By Mirko Petricevic
While top editors rightly focus on ensuring their publications survive into tomorrow, there’s no imminent deadline for the grassroots advocacy group Ink-stained Wretches.
That’s because even if newsrooms beat back the existential threat posed by new technologies and a changing business model, the reprieve would likely last only until the next disruptor cannonballs into the press pool.
So the scrum of wretches I co-ordinate focuses on the long, slow work of building a culture of appreciation for quality journalism.
Our approach is based on a simple premise: If people truly appreciate quality journalism, they’ll support it.
And so, to not bury the lede too deeply, we’re looking for recruits.
All they’ll need is a heart for journalism and desire for democracy.
And to donate about 30 minutes of keyboard time per day.
Wriggling through a crack
A tweet by a young journalist in early 2020, rendered jobless by the COVID 19 newsroom layoffs, gave birth to our plucky little group.
The mayor of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, retweeted the young reporter’s lament and urged the public to support their local news outlets.
In nearly three decades of working in the Waterloo Region Record’s newsroom, I couldn’t remember a politician ever calling on folks to support local news media.
It seemed that a crack of opportunity had opened, so half a dozen of my former colleagues and I wriggled through it.
We launched a campaign asking municipal councillors to express vocal support for professional journalism.
Within two years, 29 municipalities – home to more than 11 million residents, which was nearly one-third of Canada’s population at the time – passed journalism-support motions.
Since then, we:
- have grown to more than 60 volunteers on three continents, including j-school students
- created a journalism film festival
- produced resources for municipal leaders, high school teachers and all citizens; and
- launched and grew our annual #SpotlightPressFreedom campaign, which now spans half the globe.
The campaign raises awareness for the annual United Nations World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) by asking municipalities and managers of landmarks to recognise the day by issuing proclamations; raising UN flags; or lighting public buildings, bridges, signs and landmarks.
Each public recognition of WPFD creates the opportunity for public and private conversations about the crucial role that quality journalism plays in a healthy democracy; to discuss the precarious state of the news sector; and to share actions that individuals can take to support their local news outlets.
Making it count
In 2024, our campaign participants included:
- Niagara Falls and the CN Tower
- More than two dozen Canadian municipalities
- Two provincial legislature buildings in Canada
- Multiple bridges in Perth, Western Australia
This year, Geneva’s iconic Jet d’eau is to be illuminated blue (UN colour) for the occasion.
Visit sportlightpressfreedom.org for the list of past and present participants; an FAQ; and an interactive Google Map.
In the meantime, please accept our open invitation to help us build a culture of appreciation for quality journalism for the next generation and beyond.
About Mirko Petricevic:
Founder and chief ink-stigator (co-ordinator) of Ink-stained Wretches, a grassroots advocacy group working to build a culture of appreciation for quality journalism.
He spent 28 years at the Waterloo Region Record; first as photographer, reporter and copy editor, before serving as director of communications and public affairs for Martin Luther University College in Waterloo.
You can reach him at ink.stained.campaign@gmail.com or via LinkedIn.
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