How the journalism industry has major improvements needed to be made in terms of gender equity
Receiving news is one of the most important and beneficial things for our society, without it we would not know what is going on around us, in our community or globally.
However, being the one to tell it is far more valuable.
I have wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl but knowing the truth of what the journalism industry entailed in terms of the fairness and quality woman journalists received compared to men, I become confused.
Women are told constantly not be bold, confident and demanding, yet having to control one’s behaviour to not contradict expected gender roles, as the exact same behaviours would be accepted, if not rewarded, in male colleagues is misogyny at is finest.
Although numbers are starting to become even in terms of men and female in the newsroom, it is important that individuals do not forget to read in between the lines. Just decades ago, the lack of women being in a newsroom or being a writer was common, but the treatment and podium we get put on is the same as it is today.
Even though women are in the newsroom, they are not seen or taken seriously in many circumstances due to the maltreatment in this work field. And specifically, due to the misogyny that still rules the stories being told.
For example, famous Canadian-writer Margaret Atwood and well-known feminist spoke about this issue, as she has been in the writing industry as a woman for many decades and has experienced it all head on.
Something she found was that while pushing for women authors to have more space and freedom to write, it still had replaced those earlier expectations with demands of its own.
Women have it difficult today as a whole, so taking the reins of a position where your voice is to be heard, makes those who want yours silenced to be fuelled with envy.
For example, although women can write now, the only difference that has been made is our deception on it being a “bad” thing to now being something “good”. Yet women still deal with many repercussions today being a woman in journalism.
In a study done in 2020 on the dangers faced in the journalism industry, 73% of female respondents of that survey said they had experienced some form of online abuse, harassment or threats, with 20% facing dangers out of the newsroom.
Women have it difficult today as a whole, so taking the reins of a position where your voice is to be heard, makes those who want yours silenced to be fueled with envy.
Women are told constantly not be bold, confident and demanding, yet having to control one’s behavior to not contradict expected gender roles, as the exact same behaviors would be accepted, if not rewarded, in male colleagues is misogyny at is finest.
Although all of this is daunting, it did not stop me from wanting to pursue the passion. But the reality does settle once you are at the point in your life where you find yourself applying for these roles, seeing the wages and entering the newsrooms filled with white, old men.
The underrepresentation of woman in the media is so small, as women were only 13% of sources and subjects in the television and newscast industry monitored in 2020 as studied by the Global Media Monitoring Project.
It also dawns on you when misogyny is again, so obvious within the journalism industry yet too unidentifiable to others.
Although women are in the newsroom, it does not mean we are seen in the newsroom, are given a chance to speak, move up, prove ourselves, state our opinions boldly and call the shots.
Our society is just giving the mic to female journalists but leaving it on mute as we hope to share our opinions and voice so boldly, yet we are not even given a chance to be listened or to speak.
We need to start being heard and represented in the journalism industry, not just merely existing until a man decides that we are useful.
Holding space for community stories through arts and culture journalism
C/O Anne Nygard
As the year comes to an end, it’s important to take the time to reflect on the past few months. This serves not only as an opportunity to measure and celebrate our successes but also to recognize our shortcomings. It allows us to hold ourselves accountable to the goals and promises we set out in the beginning.
As a section, there are two tenets that have guided our reporting this year: community connections and Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour perspectives.
We have strived to place particular emphasis on the student community, especially during these strange and trying times. The fall semester saw the return of the Humans of McMaster column and in the winter semester, we have been able to report on how events such Mac Dance annual showcase and faculty musicals have been able to proceed in the pandemic.
We also have been thrilled to feature a number of student-led businesses and initiatives. These include but are not limited to Ashantae Handcrafted, Alethea Clark and her mother’s health and beauty business; the Potential Excellence podcast produced by second-year students Brian Osei-Boateng and Tevin Wellington; Desu Beauty, fourth-year Abi Oladesu’s makeup business; The Wig Hall, second-year Inès Ndzana’s wig company and ISAIAH III, fourth-year student Aaron Parry’s clothing brand celebrating African-Canadian identity and culture.
While many of these businesses were born out of student’s newfound time during the pandemic, they also reflect their unique interests and passions.
“Everyone has their own outlets of dealing with [burnout] and [ways] of finding healing and time to actually rest so that you can reenter the world. Art has always been mine for that. I think developing a business that reflects my creative interest and my community interest is kind of a daily reminder to actually do art to be creative and to look after myself,” said Parry.
“Everyone has their own outlets of dealing with [burnout] and [ways] of finding healing and time to actually rest so that you can reenter the world. Art has always been mine for that. I think developing a business that reflects my creative interest and my community interest is kind of a daily reminder to actually do art to be creative and to look after myself.”
