The phrase “all politics is local” is an interesting one. It conveys the reality that what matters most to people aren’t distant events or philosophical concepts, but what’s going on in their own backyard.
That’s certainly the principle under which local newspapers such as The Reminder operate. It’s why we’ve been in business for nearly 70 years now.
It also explains the public outrage that erupted six years ago when CBC-Radio announced the cancellation of North Country with Mark Szyszlo.
Szyszlo’s weekday program, aired out of Thompson, is basically the only continual effort by the publicly funded CBC to tell the stories of northern Manitobans.
Pulled plug
When CBC pulled the plug on North Country in 2009, a petition drive helped reverse the decision. The affable Szyszlo remains on the air, though he’s currently on sabbatical until fall.
Unfortunately it’s a safe bet that when Szyszlo retires, CBC will close its northern Manitoba studio. That’s exactly what the network did in La Ronge in 2012 after its northern Saskatchewan show host called it quits.
In an era of budget cuts and declining TV revenue, CBC has no interest in sacrificing jobs in Toronto or Vancouver just so a bunch of northerners can stay a little more connected.
In a somewhat related story, Canada’s broadcast regulator, the CRTC, last month eliminated the requirement that local television stations carry 55 per cent Canadian content during the daytime. The new ratio? Zero per cent.
Between 6 pm and 11 pm on weekdays, TV stations must still show 50 per cent Canadian content, but it’s clear that the CRTC is finally hip to a not-so new reality.
Simply put, it’s nonsense to think that forcing struggling TV stations to air reruns of The Littlest Hobo can somehow safeguard Canadian culture.
As John Ibbitson so aptly and bluntly put it in the Globe and Mail last year: “Any government that seeks to protect its national culture from the forces of globalization will fail. The digital universe is too powerful.”
But don’t take the CRTC ruling as a sign that interest in local content is diminishing. People still want to know what’s happening in their backyard; they just don’t care to watch the same Degrassi Junior High reruns ad nauseam.
As much as the digital universe offers new entertainment options, it also gives local-content providers, including newspapers, an opportunity to eventually switch mediums.
Printed newspapers may not exist 20 years from now, but you can bet online newspapers still will.
Why? Because all politics – all truly important news, rather – is local.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
