A big change is coming for readers of the Battlefords News-Optimist and Regional Optimist.
The announcement has been made that as of midnight Saturday the two newspapers are being renamed and rebranded.
The Tuesday edition will now be known as the “Battlefords News-Pessimist”. The Thursday edition will be called the “Regional Pessimist”.
As editor Becky Doig explained, the change is meant to better reflect the coverage the newspapers provide to their readers.
“We’ve always been known for news coverage that tells it like it is,” Doig said.
“We take pride in the fact that we’re honest with readers, no matter what.”
In light of that philosophy, it no longer made any sense to include “optimist” in the title of the newspaper.
Doig said the fact is that “things are going straight to heck,” pointing to the provincial budget cuts, the PST tax increases, the continued downturn in the oil economy, and the fact that everyone is miserable the world over.
In the wake of this, Battlefords Publishing decided it had to take immediate action.
“Really, who’s kidding who, here? Things are terrible and everyone in the Battlefords knows it. Our name might as well reflect it.”
The name change takes effect April Fool’s Day, a day notorious for fake news stories running in the Battlefords News-Optimist like the one you’re reading now.
