The Pulitzer Prizes were awarded recently and it is worth noting how some small and local publications were awarded a couple of the big prizes.
Almost all the prizes went to American publications but there is significance for Canadian citizens in these announcements.
We are facing a terrible disappearance of credible reporting and opinion in all our national media, especially print media.
Large corporations are destroying publications of national significance in favour of shareholder profits for hedge funds.
Twitter, Facebook and the like do not begin to supply the necessary information that is needed for an informed citizenry.
Here in Victoria, we should be grateful for the provincial and regional reporting of our Times Colonist and the more intensely local reporting of Saanich News and other Black Press publications.
Maybe they didn’t win any Pulitzers but we would be lost without them to help us follow and understand what is going on around us that affects our daily lives directly.
Unfortunately, this will probably only be read by those who already support this paper, so please tell your neighbours and friends about the importance of local reporting.
Bill Williamson
Saanich