- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor
People have asked me what people do to make the Owen Sound Hub what it is.
First – and best – we have contributing photographers and artists, columnists, opinion, fiction and letter writers who make us truly a local, community publication.
While we have never had employees, we do pay three people who have made the Hub work. People who work for the Hub qualify as contractors for CRA purposes because they choose their hours and conditions of work, use their own equipment, set their own prices and can work for anyone else (no non-compete clauses in our contracts. Actually, no contracts).
We have an IT guy, Kelly, who has kept the site as up to date as he is able, and trouble shooted ..?...trouble shot (?) between the web host and Hub when anything went wrong. He also published and switched out the ads and beautiful original header art.
Our current experienced reporter/photographer, David, covers events, writes articles, shoots and edits photos, and publishes to the site. He and I talk about what subjects need good photographs, and his assignments are a mix of what I need as editor and subjects he finds interesting.
We have relied on both these people, and Jody, a former broadcast journalist, and our occasional co-op students. I passed them media releases or articles to proofread, interact with the author if necessary, choose and edit appropriate images, publish on the site and share on our social media.
As editor I do lots of this, and what our reporter does, and then, in the rest of the hours of the week, I do these things:
- Receive and respond to email (approximately 1,500 since January 1) and other messages (two or three hundred since Jan. 1) sent to the Hub
- Research, write and publish editorial content
- Create assignments for the reporter/photographer
- Receive media releases and submissions, correspond with contributors about content and images, and forward submissions to whomever is going to post them on the site
- Cover Owen Sound city council regularly, and Grey County, and other municipal issues (West Grey, Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Georgian Bluffs, Bruce County, Arran-Elderslie, South Bruce Peninsula), as requested or when issues have impact beyond their own jurisdiction
- Cover elections at all levels
- Post on, share on, administer and moderate the Owen Sound Hub Facebook page and Hubbub Facebook group
- and other duties as I assign myself!
Other small local media have people with different roles, including ad sales and administration, and I'd be the first to recommend that.
If you are interested in the future of the Owen Sound Hub, as part of a community-based ownership group, non-profit or co-operative, let's talk further. The Hub is locally owned, locally written, and locally read. Local journalism matters.
