The Rural Voice, 2005-01, Page 14READY TO LAY
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10 THE RURAL VOICE
John Beardsley
Making agriculture matter
John
Beardsley is
former farm
director of
CKNX radio
and has been
involved in
agribusiness
for many
years.
Thank goodness for the Huron,
Bruce, Perth and Grey County
Federations of Agriculture and The
Rural Voice for standing up for
agricultural journalism. I
don't know if you appreciate these
groups as much as I do now. You see
there's a kind of hush all over
Midwestern Ontario as many people
turn off their radios in favour of print
media or no farm news at all.
As CKNX radio will tell you, they
haven't dropped farm radio, they just
got rid of their farm director. I have
heard some speculation that it was a
trial balloon to test the waters of
public opinion. Public statements of
CKNX management claim not.
The proposed "COAST RADIO",
which is trying to get simulcast radio
stations in Goderich, Kincardine and
Port Elgin, must be rubbing their
hands with glee at the apparent
misfortunes of CKNX radio.
Wingham's CKNX radio has
terminated eight employees since the
settlement of the first strike in the
radio station's history. Long-time
manager Jack Gillespie has been
promoted out of the station to make
way for new General Manager John
Weese.
There has been a storm of protest
over November's terminations of four
on -air personalities: myself; FM
102's funny and talented drive home
deejay Doug Avery; Midwestern
Ontario's veteran country music man
Don Fraser, and the melodious (and,
dare I say, seductively) voiced
weekend newswoman Bonnie
Bromilow.
The protest has occurred mostly
under cover on phone, fax and email
lines but it has also spilled over onto
Bryan Allan's Talkshow and the print
media. What would happen if Dusty
Hill were moved, to be replaced by
Phil Main and Notty Scotty on
AM920 in the mornings?
One thing I have learned through
this experience is that people in
Midwestern Ontario are fiercely loyal
to CKNX radio and television
stations. Many still consider them one
and the same, even though Toronto's
CHUM group owns the TV station.
London's Blackburn Radio Inc.
currently owns the radio station.
The maxim at CKNX seems to be
"if it worked in Sarnia it will work in
Wingham". It would be interesting to
hear from more Lambton County
farmers to see if the four Blackburn -
owned stations are as well respected
as CKNX.
Farmers I've spoken to tell me it
seems like a vast radio wasteland on
the Sarnia stations as far as farm
news is concerned, except for the
occasional wire story. The Sarnia
stations do carry the Farm Radio
Networks programming.
I am personally unhappy to see
CKNX management blatantly
disregard the wishes of their listeners.
If CKNX is serious about building up
and not just maintaining farm radio,
then they should show the public this
by returning farm programming to
FM 102. More and more farmers tell
me they are sick and tired, in this
digital cable world, of the fluctuating
signal and even no signal at all for
AM 920.
But it's not just agricultural radio
that is under fire; look what has
happened to farm coverage on the
New NX (how long does it take to
become the old NX?) since they
closed the Owen Sound bureau. At
one time you could expect a farm
story two to five times per week but
now if it doesn't happen in London or
Windsor, forget about it.
No disrespect is meant to the hard
working journalists Scott Miller and
Drew Ferguson, but their hands are
tied by lack of resources. But that
will have to wait for another month.
Please let me know what you think
of my column by emailing me at
jbeardsley@scsinternet.com or
snail mail to The Rural Voice.0