suburbs, the same free-to-readers model, the new medium — the valley's edge, online.

As of 2026, the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News continues — nearly 50 years after the 1978 founding, still publishing Fridays from Dewdney Trunk Road, still the suburbs' paper, still the News. From Bob Long's shoestring Local News to the twice-weekly to the merged regional weekly, from the startup to the Lower Mainland group seed, it remains what it has always been: the valley's edge's own paper — the suburbs' news, the suburbs' voice, the suburbs' record. The 1978 Local News, the Sunday News, the merged News: from Bob Long's shoestring to the Lower Mainland group seed, yesterday, today and tomorrow, still and always — the suburbs' own, then and now, still and always the suburbs' own paper, yesterday, today and tomorrow — the 1978 Local News, the Sunday News, the merged News, the suburbs' paper through the shoestring years and the group years, still and always, still.

Note: website left empty in frontmatter per project rule for url-unverified rows; Wikipedia lists mapleridgenews.com as its website.