When it doesn't provide local news.
I have two publications on my desk.
One is The Auroran, the little newspaper business started by an Aurora resident against all odds, , with an Aurora address, employing local residents.and consistently consisting of Aurora news.
This week's edition is thirty pages.
It has thirteen news stories related entirely to our town.
Coming community events spill over from one to a second page. In small print.
Several columns are by Aurora personalities.
Six letters to the editor from Aurora residents on local issues
A cartoon on an Aurora situation .
A scattering of generic material of common family interest.
Pages of local sports news.
The second publication is bulky. composed of several sections and pounds of advertising flyers.
The first section is entitled "The Banner"
No news stories from Aurora appear therein.
Editorial page has two lengthy columns. One on provincial. the second on Federal matters.
Of four letters to the editor; three are from Newmarket, one from Keswick.
A cartoon features teachers and their dispute with the Provincial government.
No upcoming community events are featured in this section.
Second section of twelve pages is identified as " Aurora Banner"
Upcoming events number 4; in large print and include a single reference to a historic house.
There's a story about a student in a local school, a small picture of two councillors serving corn, a clip about free fitness offered by the town and a couple of sports references.
A full page in the twelve page section is taken up with the Town's Notice Board, I giess that's why the section is identified as "Aurora Banner" It 's paid for through an annual contract with the Municipality with public funds.
Exposure to the public has been a contentious issue in Council with most Councillors concerned about readership as opposed to circulation.
This week, Council will be asked to renew the contract with the second publication at a price of $30.thousand.
Apparently, in the bids, there was a difference of ten cents a page between the two publications.
Also , a readership audit, was part of the criteria to accompany the bid.
.It occurred to me to wonder how exactly one goes about determining readership.
So...I asked.
What does that look like?
In my own practice, the rubber band is seldom released from the second publication package. Even as a politician I expect to find npthing related to town affairs in the second publication.
It's been like that for many many years.
Rarely do I engage in discussion of a news items that fails to appear in the second publication.
Though, tumult in our political affairs is regularly noted.
Yet never a whisper emerges in the second publication.Closed doors might just as well be the rule of the day.
Consolidated agendas ritually approved without comment.
Reporters come and go to the second publication like moths to a flame. . But not to Council meetings. They watch tapes apparently and are hardly on the job long enough to receive a return call.
Residents regularly complain the town is not communicating as we should.
We ae certainly expending substantial resources to accomplish the same.
Yet here we are, with a recommendation to continue the practice of the past on the basis no doubt. of an obscure instrument such as a "readership audit"
It seems phone calls have solicited information about publication delivery. . Hardly the same as whether the publication has been read.
Recommendation from the town's Executive Leadership Team is to renew the contract for yet another two years with authority to extend annually for a further two.
Thirty days were not long enough for the first publication to organise a "readership audit" The requirement is new.
But the question is not.
Readership has been the concern of Council.
Still is ,as far as I 'm concerned..
Monday 3 September 2012
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24 comments:
The only reason an Aurora resident might call the Banner would be to cancel the delivery if it started arriving to the door again. They had a new, yet another ' new ' reporter at the hearing into the Morris Conflict-of-Interest. Never heard if they published anything on the subject.
I would think that the discussion on giving this publication a contract MIGHT result in rare Council agreement. Wouldn't that be good for morale around the table?
Of course, Staff want to renew the Banner contract. T do otherwise would require more work from Aurora's ' publicity department ' which is already a weak link. They are going to need to grow a bit here - the Banner is yesterday's paper, has nothing to do with news or Aurora.
The Banner's sister-paper in Keswick was useless to the people there when they took on Mayor Grossi. It was an new independent publication that stepped up to the plate and helped.
We should not keep paying the Banner just because that is convenient for Staff.
For Goodness sake, you don't need a damn audit. Just ask for a show of hands in the Council chamber of those who have read the Banner in the last 2 weeks. Then ask for the same from those who have read the Auroran during the same period. Case Closed.
Neither is now locally-owned.
5:34 PM Did you have a point?
The Banner serves one purpose only - to create more pollution.
This is the staff that was ' too busy ' to deal with Aurora's birthday? Seems to me that they are seldom too busy to come to Council to extend their authority to negotiate various ' little ' contracts. Not to extend one's grasp beyond one's reach. One wonders who is in charge of the ship?
The Auroran already covers the current events & history of the town of Aurora. The Banner never has and probably never will be able to do such a thing. This is not a decision that requires much discussion. Hopefully council will not waste time on the issue.
The Banner is owned by the Toronto Star's parent company. Most communities in the GTA have a version of the The Banner. They use the name of a long defunuct local paper to give it some sort of local cachet.
At lease The Banner has a facility in Aurora... on Industrial Pkwy.
But as a councillor, Evelyn should know that already.
This is not a comment on this title, but I wonder if you feel it a topic to discuss.
