I discovered a new power quite by accident last week.
No sooner had we started delivering The Voice when word came that Transport Canada had dropped its demand that eight turbines located near the Chatham Airport be removed due to safety concerns.
In the editorial written the day before the about-face, I suggested that the Chatham-Kent get on board with Transport Canada’s ruling, even if we needed to eat some crow to do it.
Chatham Mazda from Chatham Voice on Vimeo.
I could hear the “Ha!” echoing from the Civic Centre across the river. Or maybe I was imagining it.
Having the facts change after you go to press is every journalist’s worst nightmare. Even though the online edition was updated, there is still that sinking feeling that you’re going to appear to be an idiot looking for a village.
It’s the risk that you take writing about local topics.
Since we have plenty of crows and I know someone who’s rather famously good with his Big Green Egg, I’ll be dining in style on crow wings.
Knowing that I’ve been given the power to have things change after I write about them, I’m thinking of writing that we don’t need a Junior A team, Chinese investment won’t happen and the Everlast Group’s tower on King Street won’t be done on time – just to see what happens.
Seriously, the tone of the editorial holds. We shouldn’t be differing with experts on air safety. If the experts believe the airport is safe, it must be, right?
They wouldn’t just change the regulations to avoid a messy political issue or to avoid us learning that there were at least two federal departments who didn’t know what each other was doing.
We’ll see if council has the appetite to bill Transport Canada for the legal fees we incurred fighting a fight that didn’t need to be fought.
The energizing power of kind words
One of the best things about writing stories at this time of year is the amount of goodwill and good deeds being done. Everywhere you look, people are helping people, and we like nothing better than to write about it.
Our readers seem to like it too.
Since we’re a small business, we’re used to having to do more than one job at a time.
The multi-tasking left me running a bit behind, and when I dropped papers off at one of our dealers, a woman met me in the parking lot.
“Do you have The Chatham Voice? I was here earlier today and it wasn’t here yet. I love your paper.”
I hear that a lot. It will never get old.
By the way, Bruce, she loves your column.
It was a nice end to a looooong day.
