A Year In, The Sentinel Has Reached 12,000 Users

It has been just over a year since we launched the Sun City Sentinel and it has been challenging to say the least. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Tik Tok seem to be the platforms of choice to get information out and get instant feedback. In this age of hyper competitive "media", it is always challenging to launch a new venture to compete for eyeballs when it comes to what today we call "news".

In Medicine Hat we have our legacy media and journalism outlets and online so-called media outlets who think they are journalists, but it all comes down to competing for views. Views, reposts and likes draw attention. Attention draws eyeballs and eyeballs are what advertisers pay for.

The other issue we wanted to address has been the decline of reporting local news. Full time reporters need to be paid. That pay is covered by either selling subscriptions or ad revenue. Unfortunately, we can all get much of that news for free and most of what is in our local news is republished from international, national or regional outlets and not very local.

The experiment the Sentinel wanted to try was this...rather than journalists inserting their opinion and narratives into issues and goings on in our community, it was to have those, that have a story to tell, tell it in their own way without having an avalanche of opinion, or abuse, hurled at them online.

The desire to express opinion and be heard in a world where 24/7 news seems to drown out any real conversation on the issues is a problem. It's disappointing that, rather than trying to understand why we see things differently from another, whose opinion is of no less value than our own, we send hate mail and make comments through online platforms that most wouldn't have the backbone to say to someone's face. Sometimes we need to agree to disagree and not to take it personally.

The Sentinel has been a target of some of this "criticism" and that may be a good thing. We are competing for those eyeballs. Competition can be seen as a threat to those with established footholds. When people feel threatened they defend their positions, sometimes too vigorously.

The way in which we defend our positions and opinions matter. It is easy to call someone stupid or ignorant when we disagree, rather than realizing someone's opinion is their own and we don't have to agree with it. Maybe we could try to truly listen and understand why they think the way they do.

Either way, the Sentinel wishes to thank all those that have advertised, contributed, subscribed and read the pieces published on our site. We look forward to further robust dialogue on the issues, both good and bad, that impact our community.