Times Advocate, 1996-07-31, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, July 31, 1996
Pr> hsr .Editor: Jim Beckett
Buulnssa Manager: Don Smith
Production Manager, DO 00
Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy
Heather Mir, Chris Skskos.
Ross Haugh, Brenda Burke
Mien; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson
Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber. Laurel Miner
TrAw/ nook J Aynn, Al Hodgert
fror{LolWce & Accounting Elaine Pinder, Sue Hollings,
Ruthanne Negrijn, Mita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple
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Small daily newspapers threatened
he dismantling of our daily
newspaper traditions in Canada contin-
ues. Although we are generally well pa-
pered by the daily variety from coast to
coast, we have never been able to nur-
ture a national daily, one that can serve
the entire community.
The closest service Canada has ever
had to a national newspaper has been
the Canadian Press news service, a co-
operative service subscribed to and fi-
nanced by all of the dailies in Canada
in accordance to their readership.
Now that one corporation, Conrad
Black's Hollinger Inc., has decided to
pull its 20 dailies from the Southam
Inc. chain, which it owns, plus its own
28 Canadian dailies from Canadian
Press membership, this Canadian insti-
tution will not be able to survive as the
main disseminator of national and inter-
national news for the independent dai-
lies.
Cutting the funding for Canadian
Press from these 48 dailies will certain-
ly mean CP's demise. The Hollinger -
Southam group plans to expand their
own news service, but this will be to
serve their own newspapers and not the
dwindling number of independents that
are still publishing.
Although the closing of CP bureaus
across Canada may be claimed a cost
cutting measure by Conrad the Con-
queror, its eventual result will be the
starvation of the small independent dai-
lies which have to depend 100 per cent
on CP, or a similar service, for its na-
tional and international news, sports and
photos. Once stripped for their national
news, these newspapers will be vulnera-
ble to further takeovers and forced sales
at bargain basement prices by the Hol-
linger group.
Concentrated ownership of our dailies
and the cutting of the national news ser-
vice's umbilical cord that nurtured them,
will mean a limited diet of national news
for Canadian readers, and the ultimate
starvation of its main customers, its
readers.
In the meantime, the weekly or com-
munity press will continue its growth
and popularity unbridled by large corpo-
rations. Although the publishing giants
carried out a feeding frenzy on the
weeklies in the 1980s they found little
meat on these small town bones and
those they haven't sold or closed, they
are wishing they had in these mean eco-
nomic times.
It is no accident that the community
press has been able to survive and even
grow by scraping together the crumbs
from the dailies loaves. By guarding and
expanding the local news niche the dai-
lies have been discarding, Canada's
community newspapers now enjoy a siz-
able readership edge over the dailies. Of
17 million Canadians over the age of 18,
over 10 million or 60 per cent, receive
and read a weekly newspaper... ;
From the Preset:* loUrnai
our views
Letters to the editor
Grade 9'ers reunion
We hope the Exeter community
realizes how very fortunate they
are to have such talented individ-
uals in their midst's...
Dear Editor:
Paul and I had the privilege to attend the reunion
of the grade 9'ers of 1970 this past weekend. Deb
and Stu Homuth of Exeter, Ontario opened their
beautiful home to this gathering of over 200 people.
The evening was a celebration of historical/
hysterical memories and the creation of a new and
wonderful memory.
We have not lived in the Exeter area for over 19
years, yet we stepped into an event that greeted us
with the warmth and happiness of home.
Such an occasion can not be successful without a
great deal of planning and effort. Karen Brock, Mar-
ilyn Hetn, Laura Overholt, Laurie Dykstra, Deb Ho-
muth and John Weurth were responsible for this cel-
ebration of friendship. We hope the Exeter
community realizes how very fortunate they are to
have such talented and caring individuals living in
their midst's.
Thank you to everyone who participated and
helped us to create yet another happy memory.
Paul and JoAnn Lovell-Kristoferson
Forest
A View from Queen's Park
Aisaititi,: _ �, � _ Dowd
TORONTO -- The week he helped kill a
company ::tat nurtured budding writers, Pre-
mier Mike Harris had only three public engage-
ments. Two were at golf clubs and the third at
a car race. This gives some pointers to where
the Progressive Conservative premier's person-
al interests lie. He once operated a golf course
and will go anywhere to hit a ball, sometimes
for charity. Visiting politicians often find them-
selves chatting on the Constitution while chip-
ping out of a bunker.
But if Harris ever reads a book, he does not
talk about ft. A newspaper recently polled his
cabinet to find out what books ministers are
reading, but the premier's office said he would
not respond. This lack of interest in arts has
carried over into Harris's political life.
To reduce taxes, his government has cut
spending in almost all areas. But grants it
makes to organizations through its Ontario Arts
Council have been cut closer to the bone than
most, from $36 million .to $26 million. The cuts
Vary among orgimizadons and Woe have lost
SS much as 35 per cent of their flanding, enough
1
Student j ob connection...
By Tonyn Riehl - Student Employment Officer
Make yourself stand out!
