Village Media has announced its acquisition of Ontario provincial politics newsletter Queen’s Park Today, and Parliament Today, its federal counterpart.
Founded in 2012 by journalist and entrepreneur Allison Smith, Queen’s Park Today is targeted at Ontario lawmakers, political staffers and insiders, while Parliament Today was launched in 2021 to cover federal politics and all things Parliament Hill.
The deal, which closed Oct. 1, establishes Village Media’s first-ever bureau on Parliament Hill.
Both newsletters will now operate as part of The Trillium, Village Media’s legislative bureau at Queen’s Park, which it launched early last year.
Katherine Declerq will continue her role as editor of Queen’s Park Today, in addition to taking on editorial duties at Parliament Today. Before joining Queen’s Park Today this summer, Katherine was CTV News’ bureau chief at the legislature. Reporter Alan S. Hale will continue to write the Queen’s Park Today newsletter under The Trillium banner, while Parliament Hill reporter Palak Mangat will continue to write the Parliament Today newsletter.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to have these talented journalists join our team,” said Jessica Smith Cross, editor-in-chief of The Trillium, in a Village Media announcement. “Today’s announcement is a reason for optimism about the future of Canadian news.”
Allison Smith also joins Village Media as the founding editor of the soon-to-launch TorontoToday, covering the community of about 300,000 from the Island on the south to Bloor on the north, Don Valley Parkway on the east and Bathurst on the West.
“I have called Toronto home for 16 years and I am so excited to turn my journalistic eye on the city,” said Smith. “There is so much local news that goes unreported. TorontoToday is going to change that.”
“We like to call it one plus one equals three,” added Jeff Elgie, CEO of Village Media. “Subscribers who’ve loved Queen’s Park Today for years will get access to The Trillium’s exclusives, and The Trillium’s subscribers will love getting Queen’s Park Today in their inbox every weekday morning. Everyone gets more than they signed up for.”
Village Media currently operates 25 local news websites across Ontario, including GuelphToday, SooToday,BarrieToday, Sudbury.com and BurlingtonToday.
