While I’m not going to point to any specific incident, every once in a while I feel the need to vent a little about people who claim they didn’t know, or weren’t notified, about things happening in their own back yard.
While it is entirely possible to miss certain notifications, and busy work, family, and life schedules sometimes make it hard to keep up to date on everything that is happening in a community, I have had more than a few experiences with people who chose to blame a lack of independent initiative on outside sources.
When someone says they didn’t see a specific meeting or event advertised, or they weren’t aware of an issue that was taking place before it was too late to act on, there’s always a little voice inside me that cringes as they quickly begin placing the blame on anyone other than themselves.
Obviously, I work in the newspaper industry, and it’s my job to stay informed on many of the things happening in the community – that’s not to say I know everything that’s happening – because I most certainly do not. The information I gather is only useful if I make the effort to gather it, and if others are willing to come forward with information.
But, I would argue that we all have a certain level of responsibility, as active and engaged members of the community, to at least try to make a regular effort in being informed.
If a person is unaware of a meeting or event, the blame doesn’t necessarily lay with the organization’s advertising strategies, or a lack of initiative from the local media, which is often where the blame is placed.
Technology, now more than ever, has truly taken away the ability to lay blame. If you are looking for information, if you are willing and able to keep updated on news in your community, it is easier now than it ever has been.
In St. Paul, residents are lucky – not only has there been a regular community newspaper operating for over 90 years (this one), but there is also a local radio station, and with the ever-increasing popularity of social media and websites that are updated regularly, information is never very far away.
I’ve also heard the “news is all negative” excuse, which also breaks my heart a little. I purposely chose to pursue a career in community journalism because there are so many good, uplifting stories to be told. Yes, sometimes news, or issues that arise, can be upsetting, but it’s easy to skim over those, and move on to the next issue.
As a way to mend my somewhat broken heart, I decided to look up some statistics.
This is what I found: “Daily newspapers continue to be strong news brands with eight in 10 Canadians reading every week,” according to Newspapers Canada. Information indicates that Canadians “are still avid readers of newspaper content.”
Also on a positive, between 50 and 60 per cent of Canadians read newspaper content every day.
So, while there will always be people who don’t know, and don’t care to know, or blame others for their own lack of knowing, I can find a little peace in knowing that the majority of people do try, and do care.
