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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-12-07, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views Rural Canada has become a colony My colleagues here at The Citizen, whose business it is to ask questions, have spent almost as much time answering questions in the past week as asking them since the news broke of the great swap between Postmedia Network and Torstar which saw 41 community newspapers change hands, and 36 killed off to eliminate competition. To save them answering a few questions, no, The Citizen is not part of either of these organizations and yes, it will be continuing to give strong local news coverage for as long as we can see into the future. This week when the local shareholders who own the company that publishes The Citizen, The Rural Voice and Stops Along the Way hold their annual meeting, they will learn that the company once again had a profitable year, belying the perception that there is no future for local newspapers. Not that the profit is huge or that it was easy to earn. Every year requires creative management to see opportunities and take advantage of them. This year we were helped greatly by having the International Plowing Match at Walton and the increased business that brought. Next year, without such a windfall, it will be a challenge for Publisher Deb Sholdice and the staff to score another profit, particularly given higher costs because of the boost in minimum wage and higher printing and postage costs. But the fact remains, they are here and on the ground and able to see new opportunities as they arise and react to them. The sad fact for those 36 communities that lost their newspapers, is that decisions were made by people sitting in offices in Toronto who know nothing about the communities their decisions are impacting and don't really care about anything but what they perceive as the -1111 Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk best way to maximize profit for their shareholders. They have bought into the "fact" that there is no future in small town newspapers (or radio and television stations, for that matter) and, worse, can never see that they might be mistaken because they have adopted a top-down management style that eliminates any decision-making at the ground level where creative minds might see opportunities for new revenue. And so these companies have decided to milk these declining assets for profit for as long as they can, then write off the newspapers, and the communities they serve. Rural communities, that were once self- sufficient, have become mere colonies for large urban corporations but rather than blame these distant ogres, we need to look at ourselves as ready helpers. We've done it to ourselves. Not so much in newspapers, maybe, but in our communities as a whole. The path of community newspapers falling into the hands of large corporations began 30-40 years ago when the aging publishers of local newspapers found they had no family or employees who wanted to take over the arduous job of meeting a weekly deadline. So they sold their papers to ambitious neighbouring publishers who built up mini - chains which they later sold to larger chains, concentrating ownership of more than half of Ontario's community newspapers in the hands of the two corporations that made the swap. Newspaper ownership was on the leading edge of a trend. When those newspapers were first sold in the 1970s and 1980s, small towns still were complete shopping centres serving their surrounding communities with food stores, clothing stores, hardware stores, pharmacies, and more, all owned by local people who served on school boards and coached sports teams and went to church. But little by little shoppers succumbed to a feeling they were missing out because they weren't shopping at big chain stores. And when the Zehrs and the Walmarts opened nearby, people abandoned their local merchants and flocked to the big guys. There seems to be a growing sense of comfort that comes with dealing with a giant national or international corporation. People will complain about being a tiny fish in the ocean of the huge corporation, but they'll put up with it because that's where the crowd shops and they want to be part of the crowd. But at least the lawn mower or the hair drier you buy at the chain store is the same as the one you'd buy at a local store. News is different. As a Western University professor noted, when interviewed about the ramification of the big newspaper swap, "You can't Google what's not there." If there aren't reporters from local newspapers working long hours to root out local stories, Google or Facebook won't have them. So for all of you out there, particularly younger residents who see newspapers as old- fashioned and think all information should be free, the challenge is yours: support your local newspaper or give up on having local news on your phone. You can't get news for nothing. Only by paying people to cover the news will there be news to read. Do what is kind because it's right Being a first-time father who has to spend so much time away from his first born isn't an easy task to take head-on, believe you me. There is one silver lining, however. As sad as both of us are when my daughter Mary Jane realizes I'm leaving, the moment I come home to her never fails to fill my heart with joy. This weekend, between several different games at local arenas, some Christmas celebrations and a few other entertaining events, I was going in and out of the house a lot. It's heartbreaking to leave, but the moment I walk back through the door to my home and hear Mary Jane struggle to find her footing on the hardwood floor to run to greet me, a smile breaks across my face as wide as the Jordan River. When she hears the door, before she knows who it is, she has a welcoming smile on her face because she is always happy to greet people entering our home. I believe that innocent, all -welcoming love of children is one of the chief reasons God chose to send His son to this world as a baby. The decision is symbolic of how unconditional His love is. Before we get any further here, I'll level with everyone: My religion is something I typically keep private. It's not that it shames me, or that I'm part of some weird sect that people might judge me for (actually, I wouldn't really care if the latter were true). No, there's no reason for me to hide my religion, but I'm not hiding, I'm just not shoving it down other people's throats. I'm a loyal parishioner of the United Church of Canada. I could tell people about it. I mean, I'm very happy about my family's religion. Why happy? Well