The Canadian Newspaper Association is launching a three-month marketing campaign valued at $10 million to underscore the importance of Canada’s daily press – an effort aimed at countering negative narratives about print in light of falling circulation sales in the US. The target includes frequent and less-frequent readers, as well as agencies, media planners and advertisers.

The CNA’s campaign launches on Friday, September 28 (International Right to Know Day), with ads in gatefolds and inside pages of most Canadian dailies. The ads will celebrate the role of newspapers as champions of the public interest and the vitality of the medium (as shown by recently released NADbank readership data).

The campaign’s creative concept was provided by Toronto designer John Farquhar, of Wild Mouse Advertising.

‘In Canada’s increasingly fragmented media environment, we are more than holding our own,’ says Montreal Gazette publisher Alan Allnutt, who chairs the CNA board. ‘However you spin it, the story in Canada is one of a vigorous news industry that is actually bringing more eyeballs to our content than ever before, across a mix of paid, free, print and digital platforms.’

CNA president and CEO Anne Kothawala adds, ‘Sometimes we just have to blow our own horn. You can’t expect competing media to say nice things about newspapers. It’s up to us to tell this story.’