About
This blog is a revival of a column I wrote for the Elmira, Ontario, Independent. I cut my teeth as a journalist on the Indy. The editor and owner, Bob Verdun, taught me a lot about fearless and campaigning journalism. He also taught me that local is good. The Indy was what we now recognise as social media, long before the advent of the internet. Bob believed that what was happening locally deserved to be reported in depth, whether it was the local council meetings, the efforts of service clubs and other community organisations, or activities at the local schools. (One of Bob’s aims was that every child should have his or her picture in the paper twice by the time they graduated high school.) He believed in involving local people and supporting local activities. The Independent was a newspaper by the community, for the community.
So as a young journalist I spent many hours sitting through township council meetings that sometimes went long into the night. I learnt perseverance. Many times I got a scoop because I stayed on to the bitter end, whilst the reporter for the competing paper had given up and gone home. Once I was covering a planning appeal, which lasted for three full days. During the lunch break on the third day, the chair of the panel came over to me and said, “Does your boss not question why you are sitting through the entire proceedings?” I replied, “My boss would probably fire me if I missed any portion of the hearing.” Bob was thorough, and he expected thoroughness from his reporters. Holding elected and unelected officials to account was one of the main purposes of journalism, he believed. If you weren’t there for the whole thing, you might miss that one, crucial nugget of information.
As well as reporting, I eventually began doing theatre reviews. That was a real privilege, going to the Stratford Festival and witnessing some great performances. I was also a regular fixture at the Centre in the Square in Kitchener, reviewing anything and everything from a performance of Haydn’s Creation to a Sharon, Lois and Bram concert (with my young son in tow).
But it was when I was given my own weekly column that I felt I had really arrived. My mandate was to comment on anything that struck my fancy, from local and national politics to the arts and life in general – a blog before such a thing was conceived. I ended my first column by acknowledging the other side of the argument I was making, then adding, “Be that as it may…” and making my final point. As I re-read it, realised that I had the title for my column, and I followed that pattern for most of my other efforts. It’s good to recognise that there are different ways of looking at the world, even if you don’t agree with them.
My years at the Indy were good ones. The newspaper won the Michener Award during my time there. That’s the Canadian equivalent of a Pulitzer, given for meritorious public service in journalism. The difference is that only one is awarded each year, and it is shared by the entire staff (although chief reporter Roddy Turpin did the vast majority of the work that led to the award, and it really was his and Bob’s). It was the first time a community newspaper had won it.
I took what I learned at the Indy (including all aspects of layout and design) and forged a reasonable career for myself. When I moved to the UK, I did a stint in public relations before spending seven and a half years as editor of a weekly magazine. I am now director of communications for an international charity, and co-owner with my wife of a training company, the website of which hosts this blog.
Like my column all those years ago, I hope this blog will be a hodgepodge of opinion, ideas, information and entertainment. I may not post weekly, but I hope to update it often enough to keep you coming back.
Be that as it may, thanks for reading about this blog.
