GUELPH POLITICAST #382 - સમાચાર (The News)

Dhwani, which in the Gujarati-language means "The Voice" or "The Sound", launched back in March and it immediately tested a few assumptions. Could you successfully start a newspaper in the year 2023? Is there an audience for a community paper that’s specifically pitched to an ethnic community? It turns out the answer to both questions is "yes", but how big can it get?

It’s been over a decade since someone tried to start a newspaper in Guelph. There have been calls, especially at the time of the Guelph Mercury’s closing in 2016, but there was a fundamental understanding that no one could start a newspaper in this digital era. But what if that paper wasn't written in English? Guelph is a growing community that's also becoming a more diverse community, but it's hard to reach people and get them involved if you’re not speaking their language.

The City of Guelph’s communications department is trying to make those changes, but helping people get informed about community happenings is one of the reasons that the news media exists. This was also a thought that Hitesh Jagad had last year when he was running for city council, and the co-proprietor of  Kirtida's Kitchen decided that the time was right for an idea he had been cooking for several years now: There are people in Guelph who need news that literally speaks to them.

That’s just the beginning of the journey on this week’s podcast as Jagad tells us about why he started Dhwani, and why he wanted it to be a physical newspaper first. He will also tell you about how Dhwani works, what his future expansion plans are, and why Google Translate is just not the same as someone writing in another language. And finally, he will discuss when you might see reporters working for Dhwani, and why you need to always to make time for the community.

So let's talk about the news, or સમાચાર, on this week's Guelph Politicast!

If you speak the language, you can find a copy of Dhwani at over 30 locations between Guelph, Waterloo Region, Brantford, Hamilton and the GTA, and you can find a digital copy here. If you don’t read Gujarati, you can always visit Kirtida's Kitchen on Eramosa Road at Metcalfe, and you can follow Jagad on social media on Twitter and Instagram.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Stitcher, Google, TuneIn and Spotify .

Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

Photo Courtesy of Hitesh Jagad/Kirtida's Kitchen.