Raise the Hammer
By: Ryan McGreal
Published: 2007/09/13 (Category: Media)
Surprise, surprise: the Hamilton Spectator's editorial board doesn't want the CBC to open a new radio station in Hamilton.
Yesterday's editorial by Kevin Cavanagh make some noise aobut operating costs and then drops the clincher:
[T]he first city on their sheet of potential new addresses is Hamilton. That's flattering, but we're all of 60 kilometres from the Broadcast Centre in Toronto - whose current signal booms into radios in Hamilton, Niagara and the southwestern tier.
Rather than seeking major gobs of cash for a new radio station so near the mother ship, private-sector companies would first try adding staff and adjusting programming to better engage a regional market that their signal already reaches.
Oh, those greedy public-sector mandarins and their outrageous plans to burn through taxpayer money! What Cavanagh doesn't mention in his paean to the superiority of the private sector is that no Toronto-based station is going to cater to Hamilton listeners, for the simple reason that their primary listeners absolutely don't want to hear about Hamilton.
Cavanagh pillories "the suits at the CBC" who "are only too happy to put Hamilton at the top of their wish list," but neglects to make the connection that the CBC is trying to do the same thing the private-sector stations do: give its audience what they want to hear.
The real issue, of course, is that a CBC station might actually break ranks with the media monopoly in Hamilton and provide news and editorial coverage that serves to undermine bidness as usual in a city long known for back-room backslapping and pernicious, self-defeating cronyism.
hear, hear! i'm counting the minutes to the day i can tune my radio to cbc hamilton. if there were ever a city that needed this it would be us. bring it on!
Come to Hamilton CBC!!
Bidness as usual? So Right!
I would be interested in hearing local news, weather, sports, & traffic reports without all the local talent showcasing & the So What interviews.
I've all but given up on local Hamilton news sources. Once in a while the Spec. has something important to say, but sadly, not the rest of GHA media. The small local weekly papers are often more informative on area news & issues than the Spec., T.V. or radio news.
We need someone to cover the GHA properly & in depth.
That had to be the most disingenuous Spec editorial since their big endorsement of Team Builder Larry. Let's wait for the ever-benevolent invisible hand of the free market to "add staff and adjust programming" to better serve Hamilton! Maybe they'll give us all a pony too!
If you want to take some action, go to the link below to send a letter to your MP. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting provides a template letter but suggests you personalize it so it will be taken more seriously. Bury David Sweet in CBC love!
www.friends.ca/CBCRadioOne/Hamilton
By WRCU2 | http://wrcu2.static.golden.net/
Posted 9/14/2007 7:36:04 AM
Hearts and Minds are the words that nail IT Ted. TheSpec is merely a pawn of Torstar and IT serves the GTA. I'm not sure about CA, but...
"At the beginning of this century, most major cities had two or three daily newspapers, and many had even more. There has been an alarming trend toward monopolization of daily newspapers. There are only about 50 cities in America with more than one daily newspaper, and many of those have the same parent company."
http://www.davidduke.com/index.php?p=141
Rinky-Dink amateur sites like this are all that we regular folk have left... All radio is dead.
"...don't know how ya do it in y'all city, but 'round here we gettin' down to the nitty-gritty, and I hate to put you out like that, but you been burnin' like a fire with a mouth like that..." LimpBizkit-Results May Vary-Track 13-Creamer(Radio Is Dead)
By Ryan | http://www.raisethehammer.org
Posted 9/14/2007 8:09:32 AM
Hey! Who you calling a "Rinky-Dink amateur"?!?
;)
By Ryan | http://www.raisethehammer.org
Posted 9/14/2007 8:23:25 AM
Hi highwater,
Thanks for posting the link to the Friends of CBC site. I posted the following letter:
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To cultivate a vibrant, democratic local culture, Hamiltonians need diversity in their journalistic and editorial content. Toward that end, I'm excited to hear about a possible CBC Radio One station in Hamilton. However, it seems Hamilton's local newsmedia are opposed to this initiative.
