How do you measure impact in a small community?

LJI Journalist Name
Dean Reeds
Region
Ontario

Image: Schreiber residents enjoying the shores of Lake Superior.

August 22, 2022

Schreiber Media Centre has entered its 3rd year in the programme. This renewal helped to reinforce the commitment the media centre has in serving the community of Schreiber. As a journalist it is always nice to receive recognition for ones work as quite often we are unnoticed or even overlooked in the general scheme of things.

When SMC first started out, not many understood the need for having a local journalist in such a small town. Realistically, it just doesn’t make financial sense. The cost of equipment, building, utilities, salaries, transportation and various other expenses would be impossible to maintain without some kind of financial assistance.

Schreiber Media Centre journalist Kim Krause recognized this fact from the start so it was always gonna be a “how can we make this work” situation. Partnering with the Schreiber Public Library helped to solve a few major hurdles. A separate non-profit media arts organization was set up in partnership with the library.

A small studio was set up in the basement of the library and removed some of the costs associated with setting up and running a small media centre. Thanks to the LJI programme some basic equipment was purchased for the centre. Additional equipment was donated and the library was also able to re allocate some resources such as computer screens and hard drives to the cause. Having only a 20 hour work week helped in reducing the amount of content required as well. Quite often it can be a real challenge to even find a story that can be stretched out to more than half an hour and still engage viewers.

From the beginning of the project and even now, there have been many challenges. We all had plans altered when COVID hit but even post pandemic, there are always issues that arise that have to be addressed. Sometimes with not the best outcomes.

Reflecting on the past year and especially the last few months, a few moments stick out. When provincial elections were called this year, the Schreiber Media Centre was able to engage with some of the candidates and present them to the public during some interview sessions. Another one of these was during the high school graduation ceremonies when teacher Chris Dube acknowledged the impact that SMC had on his recent application for funding for the outdoor education study programme. A news story produced by SMC about students engaging with the local first nations community was submitted with the application and funding for that programme was secured for the next 2 years. Recently the township of Terrace Bay had entered into an agreement with SMC to have their council meetings streamed on Youtube. This led to discussions about reporting on their upcoming 75th anniversary festival to be held in late August.

Schreiber Media Centre has also once again provided remote services for the local city news channel in Thunder Bay. When the grand opening of the Discovery Centre and History Museum happened in July, there were no reporters from the news channel to report on the historic event. All staff and resources had been deployed to other areas. As a result of previous partnerships, SMC was able to provide the content for that weekends news story.

Then the partnership resulted in another collaboration when SMC had been out covering a council meeting in Terrace Bay at the same time a heritage day event was occurring in Schreiber. Adam Riley of TBT News was going through town on that evening and was able to capture that event and provide material for the SMC heritage day story.

Another example of how the Media Centre has impacted the community came when the family of a prominent resident came to inquire about producing a program on the life celebration of Ethel Nesbitt. She was a local resident born and raised and living in Schreiber all her life. Her dedication to the people and the town had been exceptional. When she was diagnosed with ALS she made the brave decision to end her own life when she could no longer cope. Thanks to having the media centre in town, people unable to attend her funeral will all be given the opportunity to reflect and celebrate her remarkable life.

Finally, the Schreiber Media Centre has been working with the local weekly newspaper, Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, in not only providing content but helping promote the importance of local community newspapers in collaboration with the Schreiber Public Library programme “Read The News”.

SMC recognizes the importance of working with other media organizations and promoting and highlighting those services from our area. With the assistance of LJI funding we hope to continue providing a much needed service to not only Schreiber but surrounding communities as well.

 

Add new comment

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

About LJI

LJI Impact is the section of commediaportal.ca where the journalists and their organizations participating in CACTUS' Local Journalism Initiative can share their greatest successes.

Through the written stories, photos and videos you see in the LJI Impact section, you'll be able to read first hand accounts about how the presence of a community journalist is making a difference in communities across Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative and the Community Media Portal.

The Community Media Portal is a gateway to the audio-visual media created by community media centres across Canada. These include traditional community TV and radio stations, as well as online and new media production centres.

Community media are not-for-profit production hubs owned and operated by the communities they serve, established both to provide local content and reflection for their communities, as well as media training and access for ordinary citizens to the latest tools of media production, whether traditional TV and radio, social and online media, virtual reality, augmented reality or video games.

The Community Media Portal has been funded by the Local Journalism Initiative (the LJI) of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) in association with the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec (the Fédération). Under the LJI, over 100 journalists have been placed in underserved communities and asked to produce civic content that underpins Canadian democratic life.


Administered by Cactus


Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec


Funded by the Government of Canada