Thereâs a new push to make Âé¶čAVâs CHBC TV (Global Okanagan) a locally owned, independent station.
Former CHBC journalist and city councillor Mohini Singh has teamed up with Âé¶čAV resident Mark Fox to explore how it could be done.
Global Okanagan stopped airing locally produced newscasts in August 2024 after parent company Corus Entertainment cut 55 union jobs nationwide, including several at CHBC. The 30 minute Okanagan newscasts are now produced in Vancouver with Âé¶čAV reporters providing the stories.
âI remember Mohini saying this was not a good idea,â said Fox. âFor the last six months, since Iâve been thinking about retirement, I kept feeling like someone needed to step up and do something about it.â
Fox said the tipping point for him came just before Christmas when he watched an Okanagan-focused newscast from Vancouver. âIt was really bad,â he said, adding that the broadcast was full of errors, including mispronunciations of local place names.
He reached out to Singh with an idea.
âWhen we met, we both had the same concerns about how poorly our valley was being represented,â Singh explained. âReports filed by local reporters are accurate, but the introductions from Vancouver anchors are filled with inaccuracies.â
Singh has been posting examples of these errors on her Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The pair is now forming a citizensâ committee to explore the possibility of buying the Okanagan operation from Corus. Singh said the community response has been significant. âAfter I posted about it on Facebook, people started reaching out to me,â she said.
Corus has not publicly expressed an interest in selling its Okanagan operation. Following last yearâs job cuts, Global News BC news director Bhupinder Hundal stated the company was still committed to the Okanagan.
Singh and Fox said the goal is to create a non-profit organization that manage the stationâs affairs while leaving the operation and news reporting to professionals.
âWe want to follow the model CHEK TV used in Victoria,â Fox explained. CHEK was saved from closure in 2009 when employees and local investors bought it from Canwest for $2. It has since thrived as an independent, employee-owned station.
Fox and Singh hope to gauge community interest by creating a Facebook group. âThe idea is to bring local news back to the Okanagan,â Fox said. âPeople are focused on shopping local these days as well, and having a local TV station could keep advertising dollars in the region.â
Singh added the goal is local news in local hands.
Anyone interested in joining the citizensâ committee can contact Fox at markfox0964@gmail.com or Singh at mohinisingh@shaw.ca.
