Lecturer Winston Sih launches season two of Staying Alive

Local journalism has taken a massive hit: Newsrooms are being shut down or merged with others, and news deserts are on the rise. 

Winston Sih, School of Journalism Instructor, and host and executive producer of the Staying Alive (external link)  podcast said he hopes this newest season will help “figure out the business sustainability of local news and journalism.”

He’s been doing research on larger markets, such as Toronto and Vancouver, and also medium markets where he saw the most convergence of resources. Sih spoke with Jeff Elgie, CEO of Village Media (external link)  and Colette Watson, media executive at Rogers Sports and Media, and other industry experts. They provided a lens through which innovative strategies can be thought of when thinking about the long-term sustainability of local journalism, he said.

He released the first season of the podcast as part of a research project for his Masters of Arts and Media Production at TMU. Season Two is being produced in association with the School of Journalism and J-Source.

“The most surprising thing I took away from the first season was the fact that there's no ‘one-size -fits-all’ approach … when you look at all of the players in the market today, you see that everybody is doing something different.” Sih said.

How the owners of news media can run profitable businesses has become more complicated, Sih found, since it is not as simple as buying advertisements and getting viewerships..

“In the industry, we are throwing a lot of things against the wall and seeing what sticks and that in itself is really interesting, because nobody has that magic formula that is profitability in local news,” he says.

Prof.  April Lindgren has also been conducting research into local journalism and founded the Local News Data Hub (external link) . You can learn more about their latest findings here. Sih was able to apply Lindgren’s analytical work about the news landscape to describe industry trends. 

“It's interesting to compare and contrast what the research is saying and what is actually happening in journalism … My podcast hopes to fill some of those gaps,” Sih says.

This season will consist of eight episodes, examining issues such as the ethics behind AI and ChatGPT to the mental health and wellbeing of journalists. Sih places a particular emphasis on the “collective” and in these episodes, to explore how journalists can make a difference and strategize beyond the individual level.

Sih says, “You could look at the industry as doom and gloom, but at the same time there's a whole new frontier …  And there's an incredible opportunity to bring innovative ideas.”

You can listen to Staying Alive Season 2 here (external link) .