LARRY'S CORNER- Hamilton's Former Mayor Speaks

Media Crisis Hits Hamilton Hard

By Larry Di Ianni
(posted February 27, 2009)

The recession is turning out to be much deeper, sharper and harder than any of us first thought it might be. Even though the warning signs have been there for months, we wanted to believe our federal and provincial leaders who told us that the ‘fundamentals’ of our economy were sound, and reassured us that ‘this too shall pass’.

It is difficult to open up the newspaper or turn on the radio and television sets without hearing about the latest layoffs or shutdowns. For those who have some money invested in the stock market, we have become accustomed to allowing the monthly statements pile up on our desks. The losses would be too hard to take. Ignorance may not be bliss, but it is a shelter from the painful reality of double digit reductions to the value of your portfolio.

And then there are those numbers: Caisse de Depot losing nearly $40B of pensioner funds in Quebec, GM losing over $9B in the first quarter of this year alone, the feds anticipating a deficit of up to $80B over the next few years; the province getting set to announce a deficit anticipated to be in the tens of billions in next week’s budget. By comparison, in the U.S., the President has just presented Congress with a budget that has a mind-numbing $1.75Trillion deficit embedded in it. The list goes on. And it reported to us with wrenching regularity by the media.

Ironically, now the gloom and doom headlines are including the media itself. In the US, newspapers are closing their doors. In Canada Torstar announced a $211M loss. The Globe and Mail is selling assets and shutting down TV stations to deal with their short-fall. CanWest is hanging by an ever unravelling thread as it tries to stave off bankruptcy protection. Even the CBC, the state-owned crown corporation is in tough financial times needing to cover a shortfall of many millions of dollars and asking the federal government to give it bridge financing so that it can dig itself out of the whole.

What makes these figures truly painful, of course, is the stark implication of the harsh fiscal reality for everyone concerned. People are losing their jobs. Individuals with families, mortgages, car loans, kids in school, groceries to buy are thrown into the uncertain world of unemployment. Knowing some of these people personally makes it especially tough.

Last week, when I sat with the leaders of ChCh T.V., and the Spectator at the Dan McLean roast we touched on the topic, even if superficially. It is ironic that Dan himself was an early victim of the station’s need to downsize salary obligations. Dana Robbins, when I asked him how things were in the newspaper business, used the word ‘crisis’ to describe the general state of media affairs. It wasn’t but a few days later that the Spec announced the layoff of 37 staff members from the organization. We know that ChCh, being owned by CanWest is in even tougher shape than the Spec. It is on the chopping block; and unless a buyer can be found, its doors will close.

Imagine the dislocation we will all feel if ChCh, an iconic institution in Hamilton, is allowed to shut down! Imagine the pain those employees we see on air and those who are behind the cameras will feel not having a job to go to if the doors of the station close for good! Imagine the 37 individuals at the Spec whose lives will be turned upside down when they get the layoff notice from management!

All of these people in our city and across the continent are the true, sad stories of the economic downturn.

That is why I believe that governments have a role to play, along with individuals, in stimulating the economy. I note with pride for Donna Skelly of ChCh that she and her colleagues are ‘shopping’ the station to the community should the unthinkable happen. I also note with interest that she will meet with the Mayor to see what role the city can play in preserving our station for Hamilton. I hope the meeting is fruitful. The city can do something! It is restricted from favouring private business by the Municipal Act, so the city needs to be careful; but where there is a will, there is a way. For example, the station pays property taxes, and those taxes must be quite a costly drain on the bottom line. At the very least the city might be able to engage in some humane payment plan to alleviate the station’s pressing need for cash. Or, if the situation warrants, the city might be able to do more. I recall being visited by the former and closed Slater Steel which was in the process of being bought up by an American investor, thereby saving jobs and pensions. We struck a deal on taxes owed.
As well as providing cash, the city can also be a bully pulpit for the community coming together. I recall when Stelco was in trouble I had a “Stand Up for Stelco” rally where thousands of Hamiltonians came to city hall to voice their support for the steel industry. Maybe we can do the same for ChCh. Can you imagine politicians organizing a ‘Stand Up for the Media’ rally? That will truly be one for the books.

I know that creative minds will work out all sorts of solutions. It is incumbent on us as Hamiltonians to wish all of these organizations and employees well as they deal with the difficult days ahead.

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