By Greg Holden
The CKTimes, at cktimes.ca, Chatham’s good news on the net, has decided to close. The 10-year-old online news source has served Chatham-Kent with uplifting stories, podcasts and a long list of columnists that have built a loyal readership.
John Gardiner, publisher, said yesterday “The paper has been extremely popular, especially in Chatham-Kent’s smaller communities. But I knew when I started cktimes that I would need a partner to concentrate on sales and marketing, and I just haven’t found one in 10 years of looking. Ultimately, I blame myself for not being more successful.”
Gardiner says his site attracted 300,000 hits a month and about 7,000 unique visitors.
The announcement is another bad news story for local culture, it follows recent announcements of the closing of Ribfest and the hiatus of Sarnia’s Bayfest.
