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If ever there was a test for the presence of Sauga960 on the radio dial, it would be Monday night. That's when the results of the Mississauga mayoral election become known, with a new leader being elected to lead the rapidly growing city and another byelection result decided.
I'll be curious to see whether this radio station, which is named after Mississauga in its branding, actually interrupts regular (usually paid) programming to cover this important outcome or whether its simply business as usual, with no coverage at all except during the occasional newscast the next morning.
To be fair, they have been running an hour-long weekly show on Monday devoted to the race for City Hall, so perhaps the two hosts who did that will anchor the coverage. But it really should be more than just an hour.
It will be terribly ironic if the CP24s of the world actually beat the station to the punch, which would not surprise me, because they have more resources and time. But if 960 doesn't make a big deal out of this and after all the promises they made to the CRTC about local community coverage to get the licence in the first place, you have to wonder - what are they even there for?
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Excellent points. Where are the interns to help the station have some extra life for days like this?
(students or not)
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To make matters worse, I just heard them run a promo for their weekly Monday 1-hour show about issues in the campaign - even though the campaign is now over and people are voting. Yikes!
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RadioActive wrote:
To make matters worse, I just heard them run a promo for their weekly Monday 1-hour show about issues in the campaign - even though the campaign is now over and people are voting. Yikes!
Lights are on, but nobody's home! Glad I don't run a business that needs advertising in Mississauga. lol
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You can console yourself by rushing out and buying a new tennis bracelet from Spence for 15 hundred dollars.
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newsguy1 wrote:
You can console yourself by rushing out and buying a new tennis bracelet from Spence for 15 hundred dollars.
Ugh.
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Well, they surprised me.
It wasn't exactly riveting or well produced, but Sauga960 did, indeed, have live coverage of the race for Mississauga mayor Monday night. Surprisingly, both 960 and 680 were the only ones to definitively declare a winner as of 9 PM, with CFRB and AM640 both only saying who was in the lead and projected to win, without confirming the race was over.
Glad to see 960 didn't just go into rerun mode. I have to admit I wasn't expecting it.
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I listened for about 20 minutes, and it was as good as you could expect with their resources. Good for them.
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I guess this means losing candidate Dipika Damerla will be back as a panelist on CFRB's Roundtable.
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From the Letters to the Editor in today's Star (emphasis added):
Lack of journalism got Parrish elected
Playing it safe was not the key factor in Carolyn Parrish’s victory as mayor of Mississauga. In fact, it is likely the opposite. Mississauga, a city of more than 700,000, is practically a media-free zone with no local newspaper, radio or television service of its own. In that information vacuum, there was no place for more information about Parrish, including her recalled gaffes, which her opponents’ flyers could not highlight. As local newspapers disappear in Kirkland Lake (where I grew up) and New Liskeard (where I once taught), we need to remind ourselves that democracy itself is at risk where information about significant choices is unavailable to the citizens who must decide.
Ab Dukacz, Mississauga
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Thankfully the CBC provided TOTAL COVERGE. It dwarfed the coverage of Sounds of the Season.