Isn't Media Supposed to Be For the People?

I've been working with the media in one way shape or form for most of my life.  Whether it's been as a journalist or someone sending in the press releases and holding the press conferences.  I've worked for the new media (online) and the old media (paper) and never have I seen an organization move into a community with so much hostility.

Now before I get too far into this let me first say that I'm not one to hold a grudge and it doesn't take much to get my feathers ruffled but the actions of a new media source that moved into my community over the past year and change is really starting to get under my skin.

For those that don't know I make my home with my family in the Thousand Islands Region of Ontario.  The heart of this region is Brockville and we are lucky enough to have several great media companies covering the region.  The most senior, of course, is the Brockville Recorder and Times followed by the EMC St. Lawrence both of which are, for the most part, old media.  Just over 5 years ago now a new media source came to town in BNTV/Brocknews.  BNTV/Brocknews is a web-based newspaper and television news source. About a year ago SNAP Brockville came to town with it's paper and website that feature only the good news in the area, something that in a region struggling with unemployment and going through an identity crisis as it's manufacturing industry slowly shuts down, is a welcome change.  Around the same time another new comer came to town, KnowBrockville.  KB brought it's own magazine and website to the table which offered yet another point of view as well as some excellent columns and contests for it's readers.  

Now as someone who is very involved in the community and sits on numerous community groups I know that there is no such thing as too much media.  Each source has it's own following and each can bring it's own perks to the table when it comes to promoting community events etc...

I'm not going to name names but one of the above has decided that there is no room for the others and will stop at nothing to eliminate the competition.  Even to the point that they have started to block anyone from their Facebook page who has any ties to the others.  

Long before I moved to this area I took part in the weekly #followfriday ritual on Twitter, several months ago one of the local new media companies started their own Follow Friday on Facebook, giving their followers a chance to share their businesses etc...(on a side note this isn't a new practice, it's something that has been going on on Facebook in the social media circles for quite some time, giving page admins a chance to share their latest client's pages with others).  The Follow Friday idea, regardless of who thought of it, was brilliant.  Naturally the idea gained steam and others (including other media) quickly started to follow suit.  As the social media admin for the Athens District Chamber of Commerce I also started running the Follow Friday program to give our members a chance to showcase their Facebook pages.  To be honest I don't even know for certain which page had the Follow Friday first but honestly WHO CARES!!!  There is so much hostility everywhere else in this world is it really worth squabbling over who did the Follow Friday thing first?  

Interestingly enough is that I don't even know how I ended up as a casualty of this media war.  Sure one of the new media has published a blog or two of mine, but I'm not employed or even directly affiliated with them. My blog is also published in the Ottawa Citizen, I'm also not employed or affiliated with them.  The only reason the local group publishes my blog is because they asked me if they could. I'm assuming it's because of that affiliation that I'm now too blocked from their Facebook page.  To me this means I can't promote Facebook pages on the page not to mention that many are potential advertising clients to this organization.  The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me, I'm new to the area have been open to working with anybody or any organization that is interested in working with me.  I currently represent numerous local businesses and organizations that look to me for advice on where to spend their online advertising dollars.  How can I justly advise them to spend their money with an organization that has hostile intentions towards other businesses?  I simply can't.

So to the organization in question, if you are reading this I ask you to think about your actions.  You are a media source and would like to be reputable.  I can't speak for anyone but myself and I know that my actions have never warranted being blocked from your Facebook page.  Simply because I promote my clients on Friday's, something that you encourage others to do, or because I have a blog that is featured in another publication?  Seriously?  Are we in Kindergarten now?  Imagine how powerful the local media could be if you all worked together and stopped the hostility?  This region needs strong media to showcase the good bring people into the area. There are enough advertising dollars to go around.  Each of you has a place in Brockville or Leeds and Grenville.  As I mentioned earlier I will not mention any names, if you know who I'm talking about great feel free to discuss it with them but please keep the name to yourself, they know who they are.  If you are affiliated with this organization please feel free to drop me a line and we can discuss exactly what I have done to deserve this blacklisting.

Brockville's Not So Bad

It’s been a while since I wrote a personal blog post on a topic.  I suppose that’s because of my technical background and most of my interests are in that area.  But news came out today that has many in the community I call home up in arms and I think it’s worth discussing.

Today MoneySense magazine published a list of the bestplaces to live and ranked 190 communities across Canada.  Brockville, which is the area I call home (and gladly so) ranked 165 on the list.  Now this ranking takes several categories into consideration and then ranks the communities based on a percentageof points assigned to each category.   The numbers are less than flattering for Brockville but is there truth behind the numbers?  

If you aren’t familiar with Brockville it’s a scenic city located in the heart of the 1000 Islands Region of Ontario on the shores of the St. Lawrence Seaway.    No one would question that its tourist potential is huge.  So why does it rank so low on places to live?  Well again based on statistics alone one can’t argue that there aren’t many career opportunities.  True companies like Proctor and Gamble have factories in Brockville and they do hire from time to time but those opportunities are few and far between and generally are labour positions which don't suit an office junky like me.  

My family moved to the area just over two years ago and both my wife and I have to commute out of town to work.  As an IT (Information Technology) professional I have worked in both Ottawa and Kingston since coming to the area. Don't get me wrong it's not for lack of trying to find full-time work in Brockville but there just doesn't seem to be a demand for my line of work.  But is that a bad thing?  Sure it would be nice to have my workplace closer to my life but it's not the end of the world if it's not possible.  It's just a matter of perspective.

Take this perspective on it; the cost of living is cheaper than Kingston and much cheaper than Ottawa.  Brockville is located right on the 401 and just minutes from the 416 making it an ideal location for someone who doesn’t mind commuting to work.  Living in Brockville also means living in a community where a few hundred thousand dollars means a house with a large yard, where you know your neighbours (and since there is space between you and them, like them too) compared to the bigger cities like Kingston or Ottawa where a similar dollar amount means a tiny cramped townhouse. 

Brockville is roughly and hour commute from Kingston (3) and an hour commute from Ottawa (1) putting it in a great location to work in either city.   An added bonus is that many companies now allow their employees to spend some of their time telecommuting (aka working from home) in an attempt to lower their carbon footprint.  And besides if you put it all in perspective I know people that live in the big cities that spend more time in gridlock than I do commuting to and from work.

As for culture, I’m sure if you look exclusively at numbers you’ll find that Ottawa and Kingston may have more culture than Brockville but there are also more people in those communities and I’m willing to bet that it’s cheaper to see an artist perform (not to mention more intimate) at the Brockville Arts Centre than it would be to see the same artist perform at ScotiaBank Place or even the K-Rock Centre in Kingston.

I could go on and on but my problem with reports like the one from MoneySense is that they are so black and white.  Perhaps in the future when a report like this is released it should be titled “Canada’s Best Places to Statistically Live”.  Are the areas that Brockville can improve?  Sure but isn’t that something that can be said about every community?  The bottom line is that the people who live in Brockville, for the most part, love the city.  The people, who come to visit every year, also love the city.  So why should we care that the staff of MoneySense Magazine, who probably have never been to Brockville, don’t consider it a worthy place to live?

 If it’s any consolation, the community I grew up in, Temiskaming Shores, is ranked at 171 and I consider it one of my top 10 places to live along with the Brockville area, North Bay (62) and Petawawa ((81) / Pembroke (124).

More about me:

http://about.com/hendrikpape

My Ottawa Citizen blogs:

Tech Connection: http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/tag/tech-connection

HoeDown Blogger: http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/tag/hoedown-blogger