GRAVENHURST SHOULD HAVE ITS OWN NEWSPAPER - WE'RE TIRED OF LOSING STUFF TO BRACEBRIDGE
THE GRAND ILLUSION - OF HAVING A PAPER, BUT NOT REALLY ……. JUST SORT OF, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, BUT NOT SO MUCH
SO HERE WE ARE. RESTING UNCOMFORTABLY, A LITTLE TOO SOFT FOR SOME, A LITTLE TOO HARD FOR OTHERS. BALANCING AWKWARDLY ON THE CUSP OF 2013, WITH A LOT OF INTERESTING STUFF BEING PLANNED, FOR THE NEW YEAR. LIKE THE MONSTER BIA EXPANSION PLAN, AND THE MUSKOKA CENTRE REVIEW, WHICH IS MAKING THE LOCAL COTTAGE ASSOCIATION NERVOUS, AND RIGHTLY SO. NOW, AS A SOMEWHAT DIMINISHED REALITY, WE FIND OURSELVES IN THIS TOWN, WITHOUT A FULL FLEDGED, REGULAR OFFICE HOURS, NEWSPAPER OFFICE, LODGED ON OUR MAIN STREET. I WILL LEAVE THIS ONE UP TO THE BETTER KNOWN AND REVERED TOWN HISTORIANS TO LET US KNOW, HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN, SINCE WE WERE BARE NAKED IN THIS REGARD. I'M NOT SURE WHEN WE GOT OUR FIRST VILLAGE NEWSPAPER, AND ALTHOUGH I KNOW QUITE A BIT ABOUT THE MORE RECENT CHANGES, IN REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS, DATING BACK TO THE 1970'S, I'M OUT OF MY ELEMENT WITH THE YEARS BEFORE THIS. POINT IS, AND I'M NOT TRYING TO CAUSE ANYBODY TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST OR ANYTHING, BUT THIS IS DAMN DISHEARTENING BUSINESS……OR LACK OF, AND ONCE AGAIN BRACEBRIDGE HAS BEAT US OUT. WE SHOULD BE KIND OF USED TO IT BY NOW. IT'S BEEN HAPPENING FOR CENTURIES. ONCE, THEY EVEN TRIED TO DICTATE OUR LEGACY, BY WRITING IN THEIR LOCAL HISTORIES, THAT GRAVENHURST HAD BEEN NAMED AFTER REFERENCE IN A BOOK, WRITTEN BY WASHINGTON IRVING, KNOWN AS "BRACEBRIDGE HALL." WELL, I KICKED THEM IN THE COLLECTIVE ASSES ON THAT ONE, SO NUFF SAID. THEY WERE WRONG. AND THEY DIDN'T LIKE BE INFORMED THUSLY EITHER.
I DON'T LIKE THE FACT, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR OWN NEWS CONTENT. YOU'D THINK THAT A COMMUNITY, THAT SPRUNG UP FIRST IN THIS DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA, BACK IN THE LATE 1850'S, WOULD ABSOLUTELY INSIST THAT ANY PAPER THAT CARRIES ITS NAME……MUST HAVE A FOOTHOLD HERE…..AT THE VERY LEAST…..AND NOT JUST ADVERTISING CONTENT. ESPECIALLY, A TOWN OF OUR SIZE. OBVIOUSLY OUR TOWN IS IN SUCH A STATE OF ECONOMIC WEAKNESS, THAT IT CAN'T SUPPORT A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER. WELL, THIS ISN'T REALLY THE CASE ENTIRELY. THERE'S A LOT MORE TO IT. IF I OPENED UP A NEWSPAPER IN COMPETITION, TO THE MEDIA PUBLICATIONS THAT EXIST IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, THEY'D WASTE LITTLE TIME BEEFING UP THE COMPETITION……AND POSSIBLY A REVITALIZED INTEREST IN MAIN STREET AGAIN. SO THUS, AS MUCH AS I WOULD LIKE TO OPEN UP A TOWN-ONLY PUBLICATION, TO FILL THE VOID, I'D BE KNOCKED DOWN LIKE A BOWLING PIN AFTER THE FIRST MONTH. IT WOULDN'T BE THE CASE THE CONTENT WOULD SUFFER, BECAUSE I COULD GET ENOUGH VOLUNTEER WRITERS, OF CONSIDERABLE PROWESS, TO PRODUCE A TOP NOTCH WEEKLY. THE PROBLEM, LIKE THE FORMER "GRAVENHURST LEADER" FACED, BACK IN MY NEWSPAPER DAYS, OF THE EARLY 1980'S, WAS THE "LOSS-LEADER" STYLE "COMPETITIVE PRICING" THAT WAS PUT INTO PLACE BY THE COMPETITION; SUCH THAT ADVERTISERS…..ALWAYS LOOKING FOR GOOD VALUE, WOULD TAKE THE BEST DEAL, FOR THE BIGGEST GUARANTEED CIRCULATION…..AND HOMETOWN PRIDE WOULDN'T ENTER INTO IT…..OR THE GRAVENHURST LEADER WOULD STILL BE IN BUSINESS. IT WAS A GOOD PAPER WITH SOME WONDERFUL AND TALENTED PEOPLE ON STAFF, BUT THEY COULDN'T COMPETE WITH THE LARGER PUBLICATION GROUPS. NEITHER COULD I, BUT THEY CAN'T STOP ME DREAMING ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A FUTURE PROSPERITY IN THIS TOWN, WHEN AN EVEN LARGER NEWSPAPER CHAIN, WILL DECIDE WE CAN INDEED SUPPORT A GRAVENHURST ONLY WEEKLY. BUT THEN YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT DREAMERS? THEY BECOME ANTIQUE DEALERS WHO SATISFY THEIR NEWSPAPER URGES, BY WRITING BLOGS.
