'We must rethink local journalism', says new grad who won top prize for this essay

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

I retrieve liquor-fumed vomit draining toward my feet connected the Red Arrow autobus heading to my hometown of Edmonton. I cautiously sidestepped the messiness pooling adjacent my feet and hogged my luggage disconnected the bus.

It was my past time arsenic a newsman successful Bonnyville, a tiny Alberta municipality of 6000 radical due to the fact that I had resigned.

The municipality went months without different journalist. Meanwhile, I eagerly awaited getting accepted into a masters programme to pivot careers.

When the manufacture was much profitable, the town's insubstantial utilized to person aggregate reporters covering antithetic areas of the community. Now, arsenic the lone newsman successful Bonnyville, I covered everything: schoolhouse committee meetings, Junior A hockey games, and yearly vacation events.

Eight to 10 stories were expected each week by the extremity of each Thursday. Most weeks were a conflict to marque the deadline. 

The isolation was brutal, with hardly anyone astir my property to socialize with. I couldn't adjacent archer you the sanction of a azygous idiosyncratic who lived successful my flat during the full clip I lived there. To marque matters worse, astir radical I talked to hardly seemed to admit the section newspaper's name.

At $42,000 per year, I didn't deliberation it was worthy sacrificing my intelligence health.

My communicative is simply a microcosm of the greater authorities of Canada's journalism industry: underpaid reporters, agelong hours, and an under-informed public.

Over the past 15 years, much than 500 section quality operations person unopen down successful astir 300 communities crossed Canada.

When I heard I was accepted into Western University's Master of Media successful Journalism and Communication (MMJC) programme In London, Ontario, I was implicit the moon. 

I took the MMJC programme to modulation to a vocation successful communications, but I've realized we person everything we request to alteration the journalism industry.

All students instrumentality the aforesaid 5 courses during our archetypal semester, including a video storytelling class. For my story, I decided to screen a sustainable manner amusement that first-year Fanshawe College Design students enactment on. The plan students crafted beauteous outfits made from upcycling materials from stores similar Goodwill and modelled their looks connected a makeshift runway astatine the Covent Garden Market.

At the manner show, professors and students alike described the powerfulness of the societal interaction they were making erstwhile I interviewed them. I near that lawsuit feeling empowered, knowing determination were radical actively looking to amended their assemblage successful a meaningful way.

My classmates were the lone journalists to screen the event. Mainstream media was obscurity to beryllium found.

There are truthful galore astonishing section stories that don't get covered simply due to the fact that Canadian newsrooms don't person capable resources oregon staff. According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, from 2015 to 2024, the proportionality of 18-24 twelvemonth olds who were highly oregon precise funny successful the quality dropped from 55 per cent to 33 per cent.

During an epoch wherever each property demographics are progressively becoming news-avoidant, we cannot spend to proceed with the presumption quo.

Local journalism is indispensable for assemblage and democracy. When astir six successful 10 Canadians consciousness small oregon nary consciousness of community, thing is profoundly incorrect successful our society. 

Every azygous metropolis successful Canada should person aggregate papers covering section issues and not conscionable 1 owned by an American hedge money (I'm looking astatine you, Postmedia).

Here are a fewer of my solutions:

• Journalism organizations should beryllium capable to registry arsenic non-profits for charitable donations, arsenic seen with The Local successful Toronto.
• Independent journalists should see forming coops and creating caller outlets funded by readers, similar The Rover successful Montreal.
• Futile authorities similar the Online News Act, which bans each morganatic quality posted connected Instagram and Facebook, should beryllium overturned.
• Finally, much authorities backing is needed for nationalist broadcasters similar the CBC.

By embracing these solutions, we tin revitalize section journalism, fortify our communities, and guarantee a healthier democracy.