In Praise of Local Programming!

The glitz, glamour and excitement of a Hollywood red-carpet event touched down in Hollywood North last week. No, not Toronto or Vancouver, but Hamilton, Ontario at the historic Westdale Theatre for the Impact Awards. Ontario’s screen sector reported a record level of film and television production in 2022, according to the agency Ontario Creates in a CBC article. And when it comes to television and local programming, Hamilton’s Cable 14 is sharing in the celebration of that success.

The Impact Awards showcased talent on and off screen at a live-to-tape production complete with studio audience and celebrity presenters including the incomparable actor, artist and Hamilton resident of five years, Jayne Eastwood.

Jayne and I were invited to join a stellar team of community leaders and supporters to present awards. We have known each other through my many years of hosting and reporting on CHCH-TV and CTS. We have both been interviewed on Cable 14 with the now award-winning Val Cole of “Hamilton Life “. I have had the pleasure of hosting a few specials in recent years. and the station also presented my husband and my mini-documentary “The Art and Nature of Robert Bateman” earlier this spring. The team is top notch, not only as talented professionals, but also as involved and committed community members and supporters.

Cable 14’s programming has grown dramatically in quality and quantity in recent years and it’s all in support of local programming, something I believe is as vital to democracy as the right to vote. But it’s also something fighting for its very survival right now. Local media markets are feeling the squeeze as the big media titans’ fight it out with social media. That means fewer resources and often will, as the little guys are swallowed by the big fish who are focused on quarterly report to appease shareholders and pay for high-priced CEO’s.

So enter local cable stations like Hamilton’s Cable 14. Reputable (and unfortunately disreputable) national and international news and entertainment sources are everywhere. But how do you follow what’s happening in your city? Your com munity? That makes your local sources invaluable. Whether print, broadcast or digital, follow them, support them and advocate for them. it’s worth then it!

Confessions of a Bag Lady

I am a bag lady now.  I cannot help myself. It started innocently enough. An observation during our daily morning walks to our beautiful, neighbourhood park. A curious pair of sneakers that hung from a tree for years, a lost mitten or dropped locket. We couldn’t reach the sneakers, which were likely tossed up there for a joke but we place lost articles on a nearby picnic table or take them to the lost and found at the nearby rec centre. But I’m not talking about these things. I’m talking about litter, carelessly or deliberately tossed aside. So now, my husband and I take along a garbage bag and most often than not, fill it to the brim: fast food packaging, water bottles (some full), smashed beer bottles and cans, drink boxes, coffee cups, lids, papers, cigarette boxes, full poo bags (what is the point of stoop and scoop then leaving it there?) and yes, the occasional old, smelly sock. I get so mad, so frustrated and so sad.

The groundskeepers here do a wonderful job. They know us by now. The lawns are perfectly mowed and waste bins are placed strategically everywhere but obviously ignored by too many. On this particular day, a woman sees what we are doing and says, “Thank you. It’s the high school kids you know.” Probably true but over the summer, we see as much litter left behind after adult soccer games. Besides it’s not a matter of blaming but an awareness, a thoughtfulness. During a time of heightened concern about the fate of this poor old planet, saving the environment can seem overwhelming. What can little old me do about it? The answer is lots.  It really just starts with each one of us and that first little act of taking that first little step of looking around for a waste bin or calling out a friend who throws that empty coffee cup out a car window. It starts with creating a culture of environmental awareness.

The World Wildlife Fund Canada reported in 2021, that between 2019 at the start of the pandemic and 2020, one year later, the proportion of single-use packaging litter nearly doubled. That included a new category of personal protection. Governments, corporations and organizations are committing to reducing packaging and use of plastics but what about us as consumers?  Have we cleaned up our act? Litter is pollution and pollution harms animals as well as humans

So, coaches, teachers, parents and students who want to make a difference, let’s set examples and show some leadership. And as for that nearby high school, how about a regular, real-world park clean-up project to tie in with classroom studies and build school spirit. It’s really an incredible feeling to take the initiative, make a commitment, accomplish something and be a part of a good thing.

As published in The Hamilton Spectator Nov.30, 2023

Have you hugged a journalist today?

Whether it’s good, bad or ugly, the public has a right to know and a civic duty to be informed. But who can be everywhere all the time? That’s why we have journalists.  They are our eyes and ears. That’s how democracy works. It’s a sacred trust but there are legitimate fears, that the growing populist movement is threatening that trust.  Social media is a double-edged sword.  It has brought the world together and made a lot of our jobs easier but without the role of trained journalists to ensure accuracy, objectivity, fairness and context, misinformation is born and spreads. 

Journalists’ stories inform and educate but also spark conversations, inspiring citizens to work together for change, or pay forward an act of kindness. This past weekend, I discovered my i-phone was missing. I rushed through my shopping at Lime Ridge Mall, knowing I would spend the rest of the day re-tracing my steps. When I returned to my parking spot, there it was. It had actually slipped out of my coat pocket and fallen beside the car.  Some kind soul spotted it and tucked it into my driver door handle. It’s powerful moments like this that remind us why we must share and celebrate feel-good events.

While it’s important for journalists to cover the “good” news, let’s talk about the “bad” and the “ugly”.  Not as easy a job when there is controversy but it’s essential. I know how hard those jobs are covering tragedies, crimes and injustices and dealing with the backlash that can ensue.  However, journalists must keep their eyes on the higher purpose, something I teach my students.  Get the facts, check them, then find the doers, the helpers, the people doing something about it and move the narrative forward for the greater good.

So, when I hear of elected representatives at any level of government refusing to speak to journalists, I feel a gnawing at the pit of my stomach. Whether a person associated with a crime or controversy is a doctor, a lawyer or a community leader, it’s in the public interest to know who they are, as many facts as possible.  It’s part of the 5W’s journalists live by and the criteria for judging newsworthiness as Spectator Editor-in Chief Paul Berton has explained. At a time when transparency is the battle cry and journalism’s raison d’etre, how frighteningly ironic to hear of attempts to muzzle a free press.  Clear-thinking individuals in touch with what’s happening in the world all know the chaos that will lead to.

I implore readers to trust, support and embrace journalism now more than ever. Sometimes it prickles, angers or saddens and sometimes it makes you smile but at least know dedicated reporters are on the job, working for you, checking their facts in search of the truth. 

Read the full article here: https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2022/11/10/we-need-journalistic-honesty-more-than-ever.html