October 6-12 this year is National Newspaper Week. This is a week when in addition to reporting all the local news, we are celebrating the role that journalism plays in our country, in our province, and right here in South Dundas. It is a recognition of the role we have in providing readers with factual news in your community.
Despite the doom and gloom in the news of the financial issues that some newspaper and traditional media outlets have – authentic journalism has never been more important to all communities as it is right this moment.
This newspaper, and the over 1,000 community, weekly, and daily newspapers – plus countless radio and television stations, and genuine news websites in Canada– check the facts so that you the reader can trust what is in print, on your screen, or heard by you.
We live in a time of transformative technological change. It seems on the hour some new website, or app, or gadget, is the new and latest/greatest way of delivering the news or a new source of news. As has been said since before Gutenberg invented the printing press, you have to trust your sources for news. Canadian newspapers like The Leader have decades, if not centuries of newsprint to back that up. Remember this newspaper predates Canadian Confederation by five years, being founded in 1862. That is not something an online website or a social media company can say.
As part of the community, local journalism is there at your hockey game, in your school at events, and covering all the levels of government. Newspapers deliver vital information to you. According to a recent survey by News Media Canada, four in five people in Canada (81 per cent) read newspapers each week in print or digital format.
All is not roses though. Disinformation is on the rise thanks to technology like AI and social media. The transformational technological change in this time has drastically changed how journalism is funded. Companies that do not want to pay for news have cut access to platforms. Some value what news provides to a community and society, but there are those who do not wish to pay for the news. There is also a disturbing trend towards extremism on the rise. This rise not only targets the truth, but those who report it.
The best way of combating disinformation is with information. This year, as we recognize National Newspaper Week, it has never been more important to recognize the real importance of journalism. In less than five years, the media landscape in Cornwall and SDG Counties has contracted to half the number of outlets and one third of the journalists there used to be. We here at The Leader are still here, telling your stories and informing you of the local news, all the news. Read on, and remember the critical importance of journalism in your community.
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