The Schreiber Media Centre, the area's local community television portal, found out its importance to the community last fall when it had to close down because of staffing issues. People really missed it. For nearly three years, the media centre had been growing in importance in the community. Starting out as a concept for developing media literacy through the local library, it soon grew in scope to include local journalism and it had become a bit of a fixture in town. Many were pleasantly surprised that the little community on the north shore of Lake Superior would now have an official voice for concerns in our area. Content produced over that time would also prove valuable as an important recording of the town’s history. An archive that would be preserved for future generations.
In underserved communities, where local media is thin, if not, non-existent, the LJI program makes a huge difference. One has to first identify why the need for such a programme. Remote regions need some form of news reporting and yet cost factors and distance from mainstream media organizations prohibit them from covering places like Schreiber. In essence the underserved areas have a limited platform for expression which leaves them vulnerable to exclusion. Often there are very few resources to provide a voice to rural areas and their local and unique issues. It could also be concluded that areas that are media deserts are excluded from participating in a fair democracy as their voices are not part of the conversation. In order to participate, a platform that connects to others and showcases the events in such areas becomes increasingly important.
There is also another component to the LJI programme that needs to be mentioned. The fact that participants are being allowed to develop their skills as journalists can not be understated. As journalists we are expected to conduct ourselves in a professional manner and adhere to a code of ethics and produce content that is non biased. When we interact with the communities we live in we are held up to those standards. The content produced by the journalist will usually reflect the current opinions of residents in the area being served. Media access can have a positive impact on the community both sociologically and economically. Having access to information that is health and safety related can be very important to people living in rural areas as an example. Keeping up to date on municipal affairs can be better achieved when a dedicated media centre is able to archive and redistribute that information and that is a role that the Schreiber Media Centre fully understands.
It could be argued that anyone with social media skills could also fill the role of a journalist in their own area and judging by the sorry state of today's social media landscape, it is easy to see why that might be problematic. When it comes to the unprofessional rantings that make up what sometimes passes for news, there seems to no understanding of ethics…or even professionalism. This makes it all the more important that “real” journalism be allowed to flourish. The valuable funding provided by the LJI programme allows for the creation and distribution of fair and honest reporting. As journalists we can hold up a mirror to our world that allows us to not only see who we are but what we can become.
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About LJI
LJI Impact is the section of commediaportal.ca where the journalists and their organizations participating in CACTUS' Local Journalism Initiative can share their greatest successes.
Through the written stories, photos and videos you see in the LJI Impact section, you'll be able to read first hand accounts about how the presence of a community journalist is making a difference in communities across Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative and the Community Media Portal.
The Community Media Portal is a gateway to the audio-visual media created by community media centres across Canada. These include traditional community TV and radio stations, as well as online and new media production centres.
Community media are not-for-profit production hubs owned and operated by the communities they serve, established both to provide local content and reflection for their communities, as well as media training and access for ordinary citizens to the latest tools of media production, whether traditional TV and radio, social and online media, virtual reality, augmented reality or video games.
The Community Media Portal has been funded by the Local Journalism Initiative (the LJI) of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) in association with the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec (the Fédération). Under the LJI, over 100 journalists have been placed in underserved communities and asked to produce civic content that underpins Canadian democratic life.
