Welcome to Episode 18 Reporters Shop Talk. I’m Stu Campaigne of BayToday with my colleague Dave Dale.
This is the second part of something we like to call 'Dave's Excellent Adventures in Journalism.' We did part one in our last installment. Dave has some stories about his news jobs and experiences in northern Ontario. So we started about 30 years ago. What was like getting a job in journalism then, and we're going to bring it up to the present day. So, Dave, tell us your train story and Kapuskasing.
Dave: Well, I was trying to get out of Kapusasking, the job had run its course. I was the acting news editor after the Spruce Falls paper mill was bought by the employees and the managing editor at the time, Wayne Major, who used to work for the Nugget, actually out of Sturgeon Falls, he moved over to the Community Adjustment Committee and headed that transition for the town and the workers that lost their jobs. I had been up in Kap for a couple of years and I had seeds to sow and I didn't want to stay there forever, just because it was so far away from all my family and friends.
And, Kap was great, but I had to get out. So there was a job opportunity. And the funny thing is, is that the opportunity came from John Size, he was in Canadore College's program a year before me. He went up to work in Kapuskasing and after he left, I went up to Kapuskasing. So, then he was with Thompson papers down in Orillia with the Packet and Times, and they were looking for a sports editor for a regional. And, he put the bug in my ear and a good word for me down there. But I had to go down for an interview and I didn't have a car.
So the only way was to take a bus to Cochrane and then take the Northlander train down. And that's a long trip when you don't have any days off, really.
So I had to squeeze it in. I think we finished the deadline, got the weekly out, the Northern Times came out Wednesday and I went down Thursday night on the train.
He picked me up at Washago, at the train stop there. And I overnighted with him, tried not to get too drunk and had my interview in the morning and then had to jump on the train the next day because I had duties for the weekend. I was the sports guy slash news editor, acting editor, slash photography darkroom guy.
So there's no way I could take the weekend off. Long ride for an in-person interview, a long ride back and a hard weekend of work, which was just about par for the course.
The funny thing about John Size is that I was down there for about a year. I got the job. It was cool enough.
I didn't like it, I was the regional sports editor, but I didn't have any reporters. I was the regional sports editor, but it turned out I didn't have anybody underneath me. I was just the only guy. And then they asked me to do photography as well when they didn't want to pay another guy what he was worth. So I ended up taking on all the photography duties and was the only sports guy running the section. So I had to get out of there.
And that's when I went up to work for the Union of Ontario Indians.
Stu: It sounds like to me that you were in that first cohort, we could call it a group of journalists who had to start doing more than one role. I'm sure a lot of small-town papers and stuff had people wearing a couple of hats. But it sounds to me like, you know, you always hear the old stories about say the Nugget, for instance. And, you know, there were dedicated photographers. We talked about this. There were there when people just did one thing. And it sounds like, you know, maybe 15, 20 years later, even you were doing five things.
Dave: Yeah. And it had a lot to do with technology because you ended up an editor, like a sports editor, because I knew how to paginate and we were going to desktop pagination that and which led to the loss of the composing rooms. Eventually.
Stu: Interesting, because it always seems like, you know, we did this we did the first part of this last week, so we've had a few days in between. But, you know, a couple of times you mentioned, while you're at it, you always end up being the editor before you leave these jobs. So, you know, in a way, you're obviously skilled enough and able enough to do the editor's job, but you don't ever do it for a long.
Dave: This is true, and it had a lot to do with just being able to run the pagination programs, right? I didn't have the most experience and I wasn't the best, but I could figure out how to do the layout on the computer.
Stu: Yeah, that's great. That's good.
Dave: Continuing that story. It's funny that John left Orillia and got the job at the Nugget.
And when I was finished or was looking for another job after the seven years with the Union of Ontario Indians as their managing editor of a monthly, which was funny because that meant at first I didn't have any staff. I was just as the editor and chief cook and bottle washer. Right. There's a joke there somewhere.
Well, John Size is at the Nugget and I get a call from Joe Belanger and he wants me to apply for a position that was opening up at the Nugget.
So, again, there were three different places that John was at that I sort of followed him around and it was kind of funny.
I thought it was funny.
Stu: Where is he now?
Dave: He actually, he just got a liver transplant and he's survived it pretty good. He's working for Postmedia down in Toronto. I think he's off on sick leave because of the liver problem.
But yeah, actually, he's still in communications, so it was almost like I was stalking him.
Stu: I recall you mentioning John's name before. Now I remember the liver transplant. And of course. Yeah, that was last fall. You were talking about that. You did a piece on it if I'm not mistaken. I think.
Dave: Yeah, well, Chris wrote it up.
Stu: It sounds like you might, you know, he maybe paved the way for you in a couple of these places, maybe put in a good word here and there.
Dave: Yeah. And I think he regretted it, though, when he was ended up managing editor of The Nugget. I was full steam with my tenure at The Nugget. So I, um, I was a pain in his ass, really. I was pretty forthright about a lot of different things.
And I think he was the city editor or news editor? I think it was both.
So, we clashed a few times over different story ideas and stuff. I was a bit pigheaded, if you can imagine, in the newsroom. I'm sure he regretted bringing me aboard at times. Yes.
Stu: Well, I can kind of relate because I feel like maybe I'm that guy of our situation, the eager young reporter with his own ideas about how to do things. So maybe you've now stepped into that mentorship role as well to do this job.
Dave: You have to be passionate about it. When you're passionate about it, you're judging everything around you. And sometimes that leads into the newsroom discussions where you become forthright. You're not necessarily right all the time, but you're forthright and that's good for you.
Newsrooms need somebody to challenge the way things are done and to then prove the better way to do it. But it's proving it right. So it takes hard work and passion.
Stu: Yeah, I agree, it's definitely being open to those opportunities to learn a bit from anybody, but I have to say, I've especially enjoyed my time working alongside you.
Dave: Well, it's been cool. It's been cool. And I think any editor would rather have a curmudgeon and a pushy reporter who cares about the craft than somebody that just mails it in.