Aaron Parry, founder of isaiah iii
Although the traditional Supercrawl celebrations were cancelled, we were still able to cover how the event affected students and also offer insight into how students have been affected as members of the larger Hamilton community during the pandemic.
There are few articles this year that have not alluded to the pandemic. It’s hung over all of us. It is difficult to forget about as we are constantly confronted with reminders of it, including the monotony of learning and working from home and the shift from print to online publication.
It was important to us to help capture how the events of 2020, including the pandemic-affected students and particularly their ability to form community. This desire spurred the creation of the new Sil Time Capsule series as we sought to share the experiences of students in the larger, international community as well.
“2020 has been an eventful and unprecedented year and as a student newspaper, we have a responsibility to acknowledge these events, inform our peers and raise awareness about them. We also have a responsibility to address the ways in which they have affected and influenced not only the wider world but also our own community. This Time Capsule series is one way by which we are working to do justice to the events and issues of this year and their influence on the communities big and small of which we are a part,” explained both Adrian Salopek and myself in the introductory article on the Time Capsule series.
We also attempted to raise awareness about opportunities for students to connect with the McMaster and Hamilton communities even if they were not in the city proper, such as through pen pal initiatives, the Hamilton Public Library and series like virtual nightclub Bedroom Dancing. These initiatives are examples of the way the community has stepped up to support each other and bring some joy to each other during these difficult days.
“I hope that [the attendees] can feel invigorated to move a little more in their own way . . . [and] connect with the community. That’s my ultimate goal,” explained Rachel Mae, also known as DJ Donna Lovejoy, who co-hosted Bedroom Dancing.
We have strived to hold space for the stories and voices of the BIPOC community at McMaster and Hamilton, which have often been underrepresented in the Silhouette’s coverage.
Representation matters and as a section, it’s been extremely important to us to report on stories that reflect the diversity of our community. We've been delighted to feature businesses and organizations like Mixed in Hamilton, Take Up Space, Beads in the Trap, Shop Boho, BlkOwnedHamont and Filipinas of HamONT. However, in the future, we could strive to feature more Indigenous stories in our arts and culture coverage.
Representation matters and as a section, it’s been extremely important to us to report on stories that reflect the diversity of our community. We've been delighted to feature businesses and organizations like Mixed in Hamilton, Take Up Space, Beads in the Trap, Shop Boho, BlkOwnedHamont and Filipinas of HamONT. However, in the future, we could strive to feature more Indigenous stories in our arts and culture coverage.
In our annual Sex and the Steel City special issue, we endeavoured to bring these two tenets of community and BIPOC perspectives together to do justice to the diversity of cultures and communities on campus and in Hamilton.
“I think COVID-19 has made this issue all the more urgent. This pandemic has upended relationships, cancelled sex lives and wreaked havoc on our collective health. But it has also highlighted the importance of these things. We crave connection perhaps more than we ever have. So in this year’s Sex and the Steel City, we have sought to tell stories of connection. Not just stories of romantic relationships, but also stories of the relationships with our family members, our friends and ourselves. I hope you know that you’re part of a community that loves and looks forward to this issue, be it your first Sex and the Steel City or your millionth,” wrote Arts & Culture Editor Rya Buckley in her opening letter for this year’s Sex and the Steel City issue.
We also attempted to revive the Sil’s Black Futures issue and while it was not quite as successful as we had hoped it would be, we were grateful to be able to offer a platform for Hamilton’s first Black Film Festival, the new Black and IPOC-focused clubs making a difference on campus and what McMaster alum Michael Abraham has been up to. Just as these individuals and their initiatives hold space for the Black community, it was important to us to hold space for their stories.
“The reason why I am part of these clubs is because I want to do whatever I can to best support the Black community. Because oftentimes a major issue is just lack of information. People aren’t aware of these opportunities. In being in these roles, we’re able to share different opportunities with the people who are part of our club . . . and just keeping them tapped in because that’s really important. Overall, [I am] just looking for ways to support the community in whatever capacity that I can. That’s why I’m involved in these clubs,” said Anu Popoola, a second-year student involved in the Black Student Mentorship Program and Black Aspiring Physicians McMaster.
The last few weeks in particular we have placed renewed emphasis on sharing BIPOC stories, especially those close to the hearts of section staff. We are grateful to have featured initiatives such as speqtrum’s Food Talks series, Goodbodyfeel’s fueling reclamation initiative and Red Betty Theatre’s Decolonize Your Ears. We’ve also had the privilege to interview businesses such as Thirty Wolves Designs and Verte Beauty.
