From Doug Draper, publisher, Niagara At Large
They’re not just barking when they call them the dog days of summer.
Even when there are things going on – and there certainly have been a lot of serious and disturbing things going on here and around the world this month – August has always been a time of year when people would rather enjoy the last few weeks of summer on the beach or flipping burgers on a barbecue than paying very much attention to the news.
In the 35 some years I’ve worked as a journalist, there has always been an unspoken rule among many of my newsroom colleagues (and one I happen to agree with) that you don’t choose August to come out with a story or commentary you hope will have an impact on discussion and decision making in the community because too few people will be around to read it. And the number of people who temporarily cancelled their newspapers in August because they were going away on vacation provided pretty clear evidence that the rule made sense.
In that spirit, the news hounds here are going to all but place a complete leash on posting new pieces on Niagara At Large until we get past the Labour Day weekend. When we say all but stop, that means that we won’t hesitate to post the odd piece over the next couple of weeks. But with very important municipal elections coming up this fall and other issues we feel deserve more attention than they would receive now, it may be best to wait until the dog days are behind us.
So here’s calling off the dogs for now and thanks for your continued support by being a regular visitor to Niagara At Large. Please encourage your friends and associates to visit this site at www.niagaraatlarge.com when, as the old song goes, we see you in September.
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