I think that when you're young and you're about to start a new job, nerves just come with the trade.
I can still remember the nerves that I had before I started here back in March of 2007. How did it all work? How did the newspaper come together? Exactly where did all the stories come from?
Let's just think back and remember my mindset at the time.
I'm 21 years old, fresh out of film school the year prior, and since opportunities in that sector in the province of Saskatchewan seemed drier than a bone in an Arizona desert at the time, a gig at my local newspaper perked my interest. So, after an interview, I found myself employed by Outlook Printers Ltd. and Day One had arrived.
It wasn't long before I got the hang of things around here and I started to find my own rhythm.
Now, 17 years later, I can safely say that this career has changed me, altered my views of the province that I call home, and opened my eyes to the wider picture at play.
Why is journalism important to me? Well, perhaps the better question here is why it should it be important to everyone. Let me share a quote with you that hit home with me last week:
"The most profound lessons about journalism I've learned have been taught to me by the people I've covered."
That was said by Jodi Kantor, a prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times. It's not only smart, but it's on the nose as far as what I've experienced in all my years on the job. That store clerk who you see every day, that school yard where there's a football game taking place, that town hall where all manner of discussions and decisions take place, and those farmers who you see working hard out in the fields; before I became a journalist, I really didn't give much thought as to what kind of stories and perspectives might be uncovered by digging in and documenting them.
All of these years later, I can honestly say that such articles on said people and events are not only interesting, but they tell the unique, multi-layered story of life in this part of the province. Someone from Toronto or Vancouver takes a look at small town Saskatchewan and probably rolls their eyes at the thought of anything interesting coming out of the streets, neighborhoods and buildings of any of our local communities. I take a look right back at those people and almost pity them for their naivety.
Journalism is important today because in a world becoming more and more obsessed with things like artificial intelligence (go ahead and Google the Sports Illustrated fiasco) and things like allegations and accusations becoming the default adopted belief among far too many people (no one believes in 'innocent until proven guilty' anymore, apparently), we're the ones who HAVE to look at the bigger picture, document both sides, and give everyone an equal voice.
I tell you this today because of the fact that The Outlook newspaper recently marked 115 years in existence. That's nothing short of incredible. By my calculations, we are the oldest retail business in Outlook that's still standing and operating today. For crying out loud, if you want to get technical, we're older than the town of Outlook itself! First issue on newsstands in February of 1909, and the latest one hitting newsstands in February of 2024. It really boggles the mind.
We're important because we aim to give readers the bigger picture so they can consider all sides. We're essential because we'll go after the truth when others will only cherry-pick so that it suits their chosen narrative. We're still here because for 115 years, we've stuck to our guns and operated by those qualities mentioned above. In the news game, there should be no such thing as "sides". Anyone who tells the news for a living should be perched on that proverbial fence, watching the goings-on on one side and then turning to view the happenings on the other.
In the wake of things like Bell Media hacking and slashing away at jobs and erasing a number of CTV news broadcasts across the country, a reminder of the importance of tried and true media has never been more needed. For God's sake, we shouldn't be firing journalists and wiping out news stations, we should be pumping a lot more money into them so that this industry can feel like it still has a leg to stand on. Instead of sending millions over the international border, how about keeping that money within our own borders and using it to strengthen one of Earth's oldest professions?
I'm a journalist. It's what I've done for a living for 17 years. I've watched communities take shape, I've watched championships being won, I've watched small miracles happen in the most random of places, and I've watched humanity operate in ways that run the gamut of emotions. I've written about it all. That's what we do.
And our industry needs support now more than ever.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
