Backgrounder for the City ofWindsor Council

Re: Proposed resolution supporting local journalism By: ink- stainedwretches.org

• Backgrounder for the City ofWindsor Council

• The name of our group is ink-stainedwretches.org (the same as our URL).

• Our project promotes support for local journalism in ALL FORMS (print,broadcast, digital) not onlynewspapers.

• Whereas our campaign is a local grassroots effort started in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, we hope that it will spread across Canada because residents across the country are experiencing a dwindling supply of reliable local journalism.

• We have support from every province and territory in Canada: As of July24, 2020, ouro nline petitionhas been endorsed by more than800 people from all provinces and territories save Nunavut. (However, an Ottawa-based editor working for a Nunavutnews outlet has signed thepetition.)

• We have not sought the blessing of media executives because this is a grassroots effort by media workers past and present. Of course, we welcome endorsements from news media executives. But they have their own associations and avenues foradvocacy.

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  Three possible action items forcouncil:
  • We would be happy if council would write letters encouraging nearby municipal councils to adopt a similarresolution.
  • We would be delighted if council would send letters to the Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) asking them to encourage their members to adopt similarresolutions.
  • And we would appreciate it if council would write and send similar letters ofsupport — to ensure an ecosystem for robust local journalism — to elected federal leaders including local MPPs, MPs; Steven Guilbeault, minister of Canadian heritage; Bill Morneau, federal minister of finance; and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Backgrounderforaproposedresolutionto voicesupportforlocal journalism Requestedonbehalfofthegrassrootsgroup ink-stainedwretches.org