Local Content Matters!

After the latest job cuts to newsrooms across the country, I am personally terrified for the future and what will happen without “local news”. I think you should be concerned too, but let me explain why...

In case you didn't hear, Bell Media is selling off 45 of its 103 regional radio stations, as it cuts nine per cent of its workforce, "because it's not a viable business anymore". Wow!

I believe poor decisions made by management are to blame, not the industry itself.

I'll admit that when I watch the news on TV or listen to it on the radio, I absolutely cringe! I will never claim to be perfect; however, the grammar is horrific, the voices are very hard on the ears (to be polite), and it appears no one is double-checking their work, especially if you read any articles online. Eek! The spelling errors alone are enough evidence there is not a lot of proof-reading taking place. And one of the reasons is due to the many staff cuts, which result in everyone taking on a much heavier workload than normal, leaving many things to fall through the cracks. Language matters too! Without it, we might as well go back to grunts and hand gestures. I think there's enough regression currently going on in society with the attacks on both abortion and LGBTQIA+ rights, setting us back decades!

As a personal example of the lack of care by management, I left my last job in radio during the summer of 2022, and when I tuned in to one of my old stations the other day, I realized the weather was missing from the noon news! It's actually been missing since my departure and no one has noticed, or if they have, they don't seem to care. Over a year later and no one has fixed it. SMH.

If employees/management aren't even listening to the station, why would you expect others too? If you say “your local forecast is next” and you play a song instead, the audience is going to lose faith and trust in your reliability.

For a little history lesson, Canada's first newspaper began printing in Halifax, Nova Scotia on March 23, 1752, while radio was introduced in the late 1890s, primarily as Morse code, and TV followed in the 1950's. The media industry developed as a way to send information to the general public, especially in cases of emergency: power outages, weather warnings, etc...

People had local reporters they trusted, who would deliver the information they needed in their daily lives. Journalists became advocates for the people, demanding answers and accountability for things happening in their community. They would report the facts, not opinions, on how government decisions (on all levels) would affect the general public, which seemed to create a general understanding of “don't shoot the messenger”, since reporters themselves were “one of us”.

Through the years, rules and guidelines for professional reporters/journalists have been created by several organizations, like the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CSBC), to ensure the industry remains factual and accountable.

When Sirius, satellite radio, was formed on June 21, 2011, the radio business definitely changed, especially when it came to news. Satellite radio offered commercial-free, non-stop music, which created a challenge for “terrestrial” (AM/FM) radio. In order to compete, local news and other content became the focus, as a way for stations to differentiate from the generic satellite content.

Unfortunately, that didn't last very long. With the creation of the internet and social media, which is almost impossible to regulate, news has changed entirely.

In 2024, local newspapers are almost non-existent, while I'd say that fiction or "fake news" is more prevalent online than facts, by a ratio of almost 80:20 or 90:10. It's become THAT bad!

More and more “bots” or "wannabe" journalists, with no formal experience or training, are starting their own online publications as a way to promote their own agenda, or propaganda. There are no rules for them to follow either, since no one can possibly regulate it. (Just look at how much porn is still available on the internet to the underaged!) People are falling for the fakes too because they'd rather read articles that align with their beliefs, as opposed to the actual truth, so the shares continue to rise, especially for opinion pieces (editorials), which are not facts.

Plus, do not get me started on what's still to come with A.I. and deep fakes. It will be almost impossible to tell the difference between what's real and what's not.

I'm sure you've encountered a few so-called “resurchers”, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. I got hate mail almost daily during that time, when people accused me of being paid by the government or pharmaceutical companies. Nope! I'll always be a simple farm girl from Churchill, Ontario, who doesn't get paid much, but loves what she does for a living and has worked really hard at it too.

I have spent 25 years of my life in newsrooms at different stations across the country. They included those owned by: Rogers, Bell, CTV, Global, Corus and more, where I have learned alongside some of the “best in the biz”. Each place had its own way to do research and sort through the BS, while each reporter had their own method of finding the local stories that mattered to their audience.

Now newsrooms are being shut down or left with a skeleton crew to "syndicate" as much content as possible across the country, which means no more local.

It also means no more answers to the common questions, including:

-Why are the police in my neighbourhood?

-Did anyone die in that massive fire?

-Why are the roads shut down in this area?

-How does that political announcement affect me?

Those are just a few examples, and if people are left to do their own "research", I believe it could possibly lead to a civil war.

The pandemic itself proved that there are two very different sides in our country and the division is only increasing, in addition to the anger.

I am deeply saddened that members of the media have become the enemy to some people, as opposed to the truth-seekers we are trained to be.

As a result, I do not enjoy leaving my house and attending social activities as much anymore. I am personally terrified we have lost our humanity and compassion for others, becoming a selfish and narcissistic society focused on "me, me, me".

I wish there was an easy solution, but supporting and demanding local content is a very good start. Without it, the chaos will continue and I'll have to start building a bunker in the woods...