It is no secret that the 1996 job
market is a buyer's market,
meaning that the employer
holds the power. For this reason
it is important to make yourself
stand out from the other
candidates. This is quite easy to
do with a little planning.
Employers are looking for well
rounded and easily adaptable
.people. Getting involved.in a
"variety of activities can give you
these qualities.
It is frustrating to look through
job ads and see that
they all are asking
for experience.
When I was
younger I used to a stud e
always ask, "How
will I ever get experience if no
one will hire me?" I now know
the answer to this question.
Volunteering, job shadowing,
and co-op placements are three
possible ways. Although these
may not be paid positions, the
experience gained could lead to
a paying job that could more
than make up for the wages
foregone. Think about the type
of work you would like to do in
the future and try to find an
experience gaining opportunity
in that field. I can give a
personal example of how this
approach worked for me. A
year and a half ago l
volunteered for the Revenue
Canada Community Tax
Program, which involved
attending training sessions and
then completing tax returns for
the elderly, low income earners,
new Canadians, and disabled
adults. A year later I applied for
a paid position with Revenue
Canada as a Client Assistance
Officer and got it. I credit the
volunteer experience for my
getting that job.
Another way to
distinguish yourself from
others is to have
entrepreneurial experience
in your background. With
summer jobs being hard to
find, hiring yourself becomes an
attractive option. Your own
hours, no one to answer to, and
hopefully a financial reward are
all benefits of owning your own
business. There are also the
intrinsic rewards, such as the
satisfaction of having done this
all on your own. Help is
available for students wanting to
start a business, the federal
government offers interest-free
Student Venture Loans of
$3000, for more information
call the Business Development
Bank of Canada at
1-800-361-2126. Locally, the
nt.
Huron Business Centre in
Seaforth can give lots of advice
that can make the success of a
business more probable.
Human Resources and
Development Canada predicts
that by the year 2000, small
business will generate about
90% of all new jobs in Canada.
• A lack of required skills could
be the reason for not getting a
job. Two common required
skills are first aid and
computers. Courses to improve
these skills can be picked up
quickly and could make the
difference in your job search.
International experience will
benefit you in nearly every
field. Studying or traveling in
different cultures opens your
mind and gives you a different
view on the world. Some
programs, such as the one 1 am
enrolled in at university, use
international experience as one
of the admissions criteria.
There are any academic and
working exchange programs
available. Next week for my
final column, I will describe a
few international opportunities
and tell you about the exchange
I will leave for in two weeks.
Until then!
to make it difficult for them to survive.
One which has said it is closing after Hams re-
duced funding and cut off a loan guarantee is the
31 -year-old Coach House Press, which pub-
lished early writings by significant authors such
as Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje.
Harris said he was trying to decrease the de-
pendency of arts groups on government and if
Coach House could not compete in the market-
place it must have been poorly managed and
others will take over its work.
His view will have sympathy from many who
feel tax money often is wasted on dabbling an-
ises and experimenting film-makers and
wrought -iron sculptors who create works. less at-
tractive than the scrap metal they started with.
But those who publish books expressing the
thoughts of Canadians have difficulty competing
in cost with books from the United States and
Britain, which have huge markets in their own
countries and benefit from economy of scale, a
reason 110 per cant of books sold in Canada are
American or British.
Comedian pabliflber have a tough tineeelling
Yawn and reach for golf clubs
books by their established authors and take a
huge risk launching new ones, so an organiza-
tion which identifies and encourages worth-
while aspiring writers can make a case that it
deserves taxpayers' help to continue, even in
lean times.
Coach House also had started reducing its de-
pendency on the public purse, but Hams would
hot wait, prompting Liberal leader Lyn McLeod
to say he was "illiterate" in his understanding of
Canadian authors and their needs. Harris also
refused to meet other book publishers who
wanted him to reconsider.
Hams clearly shows leas interest in the arts
than his recent predecessors. He almost never
attends a theatre first -night or book launch --
perhaps he is worried someone will try to touch
him for funds.
This is a contrast to fornix New Democrat
premier Bob Rae, who invited so many authors
to the legislature it sometimes resembled a writ-
ers' convention. Liberal premier David Peterson
spent hail his ,ife in a tuxedo at theatre open-
ings, and Tory premier William Davis talked of
loving opera.
Harris's Culture minister, Marilyn Mushinski,
says she is "committed to encourage private in-
vestment in the arts," but when asked a few
months ago what books she was reading said
she was too busy reading cabinet documents.
Harris moved faster than an Olympic sprinter
when he heard the celebrated horse -race, the
Breeders' Cup, planned for Toronto for the first
time in October, risked being moved back to
the U.S. because of a strike by racetrack work-
ers and coincidental day of protest planned
against him by unions.
Harris sent his "personal assurance" that all
obstacles would be overcome and convened a
weekend meeting to get the strike settled and
unions to promise no disruptions. "The initia-
tive by the premier just cannot be over-
estimated," said a U.S. race official.
But that was sport. When it comes to arts
Harris is more likely to "yawn and reach for
his golf clbbs.
A