2011 August » nothing in winnipeg

Listening to Each Other

Aug 282011

Today, a quick blog post to give some props. On Friday, CBC Radio and AYO Antigang hosted a fresh little event on the radio and across social media. The format was simple: you could post questions for aboriginal youth on Facebook or Twitter, and they were answered live by the crew from AYO*. You can read some of the questions and answers on CBC Manitoba’s Facebook wall if you scroll down a bit here. I loved it. Loved reading it, loved the set-up of it, loved the fact that the answers were unfiltered. The major news media in Manitoba (other than APTN) needs to do [...click for more...]

Hidden gems

The Wednesday Blog-Around

Spreading The Love

Aug 242011

It’s uh, hump-day. Which means there’s no better time to do a linky-post, and share some love with all sorts of readable things — starting with a collection of local blogs marking Jack Layton’s passing from a variety of perspectives. As always, feel free to share your favourite blog discoveries (local, national, international) in the comments. ON JACK LAYTON + Cherenkov: “His death is no more or less tragic than any other, but it has great significance to the country on a political level.” + John Dobbin: “We will need to know the health of our political leaders.” + West End [...click for more...]

Together, All of Us, In The End

Musings

Aug 232011

I finally got around to reading Christie Blatchford’s comment on Jack Layton’s passing. It seems an odd piece. At some points, I ken to what she’s getting at, and respect the gumption it took to put it out there for public consumption on this, the rawest of days. Some of her observations may sting in that context - but I’m glad they were said. I like the beginning; I love the end. But somewhere in the middle the tone — and the targets — suddenly shift. She takes a few wild swings that connect only with air; the cumulative effect feels disjointed. It’s like she couldn’t quite decide whether the piece was [...click for more...]

Until The Job Is Done

Musings

Aug 222011

I am nothing and I am nobody; I never met Jack Layton, and have little to offer by way of eulogy. But I am nonetheless moved to find some words to crystallize the day. For myself, maybe. For my children, someday. For the sake of adding to the voices of millions doing much the same. This is what it felt like, when… Readers of this blog know that I see tend to see world and its people in stories, or in scripts for living movies. Fairytales are only fiction until you scratch the surface: beneath the wayward princes and looming dragons of our storybooks, we transmit the deepest heart [...click for more...]

Tangled Thoughts on Race, Crime and Reporting

Here's Your Local News, Musings

Aug 152011

In the wake of a recent shooting, CBC TV reporter Wab Kinew mentioned that he is “always apprehensive about race based labels in crime reporting, because the leap to racial profiling is a short one.” Well said. This is a conundrum that countless reporters dread. The risks of screwing up are considerable, and the consequences of promoting this bias are readily apparent in a city where a photo of a missing young aboriginal man was received with website comments calling him a “gang member” with apparently no supporting information whatsoever. So when does race become a legitimate issue to report, [...click for more...]

Building a Better Media

Here's Your Local News, This Is My Job

Aug 132011

Recently, I asked my Tweeter crew to share their ideas for what type of journalism they’d like to see more of in Manitoba. Some people wanted to see more positive news stories coming out of Winnipeg. Luc Lewandoski (if that is his real name*) suggested more in-depth profiles of our local powerbrokers — which tweaked my interest. It sort of reminded me of About Face, a really cute mag they publish in Portland (have I mentioned yet that everything good comes from Portland?) featuring interviews with cultural, culinary and community leaders. I perused it last time I was there and liked the idea — and I [...click for more...]

Love Letter to the Village

Here's Your Local News, Odes to Winnipeg

Aug 102011

“My retort to you,” he said, “Is, ‘so go blog about it.’” Yeah, maybe I will. On the night it happened I heard the cracks. A sharp triplet of shocks and a rat-tat-tat echo, enough to make me flinch. Firecrackers, probably, but these sounded different: there’s always firecrackers somewhere outside my window, somewhere in the ragged back lane that steeps the hidden Osborne Village life. I know firecrackers. This was something else. I heard the yelling too, a muffled angry din and a single female shout. I shrugged, and straightened myself on the couch. Another bar brawl. I am familiar [...click for more...]