Local Journalism in Decline

Last week a Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice granted temporary credit protection to SaltWire Network Inc. days after the private equity firm that funded SaltWire’s purchase of The Telegram and more than two dozen other Atlantic Canada newspapers in 2017 initiated legal proceedings to recover the $32 million in debt it says it’s owed by SaltWire.

Another hearing is scheduled for this Friday, after which time we could know more about the company’s future.

When SaltWire took over most of Newfoundland and Labrador’s newspapers seven years ago, then-CEO Mark Lever said “there are no plans for cuts.”

But cuts came. SaltWire has shut down papers in Labrador, Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor, Springdale, Lewisporte, Carbonear, Port aux Basques, St. Anthony, Clarenville, Marystown — as well as Corner Brook’s daily paper The Western Star.

Like many others, I hope The Telegram will survive — and with the resources to continue putting reporters on Confederation Hill, in courtrooms, and on the scene for breaking news events.

As Telegram photojournalist Keith Gosse recently said on X, “Our small group regularly breaks unique stories no one else has and we will continue to do so but it gets more and more difficult every time we lose another reporter – and this applies to local journalism across the country.”

I'm extremely grateful today for the support being shown to my colleagues and I at SaltWire and especially to our small but fierce and passionate newsroom at The Telegram. Telling people's stories and poking light into the dark corners of democracy helps keep you all informed 1/

— Keith Gosse (@TelyPhotoGosse) March 13, 2024

There are “other local media outlets who do a great job,” he continued, “but what happens when there are no more local media outlets? Who tells your stories? Who breaks award-winning pay equity stories that forces government to act on a forgotten policy announcement? Who breaks a series of MRI wait time stories that forces officials into shortening those wait times? Who goes out and captures those cool eye-catching photos or goes to the 3 a.m. fire that leaves people homeless?”

Recently, I saw Telegram legislative reporter Juanita Mercer in action on Confederation Hill, as she continued to press the premier and cabinet ministers on pay equity and pay transparency. It’s the kind of dedication to important stories we’ve seen from other Telegram reporters, too. How might the RNC sexual abuse scandal and Doug Snelgrove trial have played out if Tara Bradbury wasn’t on the story? These are just two of many examples, of course.

On Monday, The Telegram was shortlisted alongside The Globe and Mail and La Presse for a National Newspaper Award for its investigation into the living conditions at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary.

The point is, its getting rarer and rarer these days for journalists to pursue stories of injustice as long as it takes for things to change.

Listen to Ep. 7 of berrygrounds (“Pay Equity for Some Isn’t Equity at All”)
feat. Juanita Mercer:

“If you want to support local journalism and have local reporters tell your stories and investigate injustices, subscribe to a local newspaper or news outlet. Everybody likes free stuff but telling your stories and fighting injustice isn’t free – and neither is democracy,” Gosse concludes in his X thread.

“If you think that’s overly dramatic, wait until all local journalism is gone and see how hard it is to get it back.”

He’s absolutely right. The rise of misinformation and disinformation is posing an enormous threat to democracy in Canada, and the only proven antidote is real journalism — the kind that exposes lies, corruption and coverups with (fact-checked) facts, truth, and perspectives that challenge power and dominant narratives.

When journalism dies, so too does democracy. 

To whatever extent the erosion of our democratic institutions is linked to the decline of local news in Newfoundland and Labrador, we know two things about the present: (1) The current premier and his government have enticed multiple prominent journalists out of journalism and to their team; and (2) the Liberals are discreetly enshrouding themselves in a cloak of secrecy.

We must report on this with the same urgency of a major crime story or political scandal. 

Next weekend I’ll take you back inside Confederation Building and share a ‘behind the scenes’ story you should know about. 

I’ll also fill you in on a comment the Department of Finance made to me a few years ago about improving public engagement in the pre-budget process — the very same one that the Liberals say will help inform this week’s 2024 budget.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article published in the March 17 Indygestion newsletter erroneously stated that SaltWire was placed in receivership, as reported by other media. The company is not, in fact, in receivership. We apologize for the error.