The Manitoba government’s all-party committee exploring the future of local journalism concluded a series of province-wide public consultations on Friday.
The final stop was held in Winkler, with Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson and Gimli also hosting events previously. The consultations aimed to focus on rural and northern media and cultural media such as French, Filipino, Punjabi and Chinese language publications.
The all-party committee is made up of four government MLAs and two opposition MLAs. In attendance Friday in Winkler were Chair Robert Loiselle (N.D.P - St. Boniface), Greg Nesbitt (PC - Riding Mountain), Jennifer Chen (N.D.P - Fort Richmond) and Konrad Narth (PC - La Verendrye).
Though not part of the Committee, Progressive Conservative Morden-Winkler M.L.A Carrie Hiebert and Borderland M.L.A. Josh Guenter were in the audience at the Winkler consultation as observers.
"The media landscape across Manitoba is very, very diverse, it's very engaged," noted Loiselle when asked what the Committee heard through the consultation process.
"A lot of Manitobans enjoy getting their paper in the morning, or enjoy listening to the radio in the morning, while getting their coffee and finding out about local issues. That's really what we found out a lot about through this consultation is the importance of getting good information in a timely way from a credible source close to home."
Local information from a local source is important
Within the rural and northern mandate of the consultations, Loiselle reflected on the importance those media outlets play in keeping their respective communities informed.
"It's so important to get information from local media to find out about what's happening in your community, what's happening with schools and community centres and sports teams and whatnot," he shared. "It's important, also, for governments to get information out in a timely manner through media. It's an important tool we can't let go by the wayside."
What was heard?
Some of the issues raised during Friday's public presentations included the importance of investigative journalism, media literacy education in schools, the importance of provincial government advertising revenue to rural media and sustainable funding for local media.
Over the course of the consultations, Loiselle noted they heard from a lot of families that operate local media outlets.
"Generational papers that have been running the media outlets, paper or radio, in their communities for a long time," he said. "It's a real passion. People really believe in their communities, and don't want to lose what makes their community special. The paper or the radio, it's a source of pride for them. We enjoy a lot of freedoms here in Manitoba, and one of the freedoms we have is the freedom of the free press that keeps us informed and it makes us better people, I think."
The Committee has until the end of October to produce its report, and Loiselle believes it will generate even more discussion regarding ensuring the future of local journalism in the province.