Who we are
About Saltbox Echo
Saltbox Echo is a news site and weekly podcast published for Ottawa and the National Capital Region, and the advertising desk that funds part of that reporting.
Saltbox Echo covers Centretown, the ByWard Market, Hintonburg, Gatineau and Orléans — council decisions, neighbourhood events, small business openings and the weekly episode of The Echo Hour, our local news and culture podcast. The site is operated as Saltbox Echo, trading as IPRINT MEDIA GROUP INC., a federally registered corporation.
Our office is at 2640 LANCASTER ROAD, UNIT B, OTTAWA, ON K1B 4Z4 — a short drive from Centretown and easy reach of the ByWard Market. That's also where the advertising desk is based, and where placement bookings, invoices and podcast scripts get worked through before anything runs.
01
Who puts a placement together
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Editorial desk
Writes the calendar copy and podcast scripts, and keeps the line between reporting and advertising clear on every page.
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Advertising coordinator
Handles booking, scheduling and approvals, and is your main point of contact from first enquiry to the closing summary.
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Podcast host
Records the weekly episode of The Echo Hour and reads sponsor mentions in the same voice listeners already know.
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Office administrator
Answers the phone and inbox during business hours and routes enquiries to the right desk.
02
What Saltbox Echo doesn't do
We don't fold editorial coverage into an advertising package — a booked placement is always labelled as advertising, and our reporting is written independently of who advertises with us. We don't offer more than the three placements on the rate card, and we don't run political advertising, restricted categories, or campaigns outside Ottawa and the National Capital Region. If an enquiry doesn't fit, we'll tell you plainly rather than invent a placement to sell. That's a short list on purpose: it's easier for an advertiser to understand three fixed placements and a clear boundary than to guess at what else might be negotiable.
03
Reaching the desk
The advertising desk keeps the same hours as the newsroom: Monday to Friday, 08:30–17:00, Eastern Time. A calendar spot generally needs five business days' notice; podcast mentions need closer to two weeks, since scripts go through approval before recording. Enquiries sent outside those hours are picked up the next business day — see the full contact details for phone and email.
04
On pricing
Every placement is sold at the price on our rate card — there's no separate quote process for the calendar spot, the podcast mentions or the Whole Row Partnership unless a request goes beyond what's listed. We think a fixed, published rate card is a fairer way to sell advertising than a price that changes by who's asking, and it's the same approach we bring to reporting on the neighbourhoods we cover. A local bakery and a large non-profit pay the same $170 for a calendar spot; the price on the page is the price you're quoted on the phone.
If you're not sure which of the three placements fits your plans, the advertising coordinator is happy to talk it through before you book anything — there's no cost to asking, and nothing to commit to until you're ready.