As we count down the minutes until the Chronicle Herald locks out its unionized workers, we speak with Kelly Toughill, Director of the School of Journalism at University of King’s College about the future of print media in Nova Scotia and what the work stoppage will mean to young journalists trying to ply their trade.
Plus, we preview the largest investigative journalism piece the Halifax Examiner has ever undertaken, which debuts Saturday January 23.
Also, rumours are swirling about a possible sale of the Chronicle Herald to the Irving-owned Brunswick News chain, and the union that represents Chronicle Herald newsroom workers says management has entered into a news-sharing agreement with the Irving-owned Brunswick News. [gview file=”https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Click-here-to-read-the-Halifax-Typographical-Union-Press-Release.pdf”]
Also, hey, Dartmouth is getting some Scandanavian meatballs!
[iframe style=”border:none” src=”http://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4096158/height/100/width/480/thumbnail/no/render-playlist/no/theme/legacy” height=”100″ width=”480″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]
Great chat with Ms. Toughill! Enjoyed hearing her insights and perspectives, though one element in her following comment contained an aspect that gives me pause, and with which I disagree.
In order to be fair, I’ll quote more of the excerpt than is probably necessary.
KT: “I don’t really think readers are particularly loyal to unions or the people who write their newspapers; maybe a few are, cousins, aunts, uncles, former high school sweethearts, but the Chronicle Herald is a product, and it will be very difficult for them to produce something that’s worth reading, and advertisers often get very spooked during strikes and lockouts and if they lose readership, it’s going to be much, much harder to get that readership back. It’s not like people disappear during a lockout and immediately come back.”
I’m only one person, but I’m going out on a limb in suggesting I’m not alone in believing and supporting the principle and reality of unionism, though I have no direct connection to or with it other than seeing its benefits over my long working life. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen the ugly, exploitive, abusive side when it’s absent. Are there exceptions on both sides? Of course there are. I’m speaking of the big picture.
I support journalism equally, and with a burning fervour, and the two intersect in what’s happening at the Chronicle Herald.
There’s a third element coalescing within and around it now, I believe, and it may be scooping up some who’ve been formerly passive around corporate/management-labour issues, inequality and the 1%.
When corporate interests attempt to financially control, dictate and potentially gut those perceived to actually deliver facts and truth, they unleash powerful forces and unintended consequences. For many, that theme, that motivation, overwrites and envelops what Chronicle Herald management/owners are attempting to do, and I suggest the impacted unionized workers have much wider, deeper, more long-lasting support than those Ms. Toughill cites.