From the desk of Jonathan Garlow

When people in the community see me in the village or at a restaurant, I am often asked “so how’s the paper going?” In the spirit of small talk I will usually answer “oh pretty good”. Who has time for a 2 hour conversation on the ins and outs of publishing, the economy and inter-community politics? The Two Row Times is a family publication. If we were a multinational corporate entity we would hire marketing experts, special writers to begin a propaganda campaign and try to appear as something we are not. I decided to go in the opposite route and have an occasional moment of transparency and openness with this column. I just want to tell my peeps how it’s going.

To be honest, the first few months were quite an adventure. We had a few close calls early on and almost bit off more than we could chew. I exercised some old fashioned faith got on my knees and prayed. Our team pulled together and now we’re beginning a whole new year together. As we begin to achieve financial success I would like to take a moment to thank the communities, businesses and organizations that have supported us since our first issue on August 21st. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you. I would also like to thank our brilliant staff, partners and friends who have dug deep and created this paper from the ground up. This is a team effort that continues to amaze me.

There is a rumor in the community that we will eventually start charging for our paper. That is not true, but if you would like to support us you can take out a subscription or advertisement. The advertising driven model for a free weekly paper has been very successful for other publications and I believe it will work for us also. I envision the Two Row Times as a multi-community paper and would like to see entire sections devoted to other Haudenosaunee communities. Imagine a 4 page Oneida or Tyendinaga section!

We print 20,000 copies of the Two Row Times each and every week and send them out across Ontario and New York State at over 600 different retail locations! That is great exposure for your business or for your event. Purchasing a month of 3.5”x2” advertising would cost you around $200.00 and is like having us print 72,000 business cards for your business and handing them out for you as well.

The Canadian communities that border Onhkwehonh:we Territories need to recognize that our people spend millions of dollars each year in off-reserve business and we can afford to shop around to locations that cater to us, or at least don’t treat us like second rate customers. Brantford, London, Caledonia, Buffalo, Belleville and Cornwall all have the benefit of being infused by the Onhkwehonh:we economy and I would like to see these cities and towns proportionately represented in the Two Row Times through advertising space.

We started from the bottom now we are here. I take pride in the multi-cultural ethnicity of our coworkers and staff, we are a mixed bunch but I think it’s supposed to be that way. Canada has been living in a One Row relationship for far too long and this newspaper might be a small example of the type of co-operation that our grandfathers envisioned in 1613 when they said “We shall not be like father and son, but like brothers (and sisters).” Thank you.