LOCAL MEDIA COVERAGE

This last term of Woolwich Council had several major issues. They included the smearing by council (primarily mayor & Mr. Flip Flop) of CPAC, the proposed Breslau Parkland sale, the incredible 50% putting of councillors through the courts and or MECAC, the introduction of RAC and TAG, the 2016 scandal of Woolwich council trying to muzzle citizen Delegations regarding Chemtura, RAC & TAG public meetings and the Bolender Park Landfill and methane issues.

I am going to give the Woolwich Observer, K-W Record and CKCO-TV very subjective ratings of 0-10 on each issue. My purpose is not to criticize as much as to encourage future coverage. Here goes: P.S. Even more subjectively these ratings don't strictly reflect the volume of coverage but the quality and accuracy as well. P.S.S. This posting is not science it is art and I admit it.


1) Smearing of CPAC ..Observer.. 9.5 ....Record 4.0 .... CKCO-TV 3.0


2) Breslau Parkland ..Observer.. 8.0 ... Record 3.5 .... CKCO-TV 4.0


3) Courts & MECAC ..Observer.. 8.0 ... Record 7.0 .... CKCO-TV 6.5


4) Intro of RAC/TAG ..Observer.. 9.0 ... Record 6.0 .... CKCO-TV 3.5


5) muzzle Delegations..Observer..9.0 .. Record 8.0 .... CKCO-TV 7.0


6) RAC/TAG mtgs ....Observer.. 0.0 .. Record 0.0 .... CKCO-TV 0.0


7) Bolender methane ..Observer ..6.5 .. Record 5.0 .... CKCO-TV 5.0



So looking at these highly subjective scores what are the conclusions? Firstly our most local media, the Woolwich Observer, lead in every category except 6) where they tie with the other two. This is sort of to be expected as the other two media cover a much wider area including all the cities and all the Townships not just two Townships. Also I would suggest that there is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison putting CKCO-TV in with a daily and a weekly newspaper.

Secondly the Record and the local TV obviously don't have the same priorities as I personally do. The Observer's priorities are much closer to mine and likely the majority of Woolwich and Wellesley citizens.

Lastly what about 6)? Three straight 0.0 scores. Is this because this item is of no significance or interest? I would say no especially as Elmira's groundwater and surface water all discharge southwards into the Grand River to be further enjoyed by Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge. Also Chemtura/Lanxess persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs, DDT, and dioxins/furans all flow south both in sediments and fish into the Grand River, as well. Why have these incredibly informative meetings especially between September 2015 and December 2016 been completely ignored by our media? Those specific meetings exposed the coverups, collusion and collaboration that has gone on for the previous twenty-five years plus. Why were they not covered by the media in order to inform the public about the corrupted nature of the Elmira cleanup? Is it libel chill? Is it worse than simple libel chill and have there been direct threats or intimidation of any or all of our local media by Chemtura or the MOE? Have either lawyers letters been sent or lawsuits already filed? Something is very wrong here.