The Coast, Halifax’s independent alt weekly newspaper – one of the last standing in the country, has been forced to lay off 20 staff amid the COVID-19 crisis and will publish online only for the forseeable future. In a post Wednesday, publishers Christine Oreskovich and Kyle Shaw cited a shutdown in the publication’s advertiser base, namely bars and restaurants, and its ticketed events business. Thursday’s print edition will be the last for the 27-year-old paper as a small editorial crew continue publishing online.

Groupe Média TFO has launched Le Camp TFO en Famille, an initiative to support Francophones and Francophiles across Ontario and Canada while schools are closed. TFO’s platforms, including its TV channel, IDELLO.ORG and BOUKILI.CA will host a program of learning activities and educational resources.

Stingray is offering free access to three of its popular apps, Stingray Karaoke, Stingray Qello, and Stingray Classica, for the next month as families struggle to entertain themselves in self-isolation. The Stingray Karaoke app’s entire catalog of over 50,000 songs are on offer, in addition to Stingray Qello, which features full-length concerts, as well as Stingray Classica which will make a limited number of classical music documentaries and concerts available. Read more here.

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