Indian Time Newspaper – 1983 to 2024

Indian Time Newspaper is officially closing it doors on December 19, 2024. After 41+ years and over 2000 issues, the staff of Indian Time has decided to shut down.

Indian Time Newspaper is one of the longest serving independent newspapers in the North Country, serving the community of Akwesasne, our surrounding neighbors, our neighbors to the north – Cornwall, and across the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

It’s been challenging for the past several years, from losing our beloved manager Helen Lazore, to never closing during the Covid pandemic, combined with increased printing costs and drastic and unforeseen changes by our printer.

Our local governments rely on Facebook to communicate with their community members, rather than utilizing our local – independent newspaper with press releases, ads, announcements and notices. This hurt the paper tremendously. A once respected working relationship was crushed by their in-house publishing. They consciously chose to publish their own ‘state-run’ media. Leaving a local, well respected media institution aside.

The most blatant instance of ignoring local media and choosing to post on Facebook only;

was on September 30th when one of our local governments ran a Facebook post “PUBLIC SAFETY/DRUGS FOUND” (contents tested positive for cocaine).

Cocaine was found at our local park. Had they chosen to inform Indian Time Newspaper immediately – Indian Time’s “Breaking News” online would have reached hundreds of readers within an hour, resulting in a larger audience being informed.

As of July 2024, according to ‘Statista,’ 24.2 percent of Facebook users in the United States were aged between 25 and 34 years, making up Facebook’s largest audience in the country. The next largest category of Facebook users is the 35-44 age group at 19 %. Compare that to 12.3% of Facebook users over the age of 65+ use Facebook, and possibly far less in Akwesasne.

In Akwesasne, that number is conceivably closer to 87 % of elders over the age of 65 would rather read a newspaper rather than log onto Facebook. In a recent poll, less than 13% of elders engage in Facebook.

Newspapers run on ads, and it was difficult to translate to local businesses how an ad seen in a print issue is read a finite number of times. Whereas an ad published online is seen an infinite number of times.

For the remainder of 2024, Volume 42, issues #46, #47, #48 and #49 will be published online. Volume 42 #45 will be on the stands in print on November 14, 2024.

This is to formally announce Indian Time will cease to publish after December 19, 2024.