Gerald Tracey, Editor in Chief of the Eganville Leader, doesn’t have any formal training in his field.
“I never went to school for journalism.” he said, speaking at Osceola’s Town Hall on August 21. “I sorta fell into this business.”
Now, he’s the only newspaper in Eganville, in a world he said was moving away from local journalism and into digital-only publications.
“In 20 years, it’s always been published by someone in the community.” he said.
When he began, he said writing and photography was secondary to typesetting, or using metal letters to lay out and press the ink into the paper for replication, which he described as ‘tedious work’.
Despite this, early journalists had a flair for writing despite the amount of time it took to lay out your average issue, he said.
“They wrote it that way so that you could actually be there.” he said.
He also said advertising revenue is still the primary source of income for papers, with companies purchasing space to advertise products.
“When you are in print, it’s paid by circulation.” he said. “When you are online, it’s paid by click.”
Despite that, he doesn’t wish to employ methods such as social media.
“I refuse to go on Facebook.” he said.
He said there are 225 local newspapers in Canada, and many go out of business as they’re bought out by large media corporations.
He says he doesn’t have a retirement plan.
“My wife told me: ‘If I die tomorrow, the lock will be turned and the door closed’. because she doesn’t know that much about the business” he said. “For me, it’s not work.”