“It’s overdue. This kind of investment into BIPOC leadership is overdue [and] it’s easy reparations for the folks who are like, “Oh, I’m so overwhelmed. How I can contribute to anti-racist work?” Here you go, here’s a really easy way to do it. Just help fund it, help spread the word, help empower our future changemakers. If we’re fully fueling BIPOC leadership, we are fueling an equitable future,” explained Robin Lacambra, founder and owner of Goodbodyfeel.
While Lacambra was speaking about her studio’s fueling reclamation initiative, the same can be said of all institutions and industries. Being a reporter is a privilege and it’s one we endeavoured to wield wisely as we’ve strived to support our community through this trying year, while also holding space for BIPOC stories and voices in our section.
There is always room for improvement though and hopefully, in the future, the section continues to allow these tenets to guide their work.
By: Esther Liu, Contributor
Yahia Hassan is a first-year student in life sciences. He co-founded the nonprofit, The Altruist.
The Silhouette: What are you passionate about?
Hassan: I'm really interested in how people interact with each other and what makes people choose one thing over something else. I'm also really into biology and other sciences so I like to look at that in terms of the psychological side of it. In terms of humanitarianism, it's really important to get that perspective and over the years I've sort of trained myself to try and get empathy and get open-mindedness and perspective from other people.
When did you start getting involved in your community?
My first volunteer opportunity was back in Egypt in Grade 9. [W]e went to one of the villages that were damaged over the years and we re-decorated and refurbished that village. We built a whole community centre for them with a group of 50 people. I think it's the experience of helping others without really getting anything in return, right? I'm not getting paid or anything but I'm still doing good for others. Knowing that they now live in a place that I helped improve.
Later in high school, I took more leadership roles where it's more of helping a bigger organization. So, I'm volunteering for something: I'm helping ship medicine boxes for example and I don't know anything about it later on, right? But I don't like the idea of that because I don't know where it's going. I'm not sure if it's actually going to go to the place where it's intended.
Between Grade 11 and Grade 12, I was volunteering with Trillium Health Partners. There, I had to really think on the spot about how to help people directly. As an intern, I had to step up right because nurses and doctors are not going to be free to help you. That was a good experience of helping other people no matter what the situation is. So a lot of empathy came with it. [I thought] “right this is hard, but I have to help this person because they can't really help themselves or they don't they can't fathom helping themselves.”
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What is The Altruist?
The Altruist is a youth journalism organization. We were starting out with five people. Now we're over 20 people and we have people in nine countries contributing. The purpose of The Altruist is, through youth journalism, giving other youth a voice and giving them a platform. What we're really focusing on is humanitarian issues. It's a lot about goodwill without anything in return.
How did The Altruist start?
Originally, it was two people: me and a friend of mine. We were first based in White Oak Secondary School. Over time, we contacted people that we knew from our school and a few people from Egypt. We now have people from Canada, the UK, Egypt, Indonesia, China, Pakistan and India. We started back in March – not coincidental with the pandemic.
But when the pandemic hit, there was a lot of news that was misinformed and contained a lot of implied and explicit hatred [with] each headline. So we wanted to create a safer source of journalism and information. The goals for the organization are to create honest news and news that doesn't spark fear. [We want] to influence and inspire other people to go out of their way to do good for other people. Since this is a non-profit and we're really focused on the goodwill of our actions, we want others to do the same.
What are you working on now with The Altruist?
For the audience, we want workshops in different schools or venues to inspire change and inspire people to be good. Right now, we have webinars every month where we would talk about different issues. So, for example, if we're talking about oppression against racialized communities, we might talk about oppression in the medical community, in the film industry and more. We want people to be aware and, through that awareness, to say: "Oh, this is not a good thing and this is something that I can change within myself.”
McMaster has seen a few famous graduates walk through its halls. From Eugene Levy to Martin Short, who have both moved onto great success on the big and small screens, it’s safe to say Mac has had some notable alumni. One of those individuals is the anchor for The Sports Network: Lindsay Hamilton.
On March 5, McMaster athletics and recreation held a talk where many prominent women in sports came to speak about challenges women are facing in sports leadership today. Among those invited was Hamilton, who I sat down with to interview.
Hamilton was a graduate of the class of 2014 and by the time she graduated was already primed for success in broadcasting. Throughout her time at McMaster, not only was she a student, but she was also a varsity athlete for the lacrosse team, a presenter for a weekly sports show on 93.3 CFMU and a host on the Family channel.
“I've always been someone who is really driven and I worked really hard at university. I think putting in the work then allowed me to have a platform after university to bounce off of,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton certainly had her plate full during her undergrad, but this never stopped her from wanting more. She credits her success to the support of her family, her strong work ethic and determination. Hamilton also touched on how being so involved at school was a big factor in learning how to take advantage of every opportunity that she could.
