TORONTO – Ontario’s public broadcaster TVO said Friday it will introduce two new Ontario Hubs by January 2018 “to expand its balanced, in-depth regional journalism across the province,” the company said in a press release.
The new hubs will launch in Sudbury and Kingston to strengthen the voice of northeastern and eastern Ontario communities that TVO says are increasingly under-represented in current affairs stories and analysis.
Funded through The Barry and Laurie Green Family Charitable Trust & Goldie Feldman, "Ontario Hubs address a gap in the media landscape where local current affairs are becoming a rare commodity," said Lisa de Wilde, TVO's CEO, in the release. "Our new team of journalists is going behind the headlines, digging deep into the issues that matter to people right across the province. Ontario Hubs build on TVO's track record of balanced and in-depth analysis, informing and inspiring people to become engaged in strengthening our communities.”
The two new hubs join the northwestern and southwestern Hubs that launched this fall in Thunder Bay and London. TVO will now hire two additional journalists to develop current affairs articles and videos for tvo.org, and segments for TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin every Friday.
"Ontario is an immense province with many unique local stories and perspectives that should be shared," added John Ferri, TVO vice-president, current affairs and documentaries, in the release. "Heartened by the positive response to TVO's first two Ontario Hubs, we hope to make a similar impact with the current affairs stories we share through our new Northeastern and Eastern Hubs."
TVO is also collaborating on partnerships and intern programs with Ontario colleges and universities like Confederation College, University of Western Ontario, Laurentian University and Queen's University.