Over the last 18 months, a number of real estate transactions have occured in my neighbourhood. The new home owners are overwhemingly of Iranian/Persian (their definitions) ethnic background. This I have no problem with, they seem to be friendly and are willing to stop and talk as they or you walk by. WHat I Have found unfortunitly is their lack of any desire to keep up the outside of the property. Namely the lawn, weeds, etc. The grass is incredibly long, interspersed with not only dandelions but thistle and Queen Anne Lace. I have had to give up pulling weeds on my front lawn, I cannot keep up with them as they are propogating from the next lawn.
I remember a time when the Town or City you lived in posted a notice to destroy noxious weeds. Dandelions were on that list. Now since the ban on chemicals, it seems like we have a free for all.
I feel my property value is suffering because when you see the neighbour's lawn, it is not something you want to live beside.
Frustrated in Aurora....
The Auroran actually keeps up with the various due-dates on the Morris lawsuits. The Banner appears to have forgotten about them altogether.
It's an insult that staff would continue to recommend the the Banner.
It looks like they don't live in Aurora.
11:05 AM can't comment on the weeds as they might have an exemption unless they get too high. But the Town used to/ maybe still does have rules that require grass to be cut. I believe you are given an option - cut it or we will cut it & bill you. But most by-laws require a complaint to activate enforcement - they seem unable to spot it for themselves. You might want to have someone from outside your neighbourhood file the complaint so you do not get categorized as ' a bad neighbour' yourself/.
"The Auroran already covers the current events & history of the town of Aurora. The Banner never has..."
Not true. The Aurora Banner of the 1960s and 1970s certainly did.
The Staff from out-of-town goof when they lecture Councillors-from-town about the respective merits of the 2 publications. Which do they read? I would bet the Auroran.
3:22 PM Then what the heck happened to the Banner that turned it into such a joke? One of the first things we learned from our neighbours when we moved to Aurora was to cancel the Banner. Those who didn't were blessed with bags of useless paper that the rest of us tossed further up their driveways so that prospective burglars would not be aware that folk were away for a few days. The unopened bags made their way into the blue boxes eventually.
I envy anyone that finds the state of their neighbour's lawn to be cause for concern or a source of frustration. You are living a very fortunate life, indeed.
Regarding the lawn care and weeds... I found the following:
From the Town's "Property Standards Bylaw":
1.2.30 “Noxious Weeds” means any weed classed as noxious pursuant to the
Noxious Weeds Act of the Province of Ontario.
(d) Heavy undergrowth and noxious weeds. For greater certainty,
grass and ground cover shall be kept cut to a reasonable length
and the cuttings are to be removed and disposed of forthwith after
cutting;
Ontario Weed Control Act:
Duty to destroy noxious weeds
3. Every person in possession of land shall destroy all noxious weeds on it. R.S.O. 1990, c. W.5, s. 3
Noxious Weeds in Ontario
1.Common Barberry
2.European Buckthorn
3.Bull Thistle
4.Canada Thistle
5.Wild Carrot
6.Colt's Foot
7.Dodder
8.Goat's Beard
9.Johnson Grass
10.Knapweed
11.Milkweed
12.Nodding Thistle
13.Poison Hemlock
14.Poison Ivy
15.Proso Millet
16.Ragweed
17.Yellow Rocket
18.Russian Thistle
19.Scotch Thistle
20.Sow Thistle
21.Cypress Spurge
22.Leafy Spurge
23.Tuberous Vetchling
24.Giant Hogweed
"I envy anyone that finds the state of their neighbour's lawn to be cause for concern or a source of frustration. You are living a very fortunate life, indeed."
Perhaps you are one of those that takes no pride in their own lawn. I don't consider myself fortunate at all.
I work hard to pull weeds, cut the grass and make the lawn healthy with a continuous maze of new regulations. The look of the lawn compliments the house and makes the value (perceived or in reality) higher. Then you have neighbours that do not share the same priority - hell they don't even come outside except to get into their cars. Their lawns look like crap, their weeds propogate onto your lawn and soon you cannot keep up. Now, my property value is in the dumper.
What happened to community standards?
"I don't consider myself fortunate at all."
You should if weeds constitute a 'big deal' in your world.
11:38 AM Missed Deadly Nightshade. How sloppy. It kills animals & birds.
One has to wonder if the Banner being co-defendants in the Councillor Buck defamation and abuse of power case may have anything to do with their apparent lack of interest in pursuing the truth in each of the Morris and Hervey cases.
The Banner may not want to work at cross purposes so why not send a reporter that has been with the local paper for a month to cover the full day Hervey case ? The Banner reported virtually nothing about what transpired in the conflict of Interest hearing while Brock Weir of the Auroran covered the issues extensively.
What is even more amazing to me is how the past and former Councillors and former Mayor can apparently avoid answering questions in the Buck legal case for over a year and the media has effectively given them a free pass. These are serious allegations we are talking about and the truth should be pursued !
How both an open and transparent government and legal system can permit these stalling tactics is beyond me to understand. Public officials are effectively avoiding accountability for their actions while they benefit from town resources in the form of insurance policies.
Obviously the media has a role to play here in making the public aware of what continues to drag on.
8:43 AM I'm not sure where Evelyn's case is but stalling is a favourite Morris tactic. But, there is an insurance company involved & they are not known for making fast decisions either. If they allow the Morris Minions to stall & drive up the costs, not much can be done.
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