Reaching for the stars and already having a strong portfolio in television hosting, Hamilton looked to focus on sports broadcasting once she graduated. She got some of her first breaks covering the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup in 2012 and officially joined Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment in 2014. The MLSE owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and many other prominent Toronto sports teams.
Reaching for the stars and already having a strong portfolio in television hosting, Hamilton looked to focus on sports broadcasting once she graduated. She got some of her first breaks covering the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup in 2012 and officially joined Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment in 2014. The MLSE owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and many other prominent Toronto sports teams.
After joining the MLSE, Hamilton’s resume grew and so did her screen presence. She is now on the desk as an anchor at The Sports Network for SportsCentre and representing an ever-growing and diverse presence of women in sports media.
TSN's talent roster is still overwhelmingly male-dominated, but the number of women anchors, hosts and analysts have grown a great deal over the past ten years.
It is no secret that journalism and broadcasting was traditionally a “boys club”, but TSN is making a change and regularly sees two women leading broadcasts during primetime morning recaps, Raptors and Leafs games. This is one example of the trend in normalization of women leading broadcasts in sports, something that seemed to be a pipe dream in the early 2000s.
The presence of women in sports is ever-growing. For example, Doris Burke, a National Basketball Association analyst, is heralded as one of the best broadcasters in the sport of basketball and the NBA is set to see an increasing number of women in positions of power.
Masai Ujiri, the president of basketball operations for the Toronto Raptors, has hired over 14 women to be on staff, ranging from coaching to marketing within the organization, more than any other team in the league. And he credits a good portion of the Raptors’ success to the diversity within his staff.
Not only are teams and broadcast networks hiring more females, but the NBA is rumoured to soon be the first organization to ever have a female head coach within the four majors: football, basketball, hockey and baseball. Becky Hammon has already coached a summer league team, being the first female summer league head coach in the NBA in 2015. Hammon seems to be on the path to take over a regular-season team of her own, with analysts and journalists speculating she could end up as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
“As women, we’ve definitely come a long way. But we can’t be complacent. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try new things, seek a mentor. Know that there is such a great community of women who are willing to support you,” Hamilton remarked at the Women in Sport Leadership panel discussion.
“As women, we’ve definitely come a long way. But we can’t be complacent. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try new things, seek a mentor. Know that there is such a great community of women who are willing to support you,” Hamilton remarked at the Women in Sport Leadership panel discussion.
The importance of a mentor was another point which Hamilton emphasized. Building networks and having figures you look up to can benefit anyone. She suggested taking five figures who you admire for different reasons and emulating those traits.
She says the experience she was able to gather at McMaster was a major factor in perfecting her craft. The shows she produced for MacTV, 93.3 CFMU and her experience at local radio stations through her work study class were crucial in her development as a broadcaster. She could not stress enough how students should take advantage of all the opportunities that are provided on campus.
She says the experience she was able to gather at McMaster was a major factor in perfecting her craft. The shows she produced for MacTV, 93.3 CFMU and her experience at local radio stations through her work study class were crucial in her development as a broadcaster. She could not stress enough how students should take advantage of all the opportunities that are provided on campus.
“I think for me, and this is advice I often give to students these days, is that there are so many resources available to you in university to take advantage of. Don't wait until you've graduated to get work experience,” Hamilton remarked.
Hamilton is a prime example of a new wave in sports, where womens’ presence is long overdue. She worked hard and aimed for the stars, and now she is one. Being a McMaster grad myself, this definitely hit home. Speaking with her was like looking into the pool of potential that the university population has. There are so many talented individuals at 1280 Main St. W. and speaking to an extremely well established graduate was not only inspirational for myself, but I hope for you as well.
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This is part one of a three part series. Throwback Thursday looks to explore the past, present and future of Hamilton’s music scene through the eyes of those within.
The Hamilton music scene is ever-changing. The rise of Supercrawl over the past decade has given local bands a public platform that they might not have had access to otherwise. Through this Throwback Thursday series, I seek to uncover the recent history of Hamilton’s music scene, and how the city has developed the unique musical identity that it’s known for today. This will take the form of three profile-based articles focusing on interactions with the past, present and future of Hamilton’s music scene.
We will begin with a snapshot of Hamilton’s music scene in the 1990s. Our guide is a former Silhouette Arts & Culture Editor, and co-author of Canadian alt-rock music book "Have Not Been The Same".
Ian A.D. Jack began studying Kinesiology at McMaster in 1992. Although his studies were heavily focused on physiology and physical movement, Jack had a passion for music that stemmed from his childhood.
