Jack Knox

Print media is on the decline.  This is a reality as the digital age creeps up on us like that dual-wheel diesel pick-up truck rumbling up beside us at the red light.  It’s there and we have to acknowledge it.  For myself, I am still driving the four cylinder Toyota and reading my news from paper maché material.  And I want to talk about that for a moment.

First, however, let’s talk about this guy.  Jack Knox is one of the voices still making good use of the modest lane.  He is a long-time columnist at the Times Colonist and has dedicated his career to print journalism.  He uses humour and wit to showcase current events and injects his emotion, opinion, and analysis into his columns.  “I get to duck into the lives of people who are more interesting, more courageous…just far better people than I am,” he claims.  This modesty is a powerful tool in his columns.

He was inspired by the life and times of Ian Ferguson, a Canadian author and playwright whose powerful narrative was built in the wilds of northern Alberta.  Jack also came from a really engaged household, as did Ferguson, and the young Jack found himself writing for school newspapers and finding opportunities to play reporter.  A job at the mill in Kamloops was waiting for him like a patient friend but rather he declined and dedicated himself to the wild temptress of journalism.

So in this new frontier of digital media where newspapers are shrinking and companies are taking their advertisements elsewhere, where do talented insightful writers go now?  Do newspapers still want us?  I played writer for a long time in my life but never had the courage to make it beyond my computer screen.  I dreamed of driving up to the wild life of journalism and courting it with enticing stories and loving exclusives, despite still sputtering along as a print media user.  I worry that I have missed my opportunity to be with the love of my life and now must settle for the comfort of wifely domesticity.

“First thing is to marry up what it is you want to do, what it is you want to say or write with the medium that will get you to the right audience.”  Sage advice from a man who seems comfortable having a chuckle about himself and the career he has built for himself.  This is an important trait for writers navigating the traffic of media and getting caught between the flashy Bugatti and the jacked-up F-150.  You must know how to laugh off the tough stuff and find the window of opportunity to get into the passing lane.

Jack’s advice has inspired me to find a window of opportunity in this highway of information.  There are things that need to be said that I want to sift through, analyse, expose, and show to readers willing to take the time to enjoy their journey through information.  Print media is a really great place to reach people who still want to know about their communities and the people in them.  Just like they don’t make cars like they used to, they don’t make news like they used to.  Jack Knox is a testament to what good classic journalism is all about.