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Small Town, Big Personality: Chris Palliser

Over a decade ago, Chris Palliser graduated from Camosun College’s Applied Communications  Program (ACP) with wanderlust and a passion for radio. Since then, he’s been a solo host for  stations all over British Columbia. After years of working his way up the industry ladder, Chris  now finds himself in back in Victoria with a significant co-hosting gig at 107.3 Virgin Radio. “Just like anything, you start small and work your way up,” says Chris. “For radio and television  and stuff, you go to the smaller markets.” In working for over seven different stations over the  course of his career, each of which in varingly populated cities, Chris has grown to appreciate  the community that local broadcasting can facilitate. “Everytime you crack the mic,” Chris says, “you just have to think ‘ who’s listening right now? ’”  According to Chris, it’s the personal connection between a host and their audience that keeps  radio running. As a husband and father-of-two, Chris seems to
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Journalism isn't Dying, it's being Reborn

Journalism, by definition, is to empower citizens with information so that they can make the best possible decisions about their lives. Furthermore, a true and professional journalist identifies, verifies, contextualizes, and gives narrative to information for the sake of public awareness. In short, journalism pursues the truth, and the truth will never not be integral. Why then the meta articles reporting on the death of journalism ? Why then the rising mistrust towards journalists in online spaces? Because traditional news media is being disrupted, and because much of the news content circulating social media has more to do with monetization and propaganda than it does with the truth. To start, journalism is more than securing interviews or meeting print deadlines. As aforementioned, it is the pursuit of truth in service of the public good. This core concept will not be murdered by a disruption in traditional business models. Yes, traditional journalism platforms such as ne
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From Posters to Pinball: Meet Steve Webb

Sixteen years ago, Steve Webb was a promoter unhappy with Victoria’s dysfunctional  postering system. Today, Steve owns and operates Metropol Industries, one of the city’s  largest digital print producers. How did he find success? “I don’t have a background in print,” says Steve. “The only thing I really have a background  in is business.” In offering to regulate the city of Victoria’s messy poster advertising scene all those years ago, Steve unearthed a wealth of business opportunity.  “I really wasn’t looking very far ahead at all,” says Steve. “I thought that I’d get the postering under control and then use that as an avenue to get into being a designer.” Over the course  of several years, Metropol’s humble beginning as a one-man event postering service eventually grew to fulfill the expanding needs of its customers. From custom graphic design  to large format printing, the company now offers top quality products, fast-paced turnaround  times, and service with
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Free Tuition

According to Statistics Canada , the average post-secondary student in British Columbia pays almost nine thousand dollars in annual tuitions fees. This, on top of living costs,  gate-keeps our educated workforce and prevents students from fully contributing to the  economy. Because of this, discussing free (or further subsidized) post-secondary tuition  has become topical in academic spaces. A particularly strong extension of this proposition  is tuition reimbursement. However, any form of tuition negation would be beneficial because  it would reduce student debt, provide an economic boost, and increase post-secondary  accessibility without devaluing higher education. Here’s how. To start, free tuition would reduce student debt, which would in turn fuel the economy. In  a Global News article , UVic student Janessa Tom explains that “a full course load...takes up  the equivalent amount of time as a full-time job.” This is to say that many students are not  able to make liv
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Speculation at Best

Jeff Atwood’s blog post titled “Because Reading is Fundamental” is a call to  action for consumers to read media more carefully before sharing their opinions  online. In order to examine the post itself, we must first acknowledge Atwood’s  general audience. Based on his website’s mature advertising, simple formatting,  and meta content, we can assume that Atwood’s blog is geared towards an older,  educated audience. Because Atwood works as a computer programmer, much of  his content revolves around computer sciences and social media. Therefor, his  audience likely consists of individuals 25-50 years old with post-secondary education  who perhaps share an interest in computer sciences and/or digital communication. Returning to the post at hand, “Because Reading is Fundamental” is an opinion  piece which claims that social media propagates a culture of talking - instead of one  of listening - which leads to poor communication between creators and consumers.  Atwood places
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