The Overstory Media Group, the new owner of The Georgia Straight, is poised to return the paper to its original editorial focus on arts and culture.

Farhan Mohamed, Overstory’s CEO, says, “Our goal right off the start is to put [the arts and culture focus] back in place and really rethink what the community wants and needs. I have been hearing for a long time now that there needs to be a proper focus, needs to be someone who cares about the arts and culture space.”

To do that, he says the company is going to find the best people he can hire and that includes some of the former staff as well. He wants to open up the doors again and say the paper is here for the arts community –everything from arts and entertainment, music, food, and events. He also plans to bring back the print version of The Georgia Straight, which former owner Media Central discontinued a few months ago, in addition to undoing the merging of editorial with marketing and sales. Media Central filed for bankruptcy in March.

Mohamed says, “We’re really motivated by different things. With us, we are not entirely focused on driving extreme amounts of revenue. Our focus is on having as big an impact on our communities as we can. That goes for the Straight, and the other publications we have. We want to be that place again that is putting a spotlight on these individuals and organizations.”

When it comes to advertising, it’s expected to be mainly local and regional. The Georgia Straight previously had many relationships with venues, restaurants, local and regional businesses and Mohamed plans to reopen those doors and try to build those partnerships again.

The purchase is less than 10 days old, so there are a lot of questions still to be answered. To get those answers, Mohamed is talking to the community to find out what they want and need, the kind of content and resources they’re looking for. “It’s a unique opportunity. The Straight has been around for 55 years. How do we continue it so it can be around for another 55 years?”

A side effect of Media Central’s bankruptcy was that, while The Georgia Straight and fellow Media Central-owned alt-weekly Now remained in operation, many staff reported late pay or working without pay altogether. In a separate statement, Overstory said its acquisition of The Georgia Straight was an asset purchase – any responsibilities towards staff and other liabilities are with Media Central. Questions about staff being compensated for any payment owed were directed to Media Central’s president Kirk McDonald.

“Our goal is to rebuild the publication, which includes hiring former and new team members,” Overstory’s statement said. MiC has reached out to McDonald and will update this story with any comment.

Overstory operates several other community and culture publications across Canada, including Halifax’s The Coast, Victoria’s Capital Daily, Fraser Valley Current, Burnaby Beacon and Calgary Citizen in addition to Vancouver Tech Journal, Victoria Tech Journal, Tasting Victoria, and Eat Tri-Cities.