AS FOR THE HISTORIAN - THIS IS A HERITAGE MOMENT
Of all the contrary things that have happened this year in our town, mixed with some good stuff of course, the fact we have lost a main street newspaper office, is as we say in the profession, "One for the history books." While there wasn't much in the way of ceremony, or published announcement that I read, (and I do buy the paper weekly) about the official closure of the former news office, the reality that Bracebridge has once again become the central location for us, and our news gathering, is the kind of impact slap in the face, that makes its way into the history books abruptly, if not the front page of the newspaper itself. As citizens of this town and members of the main street business community, we've made note of it, just like quite a few others, who weren't aware the former office was officially closed, and fundamentally cleaned-out of its contents. I'm sure they weren't trying to keep this quiet, because most of us knew the office was only open a few days a week anyway, a protocol that began a few years ago. I didn't like it then but being a former newspaper staffer, I'm aware of economic realities. There's just not enough Gravenhurst advertisers at present, to justify the expense of running a local-content paper and staffed office.
The problem here, isn't as much with the fact, we find ourselves at the mercy of Bracebridge, to keep us in the news loop. It doesn't make us happy. But regardless whether it is perceived as a substantial blow for the mainstream business community, at this moment, it will sink in gradually, that we have lost something, in optics and actuality, we really needed. Maybe even the emotional / sentimental attachment. Especially in a business area, that seems hell bent on expansion plans to their zone in the 2013. It's kind of deflating, me thinks, on the verge of this big plan, to find out that we can't even support a part-time newspaper office…..yet we can have a BIA zone that will stretch a long, long way, from its current neighborhood. I don't know how it could be a confidence booster, let's just say that. There are reasons behind the pull-out, but none of them, I'm sure, are going to make us feel empowered. More likely, once we get used to the idea of being without a traditional newspaper office, uptown or downtown, we're going to find ourselves satisfied that one was never needed in the first place.
From an historical perspective, without looking at the business side, the closure of our newspaper office, was an historical lesson to us……given in a contemporary sense…..a note on the door directing us elsewhere. Is this what it's come down to? To Bracebridge? Is this where our future may be decided? Written about? Remember the way they took credit for knowing how our community was named. They can be wrong again.
Closing shop was just a business decision. I don't believe the company meant us any hard feelings or discredit, as a worthy, contemporary town. Presumably you close such an office because it isn't warranted to do business, that is operating successfully somewhere else. If it's not financially gainful, then why continue? From a business perspective, the right thing was done. But despite what makes investment sense, quite a few locals are understandably hurt, that, in their minds and perception, their loyalty as readers, didn't even warrant a goodbye. Even in the regular BIA, Chamber of Commerce diatribes, you'd think they would have felt the closure, important enough, to feel compelled to inform their business members, that history was unfortunately being made….to our general disadvantage. Here's why!
I could write reims about the historical significance of having a central, main street newspaper office. As an editorial associate, at the time Muskoka Publications moved its operation to an industrial / commercial area, in Bracebridge, I was appalled that it was re-located from one of the most historic buildings in the town. I was so attached to the Dominion Street building, that I bought the iron letters, once attached to its facade. I argued with whoever would listen, which were few and far between, that moving a newspaper office was a delicate matter when it came to public sensitivity. Some things, in a small town, just shouldn't change like that. Folks who had been coming into that central newspaper location for decades, to buy their papers and place their classified ads, were basically disenfranchised from something that had always been there…….and thankfully, there was another newspaper that was still situated on the main street at the time.
