Real people, real news – real accountability

By Tim Shoults

There’s something about getting hit over the head with a copy of your own newspaper that really focuses your attention.

Many years ago, as a young reporter at a weekly newspaper in Jasper, Alta., I wrote an overly snarky front page headline about one of our councillors losing in the municipal election. I thought I was being clever, but really, I was being crass.

I happened to be at the local post office grabbing my mail at the same time as that councillor was getting his newspaper out of his own mailbox. He unrolled it and looked at the front page. Then he rolled the newspaper back up, walked over to me and whacked me over the head with it.

Thankfully it was a small paper, so it didn’t hurt.

But I learned later that it did hurt that councillor very much – his playful protest was his attempt to cover up deep humiliation.

I’ve never forgotten it. I feel ashamed of it again as I type this. And it’s come to mind many times since when I’ve been tempted to get too clever with a headline or an opening paragraph. It’s an example of what not to do.

But it’s also an example of what makes local journalism, done by local reporters, so very important.

I’ve often said over the years that one of the things I appreciate most about community journalism is that the people we write about, and write for, are all around us. We’re not in some ivory tower in Toronto opining on things; we’re in the council chambers, on the sidelines at the sports fields, at countless community events. (And in the post office.)

That makes us accountable for our work in a way that someone writing from far away can’t be. And our work also makes the institutions we cover – your local governments, your school boards – accountable to you.

Hundreds of communities across Canada have lost that accountability already as Facebook and Google absorb the local advertising revenue that used to pay the salaries of local journalists. Hundreds more communities are at risk.

If you’re reading these words in your local community newspaper or on its website, there’s still a chance to keep those local voices in your community. If your local newspaper has a subscription, please buy one. If they accept voluntary contributions or sell memberships, please get one. If their model is still fully advertising supported, please support the local businesses that support them – and let those businesses know that’s what brought you to them.

Real people writing real news about the place where you live means real accountability. We need your support so we can be accountable to you.

Tim Shoults is the publisher of the St. Albert Gazette and vice-president of Great West Media, which operates community newspapers and websites across Alberta. He has worked with weekly and daily community newspapers across Western Canada as a reporter, editor, publisher and executive for 25 years.