Ever notice there are times where things that occur way, way outside of your sphere of existence can trigger you in some way?
For me, recently, it was news that a number of once-daily newspapers in Northern Ontario are ceasing their print operations later this month.
A tip pointed me to a letter from a friend in SooToday.com, an online news publication that serves Sault Ste. Marie. There, the former editor of The Sault Star, Frank Rupnik, a man I’ve known for more than two decades, discussed the end of print for that newspaper.
“One of life’s greatest joys for me was reading a weekend paper and sharing the various sections with my wife. It was a comforting ritual. As much as I appreciate online news, it isn’t the same,” Rupnik wrote in his letter to the editor.
For a number of years, Frank and I were each managing editors at daily newspapers; he was a respected peer, someone who would soak in information and not pass quick judgment on anything.
The pending loss of the print edition of The Sault Star, even though I don’t know a soul there, has me reflecting on the past. I once kept a list of peer editors at other news outlets when I was at The Chatham News. I’d cross off names as they left the corporation – from Hollinger to Osprey to Sun Media. In the Sun Media days, that corporation bled editors as management worked their editors to the extreme, allowing them to burn out before moving onto the next one.
They also culled their brain trust. Jim Blake and I were part of that purge back in late 2012, something that led to the creation of The Chatham Voice. Our reporter, Pam Wright, was also a victim of the culling.
But in my rearview mirror, I look back on a litany of managerial talent and brilliance that was cast aside onto the corporate scrap heap.
In the heydays, working for corporate media in Ontario was great: decent pay, support from on high, networking and, in many cases, local autonomy.
But as the newspaper landscape changed – and I truly believe no corporate media type in North America knew how to deal with the rise of the Internet – the penny pinching began. The biggest victims in the land of “increased efficiencies,” “centres of excellence” and other such buzzword language, were the readers.
In chasing the almighty dollar, ravaging local outlets became the norm to satisfy stockholders.
Here in Chatham-Kent, there are still corporate news outlets in print and on the radio, but it is the independents who truly have the loyalty of their listeners and readers.
Why? We are part of you all. We live here; spend our money in your stores, pay property taxes right alongside of all of you. We know the local issues and report on them.
We don’t answer to out-of-town investors. We answer to you.
Starting a newspaper in the 2010s was a crazy thing to do. But thanks to all our readers, we’re still here; still serving you, in print and online.
