Calves and grads - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin
As the editor of a newspaper, you are, at times, called to action in self-defence. One such time came just a few weeks ago when, as the leader of a team of reporters, columnists, correspondents, photographers and other trusted collaborators, it was my professional duty to defend the freedom of the press in the face of comments decrying it made by one local, problematic councillor.
This week, I am called to action again - not exactly to slander a colleague, but to again defend The Citizen in the face of criticism. I typically wouldn’t criticize a fellow reporter, however, Mariya Postelnyak of The Globe and Mail, doesn’t seem to share those misgivings.
The newspaper’s consumer affairs reporter last week published a story about the closure of the CIBC branch in Brussels, complete with all the pictures of Rick Demaray near the bank you’d ever want (one with a lawnmower!) and interviews with locals who decry the loss of the bank as the death knell of a community.
In a lazy, ham-fisted attempt to paint the picture of the town to Globe readers across the country, she mentions that the news, “more recently” has been the closure of restaurants like The Jam Jar Pub and Eatery, which has been shuttered for over five years. To really drive her point home, The Citizen catches a stray. “Local newspapers around Brussels still occasionally run high school graduation photos; a Huron Citizen article from a few years back details a “prolific” cow that birthed triplets in “once-in-a-lifetime event” for any farmer. It’s that kind of small town.”
If occasionally means annually, yes, The Citizen publishes the community’s graduates, and while a story on a triplet-birthing cow doesn’t immediately spring to mind, a Google search digs up similar stories in local newspapers, farm magazines and national networks like CTV and CBC. One headline even describes it as “Udder Shock” for the farmer. Wait until that town’s bank closes.
As true journalism falls farther out of favour by the day, we at The Citizen have always taken the path of supporting our fellow journalists, knowing that while our audiences, approaches and finished products may differ, we’re on the same quest as truth-seekers. To see the work I’ve so deeply dedicated myself for nearly 20 years be inaccurately reduced to triplet calves and high school grads (sounds like a perfect Brussels Fall Fair theme) just kind of hurt, to put it as simply as I can.
Perhaps our coverage of sensitive tragedies in recent months eluded The Globe’s research. Stories on youth suicide and mental health, cancer cutting young lives short and the life of a boy being irreversibly changed as a result of an in-school fire - all of which have earned us praise from community members for our kindness, compassion and care - have served this community when it needs it the most. This is in addition to our regular coverage that holds accountable seven local councils and heralds achievements of local athletes and students.
This may not impress The Globe, but it is a worthwhile pursuit created by and perpetuated with the help of people who care deeply about their communities and those within them.
Funny enough, this actually isn’t the first time that Brussels has come off badly in The Globe’s pages - you may remember its “tour of Ontario’s European capitals” piece - so turning to it as a saviour of sorts was perhaps always doomed to end in disappointment.
As for the work of The Citizen, it speaks for itself. Its journalism is as thorough as it can be in a two-person newsroom and it serves its community well. We can say that.