Jack recalled living in Thunder Bay as a child in the 80s, going to the local library and borrowing vinyl records which exposed him to a wide range of music. When Jack’s parents divorced, he turned to music as a comforting mechanism.
Photo C/O Ian A.D. Jack
“Music has been my saviour all along,” said Jack.
With the late 80s came the surge of bands such as U2, The Smiths and New Order, creating a new wave of music. Music was getting louder, heavier, but strangely more melodic as well. Jack was captivated by this style. He tried to emulate their sounds, find out as much as he could about the bands and build his music collection.
While Jack was at McMaster, he would spend all of his extra money at Cheapies Records and Tapes (67 King St. East), a staple record store in Hamilton’s music scene that is still around today. Cheapies does not confine itself to one type of music, allowing anybody to find their own interests in their vinyl record bins. After his first year of university he began writing for the Sil, after realizing that he would be sent new music for free so long as he wrote something about it.
“It was a great way of funding my habits and became a gateway for me to meet a lot of artists and my heroes,” said Jack.
In the past, the Sil used to have a dedicated pull-out section called Hamilton Entertainment Arts Directory, or HEAD. This section featured movie and album reviews, but also had a heavy focus on reviewing and interviewing local Hamilton-based bands. Jack wrote his first article for HEAD about alternative rock band, Rhymes with Orange. He continued writing for HEAD in his third year and became co-Arts Editor in his final year of school. HEAD was an important way for students to understand the music scene in Hamilton.
In addition to profiling Hamilton music, Jack’s section also featured interviews with bands such as Oasis and Blur. HEAD also ran interviews with notable people in the movie industry such as actor/director Kevin Smith, actor Don McKellar and director Noah Bombock.
In the 90s, there were two pubs on campus that hosted live music. The Rathskeller, now Bridges Café, typically housed Hamilton-based bands, and the Downstairs John, which has since been demolished to make room for L.R. Wilson Hall, typically hosted more well known Canadian bands. Jack described the city’s music scene as being rougher than it is today due to the minimal amount of exposure artists received as well as the undeveloped, underground scene they were playing in.
“Now, you have some more prominent artists like The Arkelles and White Horse, and you have Supercrawl. That festival didn’t exist [before],” said Jack.
Jack also recalls off-campus venues that would host live music. The largest of these clubs was called X-Club, housed on the second floor of a building at King William Street and John Street North downtown. Up and coming indie bands such as Jale, Doughboys and Pure would perform. Jack remembers tall posts extending from the floors to the ceiling, obstructing audience sightlines. Nevertheless, it was a great place to catch an indie show.
La Luna (306 King St. West), was another spot that would host smaller bands or acoustic sets. While primarily functioning as a Lebanese restaurant, it had a small space for live performances, hosting the likes of Dave Rave, Jale and Jacob Moon. This venue is still open today.
Jack noted that The Corktown (175 Young St.) sometimes felt dilapidated, but it hosted a number of punk and alt-rock bands. For that reason, it remained one of his favourite places to watch live music in Hamilton. One notable band who performed at Corktown was Junkhouse, a rock band helmed by Tom Wilson. This venue is still open today and frequently hosts live music.
While not primarily a place for live music, Fever, now Absinthe (38 King William St.), was a dance club playing alt-rock music. This style of music started to gain traction with more and more people throughout the city.
Throughout Jack’s university years in Hamilton, a few major genres dominated the Steel City’s music scene. Punk rock was made prominent in part to Teenage Head; rock n’ roll was from Junkhouse; folk rock came from groups like Crash Vegas; and power pop from bands like The Killjoys.
“Hamilton is like the Brooklyn to Toronto’s New York,” said Jack when describing the 90s music scene.
In Jack’s earlier years, many Toronto-based artists moved to Hamilton as rent was more affordable west of the city. The same is true of New York-based artists who move to Brooklyn.
“It’s financially logical and you also have a collective of creative people that can afford to be creative,” added Jack.
Jack graduated from McMaster in 1996 and went on to teach music in the elementary sector; however, his writing endeavours didn’t stop with the Sil. He co-wrote a book in 2001 called "Have Not Been The Same" that focused on the development of alternative rock in Canada from 1985 to 1995. Through this project, Jack had the chance to interview local Hamilton-based bands from his university days, such as Doughboys and Jale, in a process that came full circle for him.
On a more personal note, I had the pleasure of being taught by ‘Mr. Jack’ from grade four to six. Since my graduation from elementary school, we’ve kept in contact over the years. By coincidence, I also found my way to McMaster for my post-secondary education. When I told him I had accepted my offer, he told me to look into writing for the Sil. My first year was really about finding my own footing at the school, as is the case for many other students, which is why I wasn’t able to pursue his advice. At the start of my second year, he told me to reconsider writing for the Sil. I took him up on his advice and the rest, as they say, is history.
