Mid City, a monthly print zine that covers Ottawa municipal politics, was launched in November 2024 by Laura Blanchette and is still going strong. Through the engaging visual format, the zine (pronounced “zeen”) adds context to things like City Hall debates, new bylaws and summarizes highlights of important conversations.
Mid City offers a fresh, creative approach to local political coverage, designed to appeal to all Ottawa residents, including those less familiar with city hall.”
“The goal was mostly to bring people into city politics that maybe wouldn’t be interested in it otherwise,” Blanchette says. “I have always really loved municipal politics because I feel like I can see so clearly how it affects all of our lives, especially being in Ottawa. We really care about federal politics … but our garbage pickup, our transit and the quality of our roads, all of that is municipal. And I think there’s a lot of barriers to how you can get involved. The website and counsellors are not always super accessible.”
Laura Blanchette is the founder of Good Golly Zines and Mid City. Photo: Amarige Trottier.
Mid City addresses subjects like the proposed anti “renoviction” bylaw, the opening of the LRT Trillium line, and the proposed plan for bus lanes on Baseline Road.
“We do have mainstream news that covers these topics as well,” Blanchette explains, “but by having a physical zine, a physical paper version… that can talk about important issues, and it can bring people in with fun illustrations, and maybe little jokes here and there, and engaging little doodles. All of that, I hope, is getting people interested and excited, but also critical about what’s happening, because there’s a lot to critique.”
Laura Blanchette and Kayla Eli (L-R) at Mid City launch party at Ottawa Bike Cafe on Nov. 23, 2024. Photo: Amarige Trottier.
Blanchette says the zine is “an opportunity for people to reach a community that’s different from just online.”
Though she’s been very busy simultaneously juggling Mid City and her part-time federal communications job, she adds “it’s been really exciting to put this idea to paper and get positive responses from readers.”
Having graduated from Carleton University’s Journalism program last year, Blanchette has a keen awareness of the challenges facing her profession.
“Journalism is kind of at a weird point in Canada, and it needs to change,” she says. “It’s not very sustainable. What’s happening right now, especially with Meta blocking news from their social media, and big companies that are shutting down newspapers, especially local newspapers … I think journalists should be thinking creatively about how we can be continuing to get information out there and to keep power accountable for what they’re doing, especially politicians. Because people need to know, and it’s hard right now.”
Mid City is almost exclusively a one-woman show with Blanchette writing, illustrating, producing, and printing each issue herself. This keeps her print runs small. “Usually, I produce between sixty to a hundred [copies]. It has depended on how much capacity I have to go out and deliver them.”
Blanchette had help with distribution on the last issue and will be working with a local artist to design the cover of the next. She says, “I don’t want to let go of it right now, but I’m open to collaborating with people. I’ve thought about maybe bringing on people who can help with writing articles because it is a lot of work.”
“I’d really love to host more events, and to really lean into the physical nature of the zine too. I’d like to bring people together. I’m not entirely sure what that’s going to look like yet, but we’ll see.”
And her plans for the future? “I would love to keep it going for as long as possible.”
You can pick up the latest copy of Mid City at several locations, or you can buy it online via Ko-Fi as a one-off or by subscription to be delivered monthly to your door.
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