Panellists

“It never hurts to ask,” is the sage advice Theresa Blackburn’s late father frequently offered. Those five words have helped her create a multitude of media products since she started publishing almost 15 years ago. Theresa and her husband, Stephen Chisholm, have launched a regional storytelling magazine, a firefighter magazine, a regional tourism guide, a cooking magazine, a cannabis podcast for seniors, and a community newspaper – all without loans or investors. Not all ventures have worked out, but two of their biggest accomplishments continue to thrive in Western New Brunswick – ageless New Brunswick magazine and the River Valley Sun newspaper.

Their business, Black Tartan Media, operates from a 10-by-12-foot office in their basement and has survived economic downturns, COVID-19, and the Meta/Facebook news ban.

After graduating from NSCC’s Radio and Television program, Theresa freelanced at the Chronicle Herald and worked in a private radio newsroom. In 1992, Theresa joined the CBC, where she worked for 15 years. She has also taught Radio Journalism and Media Law at NBCC Woodstock, and served as a municipal councillor for 13 years.

In 2014, Tim Bousquet used his life savings of $10,000 to start the Halifax Examiner as a one-person operation. Over the years, the Examiner has grown into a half-million dollar annual operation with six employees and three regularly contributing freelancers. Tim doesn’t like piña coladas or getting caught in the rain, but if you’re buying, he’ll accept a cold beer in a dank bar.

Darrell Cole spent 30 years in the newspaper industry as a reporter, editor, managing editor and lead editor with the Amherst Daily News, the Amherst News, Citizen-Record and Truro News newspapers. He was also a regional copy editor and regional wire editor with the SaltWire Network and covered news events in Cumberland County for the Chronicle Herald. He is also the voice of the Amherst Junior A Ramblers hockey team for FloHockey TV and upon leaving the news industry in July 2022, moved to the Municipality of Cumberland as the organization’s corporate communications officer in Springhill, N.S. Darrell is also very active in his community as a member and past-president of the Amherst Rotary Club and coaches both minor hockey and minor baseball.

Ariel Freiman is a seasoned media strategist with over 20 years of experience in publishing, digitization, audience segmentation, and revenue development. Holding degrees from McGill University and Oxford Brookes University, she has led revenue-driven initiatives at major media outlets, including The Financial Times, Telegraph Media Group, and the Toronto Star. Ariel has consulted with leading media organizations in Canada and the UK, developing partnerships that intersect media, advertising, engagement, and community building. Her client portfolio includes financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and international B2B companies. Currently, Ariel is establishing Freiman Media, a local news venture dedicated to serving rural and remote communities. Through innovative formats and sustainable revenue models, she aims to restore trust and accessibility in community journalism.

Maureen Googoo is L’nu (Mi’kmaq) from the Sipekne’katik First Nation located in the Sipekne’kati District (central Nova Scotia) of Mi’kma’ki, the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaw people. Maureen has been working in journalism for nearly 40 years. She has worked for media outlets such as CBC Radio in Nova Scotia, Toronto and Saskatchewan, the Chronicle-Herald newspaper in Nova Scotia and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Halifax. In 2015, Maureen founded Ku’ku’kwes News, the only news website that covers Indigenous news in Atlantic Canada. She is the owner/editor of Ku’ku’kwes News and runs it with her husband/photo editor, Stephen Brake.

Vicki Hogarth is the News Director at CHCO-TV and a national award-winning journalist. Her work has been featured in Reader’s Digest, The Guardian, Flare, The Globe and Mail, enRoute Magazine, and Vice, as well as in programming for the W Network. A former magazine editor in Toronto and Montreal, she holds both a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from McGill University where she was on the Dean’s List. Since returning to her hometown of Saint Andrews, Vicki has been dedicated to making local news accessible, recognizing its vital role in strengthening and sustaining democracy.

David Gordon Koch is a multimedia journalist reporting for the NB Media Co-op. His role also involves behind-the-scenes work recruiting and training volunteers in news reporting and video production. He previously worked for CHMA and the Times & Transcript, among other publications. He holds a Master of Journalism degree from Carleton University, and got his start in journalism at CKUT 90.3 FM, the campus-community radio station at McGill University.

Larry Lynch has been the webmaster and editor of Miramichi Online since its founding in 2010. He credits the news industry with finding him, rather than the other way around. After a 22-year career in the forest industry and earning a degree in graphic design, marketing, and web development at NBCC, Lynch launched a web design business in 2009. This venture unexpectedly drew him into the world of journalism, igniting his passion and sense of purpose in local news. Miramichi Online has outlasted traditional media outlets in the region, and Lynch hopes it will continue to thrive long after his involvement ends. A writer at heart, Lynch has published two books: An Expectation of Home (Gaspereau Press, 2000) and Learning to Swim (Gaspereau Press, 2002). In 1999, he was a finalist for the McClelland and Stewart Journey Prize.

Paul MacNeill is a second-generation publisher of community newspapers, talking head for CBC television, and builder of community. He has won more than 60 regional, national and international awards for investigative journalism and commentary. In 2022, Eastern Graphic was a finalist for Canada’s most prestigious journalism honour, the Governor-General’s Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service Journalism. In the same year the Graphic won the C.F. Jackman Award, the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s highest honour, as well as being named Canada’s Best Community Newspaper. He is an executive member of the Michener Award Foundation Board of Directors, the first community journalist to join the body, as well as the Canadian Journalism Collective Board of Directors, responsible for distributing payments to Canadian publishers under terms of the Online News Act. He is a leading voice on the vital importance local journalism plays in Canadian democracy, as well as the effort to ensure its sustainable future.

Marcel Parker-Gallant is Assistant General Manager at Radio Beauséjour Inc., which operates two radio stations (CJSE and CFBO) as well as the newly acquired weekly newspaper, Le Moniteur Acadien, the oldest news publication in Acadia. Marcel has a Bachelor's degree in History from the Université de Moncton and has been involved with media since the age of 16 as a volunteer, summer student, and later employed by Radio Beauséjour since its opening in 1994 as a radio host, assistant program director, program director, and Assistant General Manager. He is also currently music chart coordinator for l'ARCANB (Association des Radios communautaires du Nouveau-Brunswick). Originally from Bouctouche, he now resides with his husband in Dieppe

Jo-Ann Roberts is an award-winning journalist passionate about democracy, public broadcasting, and fighting climate change. She spent 20 years as a CBC Radio host and covered the 2010 Winter Olympics, the NHL Riots in Vancouver, and more elections than she can count. She’s been a candidate in four elections. A runner-up but never a winner. She is the former Interim Leader of the Green Party of Canada. She has an MFA in Creative Non-fiction from King's College. She hopes her book, Storm the Ballot Box, An Insider’s Guide to a Voting Revolution, which was published in March 2025, will start a conversation to get Canadians excited about voting and demanding improvements to democracy.

Terra Tailleur teaches journalism at the University of King’s College. She specializes in digital news, from local news reporting to ethics to revenue models. Her recent collaborations include the Climate Disaster Project, Worlds of Journalism survey and the Canadian Association of Journalists' Misinfo 101.