An inspiration not only to my music, but also to my personal morals and values and seemingly to my journalism career, thank you, Ian.
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THE STATE OF PRINT MEDIA
The constant drive of Hamilton print media is largely owed to the Hamilton Spectator, the city’s near-daily newspaper published since 1846. Sold to a parent company, TorStar, in 1999, the Spec may be owned across the lake, but it has been run, staffed, and read by Hamiltonians since it first began publication.
In August 2019, the Spec’s printing press stopped rolling. TorStar had decided to send the paper to a contracted plant. With the Spec’s final issue rolling out of the historic printing press this August, 73 full-time and 105 part-time staff will be out of work. The building itself might be sold off in an effort to cut costs. The Spec will still be in print, but printing will be outsourced to a plant outside of Hamilton.
Despite the changes, John Boynton, TorStar’s chief executive, emphasized the company’s commitment to fully supporting the Hamilton community. If the Spec building is sold, Boynton anticipates keeping the head office of the Spec in Hamilton, but they are not required to do so. The headquarter’s future location will likely be based on TorStar’s financial interests, despite the importance of the Spec in the Hamilton community. With no promises from Boynton, the future of the Spec in Hamilton is not guaranteed.
The Spec has been experiencing the same issues as other organizations in the news industry, with potential readers opting for digital media or bypassing reading altogether, where readers are being lost to the recent media ‘pivot to video’ and podcast boom. Sasha Dhesi, a Silhouette alumna and the Ontario representative for the Canadian University Press, said that the printing press’s closure is unfortunate as the city is losing an important part of the community. While she is not surprised by the move of media to a digital space, she acknowledges the downsides.
“It's really sad to know that it's not in Hamilton anymore. I used to drive by the Hamilton Spectator printing building . . . every time I came into Hamilton when I was visiting my parents … knowing that the building isn’t going to be [printing] anymore is sad,” said Dhesi.
Another blow to Hamilton print media came with the closure of Hamilton Magazine. Founded 40 years ago, the publication has focused on local news, community and arts. Hamilton Magazine ran independently for a number of years before being bought out by the Toronto-based media company PostMedia. With this summer’s issue being its last, two of Hamilton Magazine’s three employees will lose their jobs, while one will assume another PostMedia position. Marc Skulnick, Hamilton Magazine’s former editor, was unable to comment.
THE LEGISLATION
Despite the precarity of print media, the federal government has committed to spending almost $600 million over a five year period, along with providing other incentives, for big media companies to stay afloat. It is unlikely that benefits from government media bailout would trickle down to Hamilton news publications such as the Spec.
An independent panel made up of media unions and associations across the country will dole out the government incentives. Panel members include the Canadian Association of Journalists, News Media Canada and the Association de la presse francophone, among others. Independent news organizations, small media outlets and individual journalists don’t have a seat on the panel. The panel gets to decide which companies received government bailouts while also representing the interests of their organizations. The very groups with a stake in the decision are the ones making it.
"I just don't think it's the right solution. I think it carries the potential to do more harm to news agencies' credibility than it does to actually do anything more than protect existing systems in the short term," said Russell Wangersky, a columnist at the St. John's Telegram, in an interview with CBC.
While legislation at the federal level will affect large news corporations, the provincial Student Choice Initiative is likely to impact student publications across Ontario.
Proposed last year, The SCI will come into effect this school year. The guidelines mandate that universities offer students the option to opt-out of ancillary fees for any services the Conservative government deemed non-essential. Essential services include athletics and recreation, student buildings, health services and academic support. Student news organizations are classified as non-essential under the SCI.
A survey by OneClass, a Toronto-based education-technology company, said that 57.4 per cent of students would opt-out of fees to support student newspapers. Jerry Zheng, a growth marketer at OneClass, administered the OneClass survey.
“I think it will definitely mean the end of print distribution for the student newspapers,” said Zheng in an interview with the Waterloo Chronicle.
The fate of student news might not be as dire as Zheng suggests. However, the option to opt-out, if taken by a significant number of students, could effectively defund campus media. Student newspapers are responsible for holding institutions accountable, providing the student body with important information and act as training grounds for journalists. Defunding student media across the province effectively silences student voices.
“If 80 per cent opt-in we’re a bit tight on cash but we’re not ruined. If only 20% opt-in then we’re destroyed. No one else is covering university content to the same degree,” said Dhesi, “Most newspapers, especially now … don’t have the resources in the same way that student news does. Student newsrooms are probably the only place where people can find stable work in news media.”
Dhesi also reflected on her own experience in a student newsroom and the diversity of voices she found there.