There is a philosophical confidence thing, that rests in the bosom of the citizenry, about having convenient access to a newspaper office. Especially if you've become used to having one over the centuries. When I was a reporter / editor for the Muskoka Lakes / Georgian Bay Beacon, the central office from the get-go, was in MacTier. It's not like they closed an office in Bala or Port Carling, to open one in MacTier, regardless of the huge coverage area. In other words, as it was established, is how it operated, up to the time it was shifted northward to become the Parry Sound Beacon, I believe. That was another business decision, and I imagine MacTier residents were not overly impressed. In Gravenhurst we used to have high quality town newspapers, that may have carried some Bracebridge news if it was of a critical nature. The newspapers here ran editorial copy from the hamlets and villages in the region, that obviously could not support their own newspaper. A newspaper, outside of being a business of course, is seen as a sort of community hallmark, and the guarantee, that our comings and goings are going to mean something, in that roll of weeklies put to bed over the course of a year. It's a confidence booster, seeing that newspaper shingle, representing our communication agent, and all our vested interests at home. Even when folks moved away, they would sign up for a subscription, just to keep in touch with what was going on, in the place they used to reside. Having a newspaper and a downtown /uptown newspaper office, has always been a load bearing pillar of local history. What you may not know, is that newspapers have been a huge ongoing source of historical information, used in many of Muskoka's most significant histories. If those publication hadn't existed, much of our history would have been lost. The fact that in our town, the historians are not generating forth like they used to, means a greater reliance on the newspapers and sundry other publications, as partial historical records. Having our paper, that is entirely produced somewhere else, must be duly noted by us historians, because it does evoke a blink or two, as it is a sharp turning point for all us historians…….even by the simple fact, we no longer have an official central town newspaper office.
In all likelihood, we are going to have to get over this, and move on with bigger projects. It would be a hugely expensive proposal to open up a weekly newspaper, and even then, with two well anchored and successful publications already serving the area, the odds of success would be one in a hundred thousand. Media investments are precarious, and print has been risky business from the beginning. It's just, to this old reporter, sad to know, that our community couldn't support a newspaper office. It's that blunt. It's that unsettling. Maybe it's just a psychological barrier. Sort of like losing a hand or leg, continuing to sense it's still there…..when it's obviously not. I expect that over the years we will probably learn to live without a newspaper office, to just drop into for a visit……share some editorial opinions, sports scores, current events, news of local political calamities. But then again, seeing as we've had the appendage of a newspaper office for a long time, maybe we'll still be flexing that missing limb for some time to come. Unless some white knight, on a white charger, comes up that revamped Muskoka Road, with a brand new plan, to put a news office back where it belongs. You know what would be better. A Gravenhurst group of investors, who will spring into action, to change our history once again…….with that local infusion that doesn't have a blessed thing to do with Bracebridge for a change.
Until then, I'll just plug along, in my little cubby hole on the main street, and recall the good old days, and wax nostalgic every now and again, about what it was like when the weekly newspaper, was our most coveted possession……our most bragged about asset…..that the common thread ran through, cover to cover, to keep us all informed….and connected.
Thanks so much, for dropping by for a little visit with an old friend. It's always good to know you have a few friends, to share some thoughts, and inspiring company. Hope your Christmas preparations are moving along. I have many more Christmas stories to share. So please visit frequently.
Just a little note of thanks to you kind folks. A year ago, when I began writing these Gravenhurst blog entries on a daily basis, I launched at about 20 hits per day. By the New Year, I was up to about 40, and by the time I published the Richard Karon biography (artist from Lake of Bays), I was, at times, pushing over one hundred. On an average, for the better part of this year, I was ranging from as low as 40, to as high as one hundred and twenty on a good day. Well sir, love me or hate me, I am now a hair's breadth from achieving five hundred hits per day, which I hope will be good for Gravenhurst down the road. It is very much my purpose, to represent my hometown, and aggressively. I will let you know, when I break the five hundred threshold, which for me, is a most humbling experience as a local writer, who thought many times this year, he wouldn't get much past November, before retiring the quill. I'm close to 35,000 overall hits for the past year. And it's been gained, one reader at a time. My desire, is to one day, have a greater readership than other paid-for publications, and it will be entirely at your discretion. But rest assured, I will represent this town…..even though I'm not worthy of being called a white knight, and if the only "horse" I can muster, is my Dodge Caravan, purchased locally by the way. I am so very proud, to have your confidence……and if you are hometown proud, I think you'll like the material I've got planned for 2013. Fred Schulz, has no idea how many of his great photographs I'm going to beg this year…….so when it comes to trading favors with this master photographer……I'm going to be deeply indebted; so thus, I will also continue to be an entertainment conduit and critic for Music on the Barge, at Gull Lake Park; Fred's pride and joy. Can't wait. Hey, with all this mild weather, we could have extended the concert season…..right Fred? New Years Eve on The Barge? I kind of expect an email will be coming, suggesting I cease and desist, giving the town ideas like this.
Thanks again friends, and Merry Christmas from Muskoka Road, and all of us Curries, inmates of this little abode, at Birch Hollow.
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