THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

 

In the New Testament, Luke 8:5, we are taught to sow good seeds everywhere. Some will land on rocks. Some will be scorched by the sun and die. But some will land on good soil. It is one of my favourite teachings.

 

I have been sending out reports and essays for years. Global Television didn't seems as bothered by the volume of my writing as much as by the fact that I ask people to read my blogs. But others are uncomfortable about the volume of articles I send them.

 

I received an email from Chris Bury of CJAD today asking me to phone. I did. He told me that CJAD's In Box is limited and he asked me to ration my posts on CJAD's Facebook page as well. He asked me to send my mail to him directly and he will filter it. I agreed. Maybe he will and maybe he won't, but one thing is clear - I am going to continue writing and people are going to read what I have to say. And someone is going to start asking questions about what I am saying. And sooner or later, what I am saying is going to cause changes to our injustice system, and ordinary folks are going to benefit. There is no such thing as telling too much truth.

 

When I was working as a full time reporter for the Lakeshore News and Chronicle in the early 1980's, my editor, Janet Tremblay Burley would give me a heavy load of assignments and several of my reports were published in the paper every week. But after a while, I was surprised to see that some of my best articles were being published without my by-line.

 

For example, I wrote a major report about the Mayor of Lachine, Guy Decarie, and his town council who had just voted themselves a "business trip" to Hawaii along with their wives and secretaries. The motion to approve this trip was glossed over quickly in the hope that no one would notice. But I made a point of dealing with it in my report.

 

The day after the council meeting my report about the trip covered the front page of the paper above the fold - without my name. Mrs. Burley said that the reason she deleted my by-line was that Decarie would seek revenge and anytime I would drive into Lachine in future, I would be targeted by the local police. She also said that she had to remove my by-line on some of my stories each week because it would appear to the public that I was writing the whole newspaper by myself.

 

The following day, the Gazette picked up my story and Decarie had to cancel the trip to Hawaii. I never did get a traffic ticket in Lachine, but I am sure Lachine's councillors and wives and secretaries were disappointed.

 

I will continue to write and send out my reports and essays as long as there is a need for justice and I am able to shed light on the truth. Some of my articles will land on good soil.