“If you look at student newsrooms versus actual newsrooms, you’d be shocked at which ones are more diverse — but not really. I definitely think that losing student newsrooms and losing local media that have that effect reduce[s] the amount of people that [go on in the field] and diminish[es] the quality of journalism overall," said Dhesi.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
While the move to the digital sphere may be the product of old industry adapting to the times, it could mean negative impacts for journalists and the free press as a whole.
“And I think when we think about what makes up the Canadian media landscape, more and more publications are dying off everyday, and we really need those … we rely on three major corporations to give us all our news, and that's just not a good thing,” said Dhesi.
Perhaps the Spec, the Silhouette and Hamilton Magazine represent different stages of the same trends. All have encountered the monopolization of the media industry, reliance on casual labour and decreasing funding or revenue. Stifling student news could snuff out future journalists before they even learn the trade. Overall, this constrains the field that holds the powerful accountable and keeps the public informed.
As for the future of student news, the Silhouette isn’t going anywhere yet. Hamilton print media has persisted despite challenges that come with over 100 years of publication. As print media in Hamilton moves toward a new era, journalists, publications and readerships must adapt with the changes. Still, news publications have always been more than just print. While the printing press may slow its roll, the voices of journalists will persist.
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Sex and the Steel City has made its rounds over the years.
Whether it was moving on from a totally separate issue to an insert, reviving it from the dead after it was put to rest in 2014 or making the decision to not distribute 8,000 copies of full-on porn around campus and the community, looking through the SATSC archives is both hilarious and moving.
Special issues are a lot of work. Every aspect of this issue has a meticulous planning process and an entire team of staff and volunteers to get the job done. This year’s edition of SATSC was no exception.
On top of making sure that our regular, 28-page issue is both high-quality and on stands on time, our staff worked around the clock looking for submissions, editing content, laying out pages and planning a launch party. Razan Samara, our Arts & Culture editor, spent months planning the issue, from working and reworking our page count, layouts or what the cover might look like. Some of our contributors did double their paid workload in order to get this issue on stands.
Despite the various planning meetings, extra hours in the office, stress headaches and way too much coffee, we got it done, and it looks incredible.
We published the last Sex and the Steel City magazine in February 2016. The 32-page issue was distributed at the same time as our weekly paper and despite its popularity, was cut the following year due to budget cuts and complaints about the fact that it was NSFW.
After floating the idea around how to bring it back last year, we revived the special edition in the form of a some extra pages in our Arts and Culture section. We strayed from our traditional format about writing about sex for the sake of writing about sex and instead published pieces surrounding sex, health and relationships.
This year, we decided to follow suit, putting in an additional 12 glossy pages filled with artwork, information about LGBTQ2SA+ friendly spaces in Hamilton and several pieces on sexual health and wellness. We also added our feature and sports section to the fun with some themed articles and decided to have a launch party for it — which you should come to, tonight at Redchurch Cafe from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Special issues allow our staff and contributors to stray from our usual content and dive into topics that interest them, never minding what may be too taboo for our weekly issue. It allows our production team to really show off how talented they are. Most importantly, it allows us to stray from the ordinary and be as creative as we want.
When I was 16 years old, I told my parents that I wanted to be a journalist.
They hated that, obviously, and I don’t blame them. Why would they want their kid to go into a (their words) dying field? Especially one that has been at a low point for the past ten years.
Over the past decade, the number of jobs in newsrooms have dropped by 45 per cent. In the past month alone, major news companies have laid off major portions of their staff. BuzzFeed’s recent layoffs amounted to 15 per cent of its total staff, equating to about 1,100 employees around the world, Vice recently announced that it would lay off 10 per cent of their workforce and Verizon announced that it would cut 7 per cent of its headcount, around 800 people, from its media unit, which includes HuffPost, Yahoo and AOL.
Many have blamed these cuts on the shift to digital media, and while there is incredible opportunity with moving a news product online, the fight for advertising revenue is the biggest culprit in this. At the beginning of February, Facebook reported that it had made $16.6 billion in ad sales in the fourth quarter of 2018.
We all fell for high-quality video work, online exclusive articles and more recently, sponsored articles, to get ahead of cuts like this. However, if a company like BuzzFeed, who literally created a platform exclusively for online content, couldn’t keep up with the digital shift, then who can?
These numbers alone feel like enough to convince young journalists to steer away from pursuing their dream jobs, but to make matters worse, the Ontario Progressive Conservative party’s recent move to make ancillary fees optional can also be taken as a major attack on student publications.
As many post-secondary schools in Ontario are without a journalism program, student news rooms are most students’ first, if not only, taste at journalism. These cuts are devastating, and ultimately signal an end of an extremely long era.
