Partner Blog: Ontario Community Newspaper Association

On April 25th, we started our day with a thought-provoking meeting the Ontario Community Newspaper Association (OCNA), a generous OLIP partner. We were lucky enough to meet with Mr. Gordon Cameron, the Executive Director of the OCNA since December 2023. Mr. Cameron has been involved with the OCNA in various leadership capacities for 16 years. The OCNA itself is a non-profit organization representing hundreds of community newspapers from across the province of Ontario. Most of their members are small business owners who are deeply involved in their communities, and the OCNA’s primary goal as a collective is to represent the needs of their members and the industry.

To start our meeting, Mr. Cameron provided an extensive backgrounder on the state of affairs of the community news industry in Ontario, and of journalism more broadly. One of the topics we discussed was the phenomenon of disintermediation in the media – or the practice of removing the so-called ‘middleman’ (many news outlets) in communications operations. Mr. Cameron explained that from politicians to police forces, more and more officials and organizations are moving towards sharing content directly with the public, using forms such as media releases or social media. While this might be advantageous in emergent situations due to the speed of reporting, this form of reporting can also limit the sorts of information and perspectives received by the public.

We also discussed the evolving relationship between journalists and the police force in Ontario. We grappled with the complexities of creating a culture of transparency and accountability for police forces, while also respecting their needs for organizational structure and public safety. Finally, we discussed an interesting paradigm evolving in the world of media and public trust: the differentiation between local newspaper, and the broader news industry. We discussed how from both elected officials and citizens alike, the news as an industry is facing a crisis of public trust. However, whereas many forms of traditional media or larger networks experience this distrust acutely, community news seem to be differently perceived, instead having high readership rates and engagement with stakeholders.

Thank you to Mr. Cameron and to the OCNA for their support of OLIP! Now more than ever, we recognize that journalists play such a crucial role in maintaining our democracy and institutions, whether they are covering issues locally or globally. We appreciate all that you do for the industry, and for our programme.