Today we are very excited to share our news that The Coast has been acquired by the Overstory Media Group.
Since we founded The Coast with four other friends in 1993, we have seen so much change in our industry. With a feisty and committed team, we have been able to persevere and push through the many challenges of running a small independent weekly newspaper. We have been able to adapt, adding projects and events to our publishing company, keeping the weekly paper constant like the tide. But we had never dealt with a pandemic before.
Just a little over two years ago we postponed that year’s Halifax Burger Week, cancelled printing the weekly newspaper and pivoted to a digital-first newsroom trying to keep up with the increasingly complicated news cycles. We reached out to readers to become donors, which many of you did and that helped us get through those stormy waters.
For 28 years in paper, we showed up for local culture and told local stories to give readers a way in to discover their Halifax. We brought this mission into our reporting the last two years and published some amazing stories. But the pace to keep up with digital adaptation is relentless and we struggled to consistently produce an online version of The Coast that achieves the high standards we set for the print edition.
We knew we needed expert guidance and we felt we owed it to our team and readers to find a partner that could coach and mentor The Coast into being a stronger digital media outlet. Overstory is that partner.
We believe being a part of Overstory’s larger community will help us build up The Coast. During the last two years, we met with many media groups, owners and entrepreneurs learning what makes a small local media brand thrive. We believe Overstory understands the challenges of local media like no other and is committed to hyperlocal digital storytelling as much as we are.
Overstory was founded in 2021 by Farhan Mohamed and Andrew Wilkinson, two individuals who are passionate about local community journalism in Canada. Our team isn't going anywhere, and neither are we. We are continuing to run The Coast from Halifax but now we'll be a part of a dynamic group interested in making sure even more Haligonians reach our stories and events, like the upcoming Halifax Burger Bash, the next Best of Halifax Readers' Choice Awards and the return of Halifax Oyster Festival in September.
Like The Coast, Halifax is at a point of change between the old and the new. As the city goes through its biggest shift, we feel it is important to preserve the magic, the weird, the soul of this place we all love. But it’s the thrill of the new, the opportunities and the people evolving the city that has us most excited, and we promise The Coast will be here covering its progress for you.
Thank you for all your support over the years and donating when we needed the help the most. To keep up on Halifax and what’s going on, subscribe to our Coast Daily newsletter.
With this news we couldn’t be more excited about this new chapter for The Coast and Halifax.
—Christine Oreskovich & Kyle Shaw
Co-founders of The Coast