Around the world, local journalism is dying.
In Canada alone, it sometimes feels like reporting jobs are being cut and news rooms closed every other week. In June, Postmedia Network Inc., one of Canada’s newspaper giants, announced it would close six small town newspapers and reduce the production of four others. It also announced it would be cutting its workforce by 10 per cent across the company.
Postmedia is no stranger to cutting journalism jobs or closing papers. It also made headlines back in November when it made a deal with Torstar Corp. to sell newspapers to each other. Both companies then shut down a number of the papers they had bought, resulting in the closure of 24 community newspapers.
READ MORE: Torstar, Postmedia newspaper closures aim to cut competition: analysts
But local news remains more important than ever.
With the ongoing wildfires, both across the province and in our backyard, Observer reporters have been working around the clock, all hours of the day, to keep the public apprised of exactly what is happening. We field private messages and phone calls from readers, asking us how to report a fire to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) or where individuals can find information about evacuation alerts and orders.
We get sent addresses by those who are unsure if their properties are included in the alerts or orders, and personally go in to check the maps. We pass on all the information individuals need, and provide them the tools to access it themselves.
When disaster moves close to home, we jump to action. We become more than just a newspaper, but part of a larger public support system.
We stress the little details, we wait anxiously by the phone and actively seek out answers to all of the pressing questions bearing down on the community. That’s the job. But we are only able to do this because we know the community. We live here. If you’re under an evacuation alert, you can bet at least one of our reporters is too.
We have a rapport with the Cariboo Regional District, with the BCWS and the City, and we know the best places to go to find the answers we need.
Large, national organizations, like the CBC or The Globe and Mail sit in offices far from the small communities they report on, and for all their talented journalists, they will never be able to do everything that a local paper can in a time of crisis.
In times like these, local news shines.
- Quesnel Cariboo Observer