This Journalist Says Canada Saved Him. Now He's Saving A 136-Year-Old Ontario Newspaper
According to the CBC, Mohsin Abbas was lazing about over the holidays last month, watching TV, when he learned about tiny Tilbury, Ont., losing its local newspaper and the huge hole it's left in the community.
Abbas drove to the southwestern Ontario town of 4,800 that's between London and Windsor. He knew he needed to revive the Times, which halted circulation after 136 years. Now, less than a month later, he's the publisher.
"I know the importance of local journalism," he said. "It's our social responsibility."
It's nothing new for Abbas. He's started up his own independent publications before, and worked in newsrooms big and small — in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Currently, he's a freelance contributor for BBC News reporting in Urdu and Punjabi, and runs another small news outlet called the Milton Reporter.
