EDITORIAL: Local media matters

On July 2, the province hosted public hearings on local journalism, looking for the current relevance, the benefits and what can be done to keep it viable.

I had the opportunity to take part in the Winnipeg hearings, presenting our case for why we matter to local communities.

And all local media matters, whether it’s newspaper, radio or emerging media.

The abridged version of my presentation is printed below.

My name is Greg Vandermeulen and I am the editor of The Carillon, a weekly newspaper based in Steinbach.

Thank you to each one of you sitting on this committee. I appreciate the time you are taking to consider the importance of local media and to be willing to engage with stakeholders.

My words today will focus on the importance of local media and how I’ve seen it support our communities and democracy across Manitoba.

In a few weeks I will have worked for 28 years as a reporter, editor or newspaper group editor, all in Manitoba communities.

I will never forget the impact those years and experiences have made on me and I can still smell the coffee brewing when I walked into my first newsroom of the Opasquia Times in The Pas on July 15, 1997.

My career took me through several communities. The Pas and Carman as a reporter. Altona, Winkler and Steinbach as an editor, as well as a stint as a group editor for the Carman Valley Leader, Red River Valley Echo in Altona, Winkler Times and Morden Times.

As a young reporter you learn fast how easy it is to make a difference.

In The Pas at that time, one newspaper and one radio station were all local people had to learn the issues, to understand what their municipal councils were doing, and to get local takes on national stories.

We brought visibility outside of the community as well.

Only after a series of stories were written about the state of the only gravel road that connected to Mosakahiken Cree Nation, (Moose Lake) did the province act in pledging to improve the road that had already claimed too many lives.

At the community feast that followed the provincial announcement, then Chief Phillip Buck told me, a very young reporter at the time, that it was the newspaper stories that made the difference.

In the Pas and on the adjacent Opaskwayak Cree Nation we were the voice of the community, bringing them information on their fellow citizens, government programs and initiatives and sharing history in the community.

This has been true wherever I’ve worked.

Local media also builds communities up. We share the stories of the local citizens who have done something inspiring, of people who are boosting community or residents who simply need a helping hand.

Community media is also key in exploring new ideas.

When Pride first came to Steinbach it was the local newspaper that talked to organizers and presented it to readers. It was the newspaper who dared to bring issues into the light.

Of course things have changed in the industry. At my first journalism job at the independently owned Opasquia Times, we had no website, I used black and white film that I spooled myself and I developed my own photos in the darkroom at the end of the day.

Computer pagination, while not rare in many newsrooms by the late ‘90s, was still a manual procedure at the Opasquia Times, with columns being printed off the computer, cut to size and waxed before being affixed to a layout sheet, photographed to make a negative and then burned onto a plate.

It was then printed in-house on the black and white press, and as the new staff member, you can bet I did my share of helping with the press at the end of a long day if a press guy was sick or missing.

Today most newspapers are part of groups. Our layout takes place on the screen, and multiple titles are printed on a smaller number of presses.

But there are similarities.

Local media remains the key source of news for local residents.

In any given week, we at The Carillon keep the community updated on a wide range of municipal governments, several school divisions, and community events such as festivals and shows.

We highlight local programs, artists, and fundraisers.

We are the only journalists in the Southeast that attend court and report on what’s happening.

We are the only source that offers community correspondents, newsletters from close to 30 communities throughout the Southeast that without us would be part of news deserts.

We still print local sports and are one of very few weekly newspapers across Canada who have a dedicated sports editor, and as a result are frequently recognized by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association in their awards.

We print local columns, exploring a range of issues from history and nostalgia to current events and financial issues. We have long maintained the tradition of ensuring our local politicians, our MP and MLAs, have the opportunity to present their views and highlight their issues with a weekly column.

And our impact is noticed.

For example, we hear it all the time from our large non-profits who are thankful for the visibility we can bring to their cause.

(At this point I had the opportunity to share with the MLAs on the panel, quotes from local non-profits, who because of space will not be quoted here.)