We Live In Cities You'll Never See On Screen

Recently, the Guelph Mercury, one of Canada's oldest newspapers, went out of print. It's still online, but losing there paper was a blow to the community, not to mention the loss of a bunch of jobs. Shortly thereafter, Postmedia, Canada's largest newspaper owner announced massive cutbacks. Publications were shut down, newsrooms were merged. Now, the London Free Press seems to be morphing into the National Post with a few pages of local news.

It can be hard to care about newspapers in our world that seems to be too connected. And after reading Christie Blanchford's coverage of the Jian Gomeshi trial, I'm really looking forward Postmedia's eventual collapse.   But even if you don't like particular papers, you have to admit that they fill a very important niche: local news.  The only other source is local TV newcasts, if your city is big enough to have one.

It's one of the weird aspects of our information society: the lack of local information. On the one hand, it's easier than ever to stay informed about what's happening world-wide. On the other, communicating and staying on touch with individuals is easy. But in between, there's an unserviced aspect of communication, one for informing yourself about your community.

Yes, there are possibilities: many neighbourhood associations have their own web pages. And a lot of communities have a social media presence. The problem is, you're reliant on other members of your community taking the initiative; we haven't reached the point where this kind of thing is expected, so it often doesn't happen, or people don't know where to find it.

New York Solitudes

Lots of people are weighing-in on a recent New York Times article declaring that Canada is now "hip." This is based in part on the election of Justin Trudeau, but also on a selection of Canadians. Not surprisingly it includes Drake, The Weeknd, and Justin Bieber. I was surprised to see Sarah Polley, since it seems like she's been around forever. But she is only a couple of years older than Ryan Gosling (also on the list.) But there were also lots of non-obvious selections; nice to see them recognizing Grimes.

But this isn't the only time Canada has made a prominent appearance in a New York newspaper.  The New York Post had a notable cover attacking Ted Cruz. In the latest Republican debate, Cruz had attacked "New York values" as an indirect way of attaching Donald Trump. So the Post - which is living proof that some New Yorkers have values in common with Cruz - showed a cartoon of The Statue of Liberty giving the finger. That was pretty appropriate, but what bothered me was the comment that Cruz should "Go back to Canada." (Cruz was born in Canada.)

Aside from the fact that we don't want him back, there's the obvious point that Canadian values have a lot more in common with New York values than with the extreme social conservatism Cruz is selling. But this is part of a trend: I've seen many Americans associate Cruz with Canada without appreciating the irony, and in some cases actually thinking Cruz is somehow an example of Canadians.

So I'm not sure what New Yorkers must think of us: some see us as cool, in part because of a liberal politician, while others find us an appropriate dumping ground for a politician who's conservative even by American standards.

Why England Suddenly Hates Us

Britain's Guardian has an op-ed piece titled, "Why Canada Wants Scotland To Vote 'Yes.'" I of course, said, "we do?"

I doubt that headline is true. It's quite a case of wishful thinking on the part of Canadian journalist Stephen Marche. The article is based on some old-fashioned conceptions of both Canada and Britain. As I've said before, people who try to understand the Britain of today using the ruthless, amoral empire-builders of the past end up looking quite silly. And his conception of Canada as gullible masses lead by an England-loving elite is nearly as dated.

The weird thing is that beneath everything, I do agree with his philosophy: by basing is identity around its British roots, Canada has never looked to its own characteristics and accomplishments for identity. Like him, I wonder what Canada would do in the wake of a Scottish separation, which might force us to reassess a British heritage we aren't really ready to give up yet.

In his defence, the headline - which he likely didn't write - is misleading. He does actually acknowledge that there is very little desire in Canada to dump the monarchy, so he does make it apparent that the wish for a separate Scotland is a personal desire. Essentially, the article misrepresents reality, and the headline misrepresents the article, resulting in a headline that has no basis in fact.

I haven't seen any surveys on the subject, but I find it hard to believe that most Canadians are looking for a "Yes" vote. I'm sure people with direct Scottish roots probably would like to see them independent, and many Quebec separatists would like the precedent. But for Canadians who don't have a dog in this fight, i'm guessing they will be hoping for a no vote, because of the precedent for Quebec and the British basis of our national identity.

This has really stressed me out, so I'm going to have to order one of The Guardian's Scottish Separation Squeeze toys.

Turns Out Very Little News Is Fit To Print

In today's paper, there was an article about the new sport of Team Figure Skating. I'm not much of a fan of figure skating, but I'd heard a brief mention of this team event as one of the new sports at these games, so read the article to learn more about it.

So they talk to some of the skaters involved, who say they're looking forward to it, mention that Canada is expecting to do well at it. Yeah, but what exactly is it? You say men, women, and pairs are involved, but are they all on the ice at once, or separately?

The article talks about how well the skaters involved have been doing this season, and how that bodes well for the team event. Yeah, but what about the event: if they do compete separately, is it based on just the performance for their usual events, or do they do separate routines for the team event?

Then they point out that the event is open to only the top ten countries, and only the top five counties in the competition advance beyond the short program. That's nice, but do all the skaters participate in the short program? Do they get to choose which ones? And what about the ice dancers? Are they involved with this?

In the end, I gave up and Googled it. One of the first results was a page from the Canadian Olympic Committee, which explained how it works. That leaves me wondering: if I can't get the information I want from the newspaper, and have to go to the source, what do I need the newspaper for?

My Newspaper Revelation

I just remembered that there was an article I wanted to read in the newspaper.  But the newspaper is way over there on the table.  So I went to the paper's web site and read the article from here on the laptop.  What does this mean?

• I'm Lazy.  The paper is just on the other side of the room
• I'm techno-savy.  I'm not attached to the medium itself; It's all just information and it doesn't matter where it comes from.
• I'm a Luddite.  Why do I still have a subscription to a paper newspaper?
• I'm cheap.  Reading on a laptop?  Buy a tablet already.