Why do Community Newspapers Matter? A Gatekeeper’s Defense
Martha Perkins
Tickets: $15/person
In April 1999, former Echo editor Martha Perkins somewhat begrudgingly spent her Saturday morning covering the opening of the Kinmount Medical Centre. A fellow attendee gleefully told her that he was looking forward to the day when “legacy” newspapers lost their control over what was deemed important for people to read about. Community residents, he said, would take over and liberate the news.
She’s been thinking of her response ever since.
Today we’re all too familiar with what happens when people choose their own source of “news”, often reinforcing their existing views and knowledge base. Martha will reflect on the importance of community newspapers and an exciting new internet portal that gives us access to decades of newspaper articles that helped provide Haliburton County with a sense of itself.
Martha Perkins began her prolific journalism career in downtown Haliburton in September 1985 as a cub reporter at the Haliburton County Echo. Her leadership, talents and curiosity soon lead to the position of Editor which she held until November 2009. During this time, she also became Editor of the Minden Times, Bancroft This Week and Barry's Bay This Week.
Since 2009, Martha has lived in Vancouver and has worked as Editor-in-Chief of a number of local newspapers including the Vancouver Courier, one of Vancouver's longest established weekly newspapers, the Bowen Island Undercurrent, the Burnaby NewsLeader, the New Westminster NewsLeader and the Westender.
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