Final Thought: end of year

Doesn’t it bug you when companies and organizations put out their “best of” lists…and they’re out before it’s the end of the year?

Like, it wasn’t even December 1, and I started seeing people posting their top listen lists from Spotify.

I mean, I still have a few weeks to go, and I plan on listening to a lot of Handel before the New Year.

But that’s the way these things go. End of the year lists keep getting earlier and earlier.

What also gets earlier and earlier? Is the last issue of the year.

Back when I started the paper, lo these … five years ago, now, the last issue of the year would have fallen on December 26, smack dab in the middle of the Holidays. Nobody would pick up the paper, because they’d all be home for the holidays.

So I made the executive decision to not have that last issue of the year.

But one thing about the way the calendar works: each year that Thursday gets one day sooner.

So back in 2019, the last issue was on December 12, and that felt a nice middle ground for the last issue of the paper. Not too far away from Christmas, but not too close, either. I could take a couple weeks off to spend time with family and everything was great.

Trouble is now the last issue of the year is coming out on December 7.

I have to send this edition to the printers by December 5, which means that one of the biggest events of the Christmas season—the annual Holly Jolly and Christmas tree light up? Falls into that awkward middle ground where it doesn’t get into a December issue, and come January?

Well, come January, there’ll probably be a bunch of January stuff to talk about. Christmas will be just a fond memory. Holly Jolly? That’s so last year.

I mean, I’ll still be there taking pictures, which I’ll put up on the website at www.tumblerridgelines.com. I might even put them up on Facebook. Haven’t decided yet.

But next year, if we continue this trend, the last issue of the year will be December 5. That’s 20 full days before Christmas. That’s way too early.

So next year, I’m going to extend the press run by one, and there’ll be a December 19 issue.

Good Lord willing and the crick don’t rise, as they say.

And there’s a lot of creeks to cross between here and there.

With the closure of the Alaska Highway News and Dawson Creek Mirror, there’s no real newspaper for the rest of the Peace.

So right now, I’m looking at how viable it would be to start up a newspaper for the Peace region.

I think it would fly. All I really need are people who can write decently and regularly.

I’m not talking J-school grads. I mean, they’re cool, but most J-school grads take a job at a place like Fort St. John only until they can get a job in Prince George.

They’ll stay in Prince George until they can get a job in Kamloops, where they’ll stay until they can move to Kelowna.

And they’ll be happy there, until they can move to Vancouver.

The path might be different for different people, but the ladder is the same. Climb to the top (read: north), then work your way back down the ladder until.

My hope is to find someone who isn’t looking at working at a newspaper as just a stepping stone on their way to a larger centre.

I am looking for people who are committed to the communities they live in, who want to tell others about the place they live.

I don’t follow the “if it bleeds it leads” approach to journalism favoured by most newspapers. Instead, I am looking for thoughtful considered stories about the places we call home. For people who are passionate about the community they call home.

That’s the plan. Again, good Lord willing and the crick don’t rise.

Recently, one of my favourite news sources, The Tyee, held a fundraiser down in Vancouver. While there, they held a debate asking “Is journalism on its last legs? Or is it poised for a vibrant future?”

And—surprising, considering this was a online newspaper asking the question—the winner of the debate was the side arguing that yes, journalism was dead.

Or rather, traditional journalism is dead. The sort of journalism that starts with “if it bleeds it leads.” The sort of journalism that says the only stories worth covering are the ones that affect white, middle class men.

Writes Publisher David Beers: “There are a lot of people who have never felt well-served by traditional journalism, so perhaps some features of traditional journalism should be left to die.

“But perhaps in that dying of the old can come something new. In the past 20 years, many promising new ventures have sprung up that do journalism in a different way, including different approaches to paying the bills that are more transparent and ethical.”

It’s not going to be easy, not for any of us working in this business. And I know Tumbler Ridge isn’t exactly the front line of news that affects the world, or even the province.

But the news we cover? Is important to people who live here.

I keep trying to post links on Facebook to stories I’ve written, and I keep getting a notice saying “I’m sorry Dave, you can’t do that.”

Facebook has decided that news is not important to their business model, and by extension, not important to the people who live here. In Canada. In BC. In Tumbler Ridge.

I don’t believe that’s true. I believe that society is enriched by understanding. That informing people about what’s happening here makes them better able to participate in the life of this town. To not be swayed by rumours and lies and mistruths.

As we end the year, we wish you all the best for the holidays and into the new year.

Good Lord willing…