I’m not saying your blog is the top of the mountain in terms of Montreal news but it just feels like I get more out of it than I do reading the paper. Sure, you’re not exactly the place to go for the latest on the water meter fiasco but if there is something major happening that could change the face of Montreal media, I’d read your blog before even thinking about looking towards The Gazette.

I understand there is an effort to put out local stories and I know that being a journalist for a major metropolitan newspaper is not as simple as signing up to WordPress and seeing how many words one can write in ten minutes. It’s not easy and I think we (in this case of our conversation, me) tend to forget this and undervalue the role of the people who produce the content for the paper. It feels like it can be more thankless a task than someone who working in television or even radio.

It’s easy for me to stand on my soapbox and complain without putting as much effort in my ranting as those who work to put the paper together for mass consumption in the morning but I do so because I care. If I didn’t care about The Gazette, I wouldn’t waste my time writing about it. For example, I really don’t care about CJAD all that much except I had liked listening to Peter Anthony Holder whenever I could. But the station seems to be floundering. I’m not emotionally invested enough to complain that their product has become so watered down that it is barely recognizable from the strong radio station it was many moons ago.

I’m not saying we should give up on The Gazette. I just want stronger (or maybe consistent would be a better word) local content. I’m not saying that there isn’t any but I think that there are days where it seems a bit thin. Although yesterday’s paper shows that I don’t have much of a leg to stand on. I just think it could be better.

Tuesday’s paper, for example, has:
- an exclusive story (that required a lot of research) about the sale of a piece of land by the city
- a story by a Gazette reporter and photos by a Gazette photographer from Haiti
- two stories by different writers about composting
- a story about teenage music composers in Laval
- a story about a study on the food that will be served in Montreal’s new superhospitals
- A story about a new plan for the refit of the Turcot Interchange
- A story about a man in court on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor
- A story about events marking Black History Month in Montreal
- A story about sex education at the Commission scolaire de Montréal
- A story about a PQ petition for an inquiry into corruption
- A story about corporate donations to provincial political parties
- A story about differences between Ottawa and Quebec on vehicle emissions standards
- Two local briefs and three standalone pictures

All of the above written by Gazette journalists. And that doesn’t include the editorials, the columns by Don Macpherson and Henry Aubin (the latter making a case for gas taxes as a way to fund public transit) and the seven business stories, six sports stories (one of which is about the Alouettes and one written by a Gazette reporter at the Australian Open in Melbourne), and eight stories and columns in the Arts & Life section (including two on the funeral of folk singer Kate McGarrigle).

That’s one day.

In the past 24 hours I’ve posted one blog post of less than 200 words.

My point is it’s easy to complain that more isn’t being done, that you don’t have mountains of local news stories stretching as far as the eye can see, but to pretend that there’s so little local news in the paper is exaggeration to the point of factual error. It’s still more local news than non-local news.

When we ignore the effort being put to get local news out there, we contribute to its eradication.

And if that happens, I’ll have nothing left to blog about.

It just feels like a paper like The Gazette should be producing more local news. I know newspapers are on shaky ground but even though the Montreal Star is before my time, I wish we had both a morning and an evening paper. Actually, I’d probably prefer an evening paper since I usually watch the late night news before bed.

I’m more of a fan of skimming through newsprint than making my eyes go bad staring at a computer screen. However, I feel that I get more from your site about stories in Montreal on a given day than I will from the paper. Unless there’s a major Montreal-based news story going on, I feel that I’ll get more information about the city from your blog than I do from The Gazette. I know I’m not the only one because I do have a couple of friends who feel the same way and we can’t be the only three of your readers who feel that way.

While I think The Gazette still has its place, it just doesn’t feel as important or relevant as it did fifteen years ago. I think the way I prefer your blog to the paper is similar to the way some people prefer getting their news from Jon Stewart’s Daily Show than the major American national newscasts. It feels like you’re more informed about current events by watching Jon Stewart than you are watching Brian Williams.

Keep up the fantastic work. You’re one of the first sites I look up in the morning when I turn on the computer.

I’m flattered, but your suggestion is ludicrous. The Gazette has dozens of city reporters, and more local news in a day than I’ll post in a week.

You may think it’s capable of more, and I won’t argue with you. But I get my news from them far, far more than the other way around.