The CBC is an invaluable public resource for giving voice to points of view, covering issues, and reaching out to listeners that the corporate media aren't interested in pursuing. Today, the media monopoly in Hamilton all but ensures that "business as usual" continues to prevail in local affairs.
Hamilton deserves better. It deserves a strong, local voice that serves and represents its listeners, not its advertisers.
---------------
Good one Ryan and thanks. I'm a longtime supporter of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. Here's what I wrote:
I have heard that the CBC is considering a new local radio station in Hamilton. Hamilton citizens have been woefully underserved by our public broadcaster to date. In spite of the Hamilton Spectator's suggestion in a recent editorial, private broadcasters have shown that they simply do not have the will or the resources to bring relevant, quality programming to our area. Canadians in similar markets across the country have had access to the CBC's quality regional programming, and it is high time that Hamilton area taxpayers did too.
I understand that the broadcaster's ability to extend service to our area is largely a matter of adequate funding. Please let me know what steps you intend to take to ensure that your constituents have access to the essential service that the CBC provides.
Are people still actually reading the Hamilton Spec?
From one of the "other" Rinky Dink News sources, Radio is not yet dead in Hamilton... if the more curious tuned into cfmu you would be hearing some alternative news that covers this particular area.... not all the shows on cfmu 93.3 fm are for the "kids" - it is also a community radio station.
For "the Other Side" of the news tune in on tuesdays at noon.
And for the record, there are some local reporters that do get news into CBC Radio one and CBC TV.
The only radio station that carried news out of the Red Hill Valley, was CBC one. When all reporters were banned from the area, grass roots independents were doing a fine job of getting behind the lines and sending the story to CBC. Some stories aired Nationally.
Grass Roots and independent media are the new media - just check out the affect YouTube had on our municipal election.
There are other sources of news locally besides web and paper, there is audio, that also gets posted Nationally.
the Other Side indeed...
Radio One also had the best coverage of the Joanna Chapman story that I heard anywhere. They had a riveting interview with her on the Current, a national show. No wonder the Spec doesn't want the CBC in town. They far outpace local media on any local stories that they've covered. Imagine what they would do if they had a real local presence. They might educate people and elevate the debate! Horrors!
At least they printed McHattie's great rebuttal to their ridiculous editorial in this morning's Spec, so must give credit where it's due.
By WRCU2 | http://wrcu2.static.golden.net/
Posted 9/16/2007 12:58:10 PM
Ryan, this Dinky-Rink is where IT's Att. Kudos. Though I wish you had let me retain my previous moniker with modifications:(
RE: The other Rinky Dink news source. I'm about one block outside CFMU's signal strength. Have them think-tank about an upgrade to shortwave.
highwater inwonder, can media be recognized for what IT is and we beseach the hands that wield IT? Hardly, IT has IT's own iron clad dogma:
http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/237306
Dependent of the times, and the necessity to condition hearts and minds of course.
re: "Are people still actually reading the Hamilton Spec?"
not reading, staring and drooling.
By seancb | http://www.hammerboard.ca/
Posted 9/17/2007 10:28:30 AM
Thanks for the heads up. Letter sent:
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Hamilton has been under the umbrella of a media monopoly for too long. Many of us have lost interest in so called "local" media which panders to the bottom line rather than reporting on meaningful local matters in a fair and responsible way.
I am looking forward to a brighter future which could start very soon with the proposed CBC expansion to Hamilton. This could be one of the keys to waking Hamilton up from its slumber!
Please let me know what we can do in order to make this proposal a reality.
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By Ted Mitchell
Posted 9/13/2007 10:17:47 AM
I guess if those interested in the other side of the story have to fish for it from amateur sites like this one, it is not much of a threat to the Spec's ideology monopoly.
But the CBC is a bigger fish and quite rightly could take a bite out of their point of view.
They may say things about stealing business, but that is actually much less of a concern to them than stealing hearts and minds (re bidness as usual above)
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