there is one big reason. We may not have the rich history of some other church traditions (though the traditions that were united to create us have lengthy ones) and we may not have the fancy buildings to visit in foreign countries, but we do have one thing to hang our hat on that is essential to my belief in the United doctrine: we welcome everyone. That may not fly with some readers. Heck, that may not fly with some friends, but the fact that we welcome everyone is important to me. I'm not dealing with any specifics here: I'm talking about every single person seeking the Kingdom being welcomed through the doors of the United Church. Like Mary Jane, every good practitioner of United's brand of Christianity should offer a loving smile to everyone who walks through the door. Unfortunately my adherence to that most sacred tenant was tested recently, and I may have failed. Recently I was at a church event and there was someone who exhibited different behaviour. This person may have been considered, by those who have forgotten the spirit of being in a church, disruptive to the service. The glowering glances, the not -always - whispered shared sentiments of frustration with not being able to hear and the haughty attitudes were pretty plain to this journalist taking in the service so I can only assume they were all to clear to Him. In His house of worship, some people were judging others of being less deserving of a spot at His table. That incensed and stayed with me for quite awhile. If you think you might have been one of those people, fret not, I'm not here to pronounce sentence upon you, that's not the responsibility of a mortal man. The only person I can take to task is myself and, in doing nothing, in letting the heartbreak of that moment stay with me instead of spurring me to action, I failed. I failed to practice the love that I am accusing others of ignoring, so I'm going to resolve to do better. This unconscionable act happened in, of all places, a church and, of all times, during a month in which Christians should be putting in every extra effort. My original intention here was to say that those who don't practise God's love, especially in a church, should be shown the door. However, it dawned on me that in that belief I was no better than those who upset me. Instead I'll challenge those who think on the outbursts of a child as an interruption or the actions of anyone behaving differently as deserving derision to be better Christians. Be better than you were, be better than I was and remember to love without condition. Don't pay lip service to this challenge either. Don't go around treating people better because the local big, bad journalist may have better ears than you think. Doing what is right because someone else is watching is useless. Do it because being kind is right. Not to cheapen the sentiment here by dipping into science fiction and fantasy, but like many great morals, the title character of Doctor Who fame said it best: "Without hope, without witness, without reward." Doing the right thing and being kind is only worth doing if you do it without hope of recognition or recompense. Merry Christmas. Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense Let the truth speak For the most part, journalists are people who are out to help others. Sure, there are some bad eggs, but for the most part, we're trying to help people by what we do. That help may look odd to some at times, depending on the subject of the story. Stories in the news cycle now about figures like Harvey Weinstein or U.S. President Donald Trump may not be viewed as helping those two men in particular, but what they're doing is exposing those who do wrong and telling those who have been wronged that they matter too. Power, influence and dishonesty can't drown out the rest of us. The movie Spotlight, for example, brought me to tears. To watch the power of journalism take down a well-established network of pedophile priests, vindicating thousands of abuse survivors, made me proud. They were armed with a pen, a note pad and the truth. That's what gets lost sometimes. Journalists aren't spinning stories out of thin air or seeking to slander those they dislike and destroy them. There are real and devastating consequence for such actions. We need to look only to John 8:32 to know that "the truth will set you free." Journalists have the truth. If they drag it out into the light, there will be those upset by that, and those who now know more about their world and the people around them as a result. That is our job and sometimes it's difficult. But what if we don't have the truth? What if our trust is betrayed? That's what seems to be going on in the upside down world of the United States right now with James O'Keefe and his Project Veritas. This initiative aims to discredit honest journalists, by testing them with made-up stories in the hopes that they'll print them. If they do, the hope then is that the public will point and laugh at the "incompetent" media and, furthermore, media members will be exposed as crooks and liars — many of whom are on the take from the government and major corporations. (I am constantly surprised at how widespread this belief is. Walk through a newspaper office's parking lot sometime and I'll give you a quarter — which I don't have — for every BMW or Mercedes Benz you see. If we're all on the take, then what we are guilty of is negotiating a terrible deal.) The Washington Post revealed what's going on in this shameful underbelly last week when it published a story about a woman trying to suck the newspaper's reporters into what appears to be a fabricated story involving Roy Moore, a Senate candidate from Alabama. The woman's story checked many boxes. She claimed that in 1992 she and Moore had a sexual relationship when she was just 15 (he would have been in his mid-40s at the time). She said the relationship led to pregnancy and, eventually, an abortion. Post reporters felt uncomfortable with some details of the story and later witnessed this woman walking into the New York offices of Project Veritas, an organization that The Washington Post claims uses "false cover stories and covert video recordings" to expose what the organization feels is media bias. Journalists are human and they want to help others. Being told that someone was abused as a teenager is incredibly disturbing and as a person, you don't want to doubt anyone's story. For this group to use a person's good nature to hurt them is as low as it goes. We're all just trying to do our best and do our part in and for society. To be targeted with falsehoods and vicious intent like this is both disheartening and sad.