If these cuts signal anything, it’s that the future of journalism is feeling more bleak than ever, especially to those who are just entering the field.
Premier Doug Ford’s recent move to make ancillary fees optional can affect a number of valuable groups and services on campus. On a campus that prides itself in student life as much as McMaster does, many of these groups are left to question what is to be deemed essential by the university. The Silhouette is in a similar position.
The Silhouette has been McMaster’s student-run newspaper for 89 years. For a university without a journalism program, this is particularly impressive. We’ve been through generations of passionate staff members, critical eyes at city hall and decades of keeping McMaster's students and administration accountable.
This past year, we've turned around our online presence and have reached up to 300 per cent more people through our coverage. Our audience engagement is the highest is has ever been and more people are relying on the Silhouette as their immediate news source. Not only that, but over the past decade we’ve won awards, both locally and nationally, for the work that we put into this paper.
If the Silhouette were to dissolve at the hands of a government who campaigned for free speech on campus, what would that look like? Local news outlets do not have the capacity to cover McMaster or student specific news, nor do they have the capacity to cover issues in student government. For the most part, if you look at any student-centric stories that local news sources have covered, student media has covered the same stories first.
If you need an example of this, Ryerson’s student-run newspaper, the Eyeopener, was first to report on a story in which the five-member executive team that governs the Ryerson Student Union had spent over $250,000 using the union’s credit cards. After the Eyeopener reported on this, several major news sites, including the CBC, CP24, BlogTO, Vice and CTV News among other major outlets released coverage on the matter.
If you need an example of something that is closer to home, following our coverage of the Hamilton Student Mobilization Network’s protest at McMaster on Jan. 30, Cable 14 Hamilton covered the protest and used our video footage in their segment, City Matters.
We have continuously proven ourselves as a valuable service that the McMaster Students Union provides, but we’re left in the dark about what our next steps are to prevent the total dissolving of a paper with a legacy as long as the Sil’s. For the past two weeks, we’ve been having long meetings with MSU members, Canadian University Press representatives, lawyers and university administration to conjure up the best course of action and hopefully, we can continue to be a valuable news source for years to come.
The paper received an email asking for a response to a few questions by July 25 for an article that will be up on J-Source, which is a collaboration of post-secondary journalism schools led by Ryerson, Laval and Carleton. It will be about whether student media represents the diversity of Canada.
The questions mainly had to do with the self-identification of the editorial board, our staff, on a number of different categories. These were based on gender, race with specific note to Indigenous people, disabilities and gender or sexual minorities. While they could have divided a few of these categories to be more specific, analysis of diversity in the workplace continues to be a positive endeavour that should be undertaken and explored more in-depth.
McMaster’s Employment Equity Working Committee released a new report on July 23 in a similar vein. It provides a detailed roadmap based on input from different parts of campus, e.g., each of the different faculties and research departments. The focus is primarily on “... a more complete understanding of representation of all four groups designated by the Federal Contractors Program: women; First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) peoples; persons with disabilities; and members of visible minorities, as well as the representation of trans and LGBTQ+ employees.”
The last recent example for this article will be a comment piece by the Public Editor over at The Varsity, which is the University of Toronto’s student newspaper. While a lot of it has to do with online commenting platforms, it transitions into the commitment the paper has, “... to diversity in its newsroom and reporting.” Their primary focus seems to be on gender and race.
These three examples from university campus media and McMaster have varying degrees of data collection and analysis, but all of them miss a few categories. While there are more categories of diversity, these three are, arguably, the most apparent ones missing.
The first is socioeconomic status. However, that would have less influence if you are considering only university student journalists or McMaster employees in your sample. The second would be ideologies, e.g., political beliefs and religious beliefs. I can understand not asking these respondents may not be comfortable answering accurately or answering at all, and may change at a more variable rate over time. The third is age.
While certainly not as attractive a stat, diversity in age should be deemed an importance if your goal is to represent the population in what you report about, who is reporting and the demographics of your employees.
University is always idealized as a place where you develop and grow. It is easy for anyone to note the differences between a first year and a fourth year and someone fresh out of university to someone about to go into retirement. When you are getting survey data or considering your workplace’s diversity, why would you ignore something as important as age?
It is simply too important. When it comes to reporting at The Silhouette, diversity and different perspectives have a significant influence on our articles in every section. The diversity of who is reporting it or who is being reported on is vital to allow a full representation of the McMaster student body, and to continue to progress and pass on information to the younger members of staff before graduating.
We cannot afford to ignore age. If other organizations or the university have missed the point by filling quotas instead of noting the benefits and embracing all types of diversity, including one as obvious as age, then that is disappointing.
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