As I have for the last few years, I spent part of my days off during the holidays judging the .
For context, this is a competition for journalists at news outlets that are about the size of The 麻豆社国产, only in Ontario.
I do it for a selfish reason: I always see ways my journalism and our team’s stories could be better.
Also, it is like being on a road trip through these towns without having to leave Squamish.
You get to see what matters to the reporters and the folks who live there. I particularly like the more rural stories that involve farm issues because it isn’t a world I know much about.
This year, I judged the columnist of the year category.
There is a set of criteria you have to assess: the quality of the writing, the imagination of the writer, and reader appeal.
The opinion pieces that struck me most were the columns that I know the writer probably took some heat for. I don’t want to say too much and jeopardize the competition results, so I won’t get into details.
Writing opinion pieces in a small town is much harder than in bigger cities.
For one thing, in larger centres, at bigger news outlets, the writers of opinion pieces usually aren’t also reporters. Think Susan Delacourt, Les Leyne or Kirk LaPointe—those columnists aren’t also covering the local polar bear swim, eagle count, council meeting, mountain bike park opening or the like.
Small-town newsrooms often don’t have the luxury of a dedicated columnist.
And, unlike in city centres, political figures often wear other hats. A columnist writing about the prime minister is not going to encounter him hours later coaching the local baseball game, for example.
In smaller communities, those dual roles are common.
Thus, when a reporter (or editor) pisses off someone with their column in a smaller community, she often then has to go back to that same person later to ask for a quote or explanation as a reporter.
Not fun for either party.
And in markets that are less populated, like these Ontario towns and Squamish, reporters get to know the people behind the roles.
Not in the nefarious way we are accused of online—money changing hands or conspiracies hatched—but in a very human, “I heard your child was sick for three weeks?” kind of way.
We may also share a love of goat yoga, climbing, or hiking.
Therefore, we often come to generally like the people we have to criticize in columns.
All this to say, that is why, when I read some of these columns that called out unjust policies at the local school board, or highlighted troubling council decisions or the dangerous culture of silence in the locker room, I know what it took to type the words, as well as the backlash the reporter likely took in their own community.
Saying the hard thing is an important job of columnists. After all, the columnists are also in a position to call a spade a spade in a way many others can’t because it would jeopardize their jobs or reputations.
So, my 2025 resolution to you, dear readers, is that we will take more opportunities this year to be brave, to say the hard things, and to criticize even when it causes backlash.
As long as our sources and readers who disagree with us know, we still want to chat about your sick kids and great hikes.
It is not personal. We are just doing our jobs.
