What is The Sturgeon?

Greetings and salutations!

Welcome to The Sturgeon—an every-other-week newsletter talking about all things New West from the perspective of a millennial who happens to work in the city. The newsletters are sent on Fridays at 7am, and the first one will be out this Friday.

For those who don’t know me, my name is Ria Renouf. I spent about a third of my life as a broadcaster, anchor, and reporter, but I’ve since moved into the world of marketing, public relations and communications. Most of my clients are based in New Westminster, and I actually lived in New West for six years. I’m now just a bridge (or SkyTrain) ride away in Surrey. When I’m not writing, you can find me running, reading, playing video games, or hanging out with my husband Jon.

Writing is an absolute passion of mine and for those of you who know me from my previous project, The Anchor, I really loved the gig. I had to put a TON of time into it though, and it wasn’t something I could do for just a few hours a week. It actually became my life, and there are pros and cons to that.

I did a lot of good work I was proud of—and it all happened in the shadow of changes to the news and media industry—all of which I’ve been quite vocal about. That being said, I’ve always wondered what I could do on my own with a small community publication, so I’ve decided to answer that question myself.

I want to keep The Sturgeon free and low-barrier for as long as I can. That being said, there will be some trade-offs. I’m disclosing these points upfront so people understand what they’re getting into should they subscribe.

• This is not a hard news first model. If you’re looking for city council coverage, I unfortunately will not be providing that—it’s just not viable. Remember, I am putting this publication together off the side of my desk. Council coverage takes hours. Mad respect to those who do it. There is a news bits and bobs section that will have some headlines in brief, some from within the community, others outside of New West.

• The Sturgeon is more about the community. I welcome community profiles. I want to know about all the cool things New Westies (and others!) are doing in New West! Think of it as show-and-tell by e-newsletter. If you have someone I should feature or chat with, please email [email protected]. I will only reply to tips and requests that I am interested in. Please do not send follow-up emails, and please do not send requests through DMs.

• Yes, there will be a calendar. Again, email what’s happening to [email protected]. The sooner you can tell me about your event, the better; I work on these newsletters well in advance of their publishing dates. Please note: due to character limitations with beehiiv, I cannot put links in the events section. That being said, if the item ends up being part of one of the other sections, I can include links there. Everything is first-come, first-served.

• I am currently not accepting ads, but I am accepting donations if that’s something you want to do. I’ve heard time and again people just don’t want to pay for news content, and I want to eliminate that hurdle. That being said, some of you previously reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in a model that just took donations. I am able to offer this through the Buy Me A Coffee platform. These are not tax-deductible donations, there is no tax receipt provided, and these are not counted towards the digital news subscription tax credit. As I’ve said before, no pressure to donate!

• Yes, you need to sign up for The Sturgeon with your email. It’s free. The only emails you’ll be receiving via The Sturgeon are the newsletters. If someone is emailing you asking for donations on behalf of The Sturgeon, do not reply and report this as SPAM. The Sturgeon will never ask for your personal information via email or direct messaging. The reason why this requires a sign-up with emails allows for quality control; those who want to read the content can. It also allows me to get a sense of whether there is a market for this newsletter in New West within the next six months. Yes, I have a number in mind. No, I will not be sharing that number at this time.

• I am not accepting guest authors, op-eds, interns, etc. Unfortunately, I’m not able to at this time due to time constraints. This may be something to look at in the future.

• I am an independent publisher. I’m doing this on my own time—so this publication is 100% coming from me.

• Uh…why is your publication named after a fish? Why not? Also, if you’re not in the loop, sturgeon are kind of a big deal around New West—this related video is a favourite of mine.

Any questions? Feel free to reply to the newsletters. And again, welcome!

Warmly,
Ria

We recognize and respect that New Westminster is on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the Halkomelem speaking peoples. We acknowledge that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land.