Quote:
Originally Posted by Snark
With the front page of the Free Press this weekend, I believe that this once well regarded publication has completed its descent to the level of the bottom feeders:
Not a stitch of an actual article, screamer headlines, rampant sensationalism, and "stories" that are either about sports or something scandalous - in this case a scandal that didn't even actually occur.
They are now exactly like their parent publication: the Toronto Sun. The Freep is now totally absorbed into Fox News North.
London desperately needs a new, reputable news source.
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Red Alert? What is this, a battle in Star Trek?
I think this kind of sensationalism reporting can lead to more problems, because certain types of people want to be on the news. Just look at the Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver.
I don't think we're ever going to see another daily print publication in London, but there's room for expansion on radio and television, both of which can establish robust online presence. The most critical piece of the puzzle London is missing is a real CBC Radio station, and CBC television station. A morning radio show based mostly in Toronto with a reporter in London doesn't count. They need to set up full-fledged radio and TV stations, like what is in Windsor, with a full online presence. Now that K-W has its own radio station with website and local morning program, London is the largest city in Canada without any local permanent CBC presence. Kamloops, Inuvik, Corner Brook, Sydney, and Thunder Bay all have better CBC presence than London.
We do have AM 980 and CJBK, but both are on the AM dial, which reaches fewer and fewer people in the 18-49 demographic than ever before (and their BBM ratings show it). AM 980 has at least some online presence, but CJBK has very little. And of course we have CTV London, which is trying to grow its online presence but doesn't seem to get a fraction of the traffic that the Free Press gets (based on volume of comments on news stories), and on television they've lost a lot of relevance to Londoners' daily lives in recent years with cutbacks. The Free Press seems to be the only media outlet with a strong omnipresence in Londoners' daily lives today, and for a metro area of almost 500,000, that's quite sad.
That said, the pending acquisition of CJBK by Bell Media which would put it in co-ownership with CTV London might change some things.