Raise the Hammer

If you only get the Spectator online, you won't have the opportunity to read today's op-ed by Eric Cunningham, titled "How media can survive: Keep it local", in which he revisits last Tuesday evening's panel discussion on the future of local media.

Here it is in all its glory:

How media can survive: Keep it local

ERIC CUNNINGHAM

The Burlington chapter of the University of Western Ontario alumni association recently sponsored a seminar on the future of local media.

An expert panel, which included Spectator editor-in-chief David Estok, favoured the large audience with a somewhat disturbing economic overview of the realities of media properties today. Simply put, some of them are in trouble.

The Canwest Global media empire that Izzy Asper built is in tatters. CHCH was sold for less than the price of a small Tim Hortons. The Aspers (more directly the banks) are selling most of their newspaper properties. The National Post is on the auction block.

Panel moderator Paul Benedetti, a journalism instructor at Western, told the crowd that the once-venerable Detroit Free Press now publishes only three days a week. It is the only paper in town.

On the electronic side, Rogers Media, owners of Toronto-based Citytv, recently dumped on-air veterans Anne Mroczkowski and Laura Di Battista. One former Citytv employee likened these events to “the end of local news.”

News and information are now a free commodity, available in real-time on the Internet. The challenge for both print and electronic media is the timely provision of local content.

Despite the explosion of Internet media, The Spectator has maintained paid-subscription levels of more than 100,000. Paid subscribers are now the paper’s single largest source of revenue. That said, it is hard to compete with “free.”

Ryan McGreal, the engaging editor of online media source Raise The Hammer, pays $15 per month to host a website that attracts 15,000 page views per month. This contrasts with more than five million page views per month at thespec.com. McGreal’s adventure is a nonprofit forum for different points of view.

Veteran broadcaster Connie Smith lamented the gravitation by the electronic media to “the lowest common denominator.” Connie made an opportunity for herself with her Always Good News show on CTS. She has established a niche market focusing on the positive things “that make our world a better place.”

Popular CHML talk-show host Bill Kelly brought home the essential function that mainstream media provide in terms of the credibility and integrity of their content. The Internet provides no such responsibility. Kelly quoted media icon, the late Edward R. Murrow, “A lie can go around the world while the truth is getting its pants on.”

Most people would agree that an informed public is a worthy societal goal. It will never be accomplished through the growth of anonymous and often vituperative character attacks facilitated through Twitter, Facebook or dubious websites.

The late former U.S. Speaker of the House, Thomas Phillip (Tip) O’Neil, institutionalized the phrase, “all politics is local.” So too, is the future of news.

When I was a child, my family was fortunate to subscribe to two newspapers. The Globe and Mail came in the morning and The Spectator in the afternoon. Access to newspapers for me fostered an interest in sports, business and public affairs. It also led to a lifelong interest in reading. Parents should think about this.

Local coverage enables me to be informed about important events in my community. News reporters and fellow columnists in this paper enhance my understanding of what is taking place at Burlington and Hamilton councils.

More importantly, local media provides for a level of transparency and accountability that elevates the level of behaviour of government and business. The mere prospect of exposure of impropriety on the front page of the newspaper is, in itself, an inducement to better stewardship.

In the fullness of time, the news and editorial opinion may guide my deliberations as I vote in pending elections.

Hopefully, it will help us all to make informed decisions, and help good triumph over not so good.

Eric Cunningham is the former Liberal MPP for Wentworth North and a public affairs consultant.