As our friends on the Crave TV show Letterkenny like to say, “Bad gas travels fast in a small town.”
That statement spoke a lot of truth last week, as a now-deleted post on a Facebook page representing the Wingham Homecoming 2024 committee stated the event would be cancelled due to restraints of being a committee of council, and directed all questions “to your North Huron council” members.
Homecoming, rightfully so, was expected to be a massive celebration in Wingham and news of its cancellation is big. Being in an era of a 24-hour news cycle, some local media rushed to get the story on their websites by simply quoting the Facebook post.
In our newsroom, there was an eagerness to get the story online at midwesternnewspapers.com, but we took a different approach.
“Start digging,” I said.
We took the advice of the Facebook post, and reached out to the township to find out why the event was cancelled.
We were a few hours behind the other local media in getting the story online, but our story (which you can read on the front page of this newspaper) has much more information and context to the decision.
Without boring you with the details, it turns out it was the committee members who had resigned and the township fully intends on seeing a 2024 Wingham Homecoming event happen.
The end of the week saw a lot of movement on this story, with council holding a special meeting on Feb. 17 to dissolve the committee of council for the homecoming event, followed by a press release stating a “less formal approach” to the event is required. Reeve Paul Heffer is encouraging any local group(s) interested in running an event to come together, and to use the township’s special events approvals policy to make sure everything is done legally and above board.
I like to think that our reporting had a lot to do with this.
Instead of rushing to get the story out first, we took the time to get all of the information while those other news outlets scrambled to update their 75-word story.
Our efforts were well received by members of the Wingham Community Connectors on Facebook, with multiple comments thanking “the reporter” – in this case, our award-winning Cory Bilyea – for the in-depth reporting.
In a time where it is easy for information to be shared – social media, blogs disguising themselves as media, and gossip in the coffee shop – it’s important to vet where you get your news and information from.
Most importantly, just because you heard it from a news source first, doesn’t necessarily mean it is correct.
Being first doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best.
Speaking of awards…
Speaking of award-winning journalism, last week we learned the Advance Times has been nominated for two Ontario Community Newspapers Association 2022 Better Newspapers Competition awards, as well as receiving one honourable mention.
Cory Bilyea is once again nominated in the Best Diversity Coverage category for her work in reporting Indigenous issues in midwestern Ontario, as well as in the Best Heritage Story category for her piece on the history of the Wingham Salt Works.
The honourable mention is for Kelsey Bent in the Best Sports Photo category for a photo she took during the return of the Dinning Cup rugby tournament in Wingham.
As editor, I couldn’t be any prouder of these two journalists. To have them at the Advance Times is benefit to the community, as they work hard each and every week to keep you accurately informed.
In total, Midwestern Newspapers received 12 award nominations, including a nomination for yours truly in the Humour Columnist of the Year category on behalf of the Walkerton Herald-Times.
As nice as it is to applaud our efforts, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do each and every week without the support of our readers and advertisers.
Without you, publishing this paper would not be possible. On behalf of the staff at the Advance Times, thank you for your support.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of the Wingham Advance Times. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
