NB Media Co-op and CHCO-TV launch political talk show, the NB debrief

Two independent media outlets in New Brunswick – the NB Media Co-op and CHCO-TV – have come together to bring you the NB debrief, a talk show on politics that promises to inform and inspire.

“There are some incredible people doing some incredible work to challenge the status quo in New Brunswick – fighting for affordable housing, organizing for workers’ rights and resisting austerity. The NB debrief will introduce you to some of the everyday New Brunswickers fighting for a more equitable province,” says Aditya Rao, a co-producer of the show and a board member of the NB Media Co-op.

Show host Tobin Haley, a community-engaged scholar and activist based in Fredericton, asks hard-hitting political questions about New Brunswick to the province’s community-builders and change-shapers, the movers and the shakers.

“Charlotte County Television is excited to partner with the NB Media Co-op on the NB debrief that involves engaging viewers in Charlotte County, across the province and beyond on important issues while also training people how to be citizen journalists, a goal of both our media outlets,” says Andrew Sutton with CHCO-TV.

Topics for the first season include the Peskotomukhati Nation’s struggle for state recognition, the decades-long fight for abortion access, tenant advocacy in the face of a housing crisis, how unions are organizing against attacks on workers, and what people are doing to combat punitive social policies that keep people impoverished.

Guests this season include Peskotomukhati Chief Hugh Akagi, reproductive rights champion and lawyer Kerri Froc, Clinic 554’s Dr. Adrian Edgar, New Brunswick Federation of Labour’s Daniel Legere, CUPE’s Sandy Harding, the Common Front’s Abram Lutes, and anti-poverty advocates Tanya Hatt and Sarah Lunney.

In our first show, the NB Media Co-op’s Susan O’Donnell, Matthew Hayes and Tracy Glynn discuss how the NB Media Co-op has challenged a media landscape dominated by J.D. Irving, a member of the Irving group of companies, an empire that controls and influences most of the province’s important industries such as forestry, energy and construction.

“We need Irving-owned industries in New Brunswick to be the subject of serious public scrutiny and investigative journalism. However, J.D. Irving Ltd. owns Brunswick News Inc., which owns every English daily newspaper (Telegraph Journal, Times & Transcript, The Daily Gleaner) as well as several community papers (Miramichi Leader, Victoria Star and Kings County Record). The Irving media often presents the view that what’s good for an Irving company is good for the province. We know that is not the case,” says Susan O’Donnell.

Our first show introduces the project and discusses the importance of independent media.

HOW TO WATCH THE SHOW

The NB debrief can be viewed on UHF and Fibe 26, Cable 126 and BellTV 539 as well as on CHCO-TV’s Youtube channel and on the show’s website. The first episode will go live on YouTube at 7:00 PM on June 9.

NB Media Co-op readers and supporters as well friends of CHCO-TV are invited to join the NB debrief Launch Party and social on Wednesday, June 16 at 7:00 PM on Zoom.

Who is the NB Media Co-op?

The NB Media Co-op formed in 2009 after people rooted in various social justice movements came together to own and produce their media. Where corporate media has feared to tread, the NB Media Co-op stands by a bias firmly on the side of Indigenous land defenders and language protectors, Black Lives Matter, workers, people organizing against punitive social assistance policies, students fighting for free education, tenants calling for affordable housing, reproductive justice activists, migrant justice advocates, and all those making our communities more accessible, safe and healthier for everyone. The NB Media Co-op, a volunteer shop, publishes news and commentaries on our website and in bi-monthly broadsheet The Brief. The media generated by the Co-op is sustained by our readers through $30 annual membership dues and monthly contributions, and unions representing various workforces in the province like CUPE, Unifor, PSAC, CUPW and the university faculty unions. Every month, more than 25,000 unique readers access hundreds of stories on our website. To keep track of new stories by the NB Media Co-op, follow us on Facebook and Twitter and sign up to our email list at info@nbmediacoop.org.

Who is CHCO-TV?

CHCO-TV’s mission is to promote community media and encourage, educate and engage residents in Southwestern New Brunswick to use media and technology to enhance civic involvement, learn new media skills and contribute to the culture, economy, health and quality of life in New Brunswick. The last independent TV station in New Brunswick, CHCO-TV is also one of the few remaining such stations in Canada. CHCO-TV is located at the W. C. O’Neill Arena Complex in St. Andrews. CHCO-TV’s history dates back to the St. Andrews Community Channel and CHCT with its first show broadcasting on March 13, 1993. In 2012, CHCT became CHCO-TV. Regular programming includes NewsBreak26 and Southwest Magazine with host Vicki Hogarth, town council meetings, the global weekday news show DemocracyNow!, and much more. CHCO-TV encourages people to learn about television production either in front of or behind the camera and offers volunteer opportunities on how to become a community TV producer, director, camera, sound operator, editor, reporter or host. Contact CHCO-TV at local@chco.tv.

Tracy Glynn is a founder and the coordinating editor of the NB Media Co-op.