I was reading the American Journalism Review yesterday morning and I found a story about local TV stations cutting investigative reporting teams to fit budget. Investigative reporting on local TV has never been stellar, however it does provide citizens of a specific locality with an in-depth look at some of the less publicized scandals and atrocities occurring in their vicinity.

The AJR article reports the stations like WJLA-TV in the nation’s capital have cut their “I-Team” to save money. WJLA VP of News Bill Lord says that he needs to “do newscasts before I can do specialty items.” That makes sense; newscasts provide viewers with a small glimpse of everything that’s happening in the U.S. Some of the more learned viewers actually stick around to see what’s going on outside of America.

Adrienne Roark, the News Director at Miami’s WFOR-TV makes the best argument for keeping investigative reporters. “It’s what sets you apart from all the other noise out there” she told AJR. Ratings.

That, to me, makes more sense. Personally, I think all local news stations (just as most of them do) should only report local news and create in-depth local stories. If I want news on a broad scale, I turn to CNN or CBC, I don’t watch CP24 or City TV (those are local Toronto news networks).

But if I do want local news I flip to the smaller stations because I know they can offer a more detailed look into local stories that affect my area. Just like CNN or CBC can give me a better look into what’s happening in different parts of the country and in different countries.

This is where I think a structural overhaul needs to take place. Local stations should see investigative local coverage as a top priority. And while some do, investigative reporters that uncover local scandals and even triumphs should remain a part of the team because they are crucial to the survival of real journalism and to citizens understanding what’s going on in their surroundings.

Journalism is not just the reiteration of fact. It the discovery and analysis of new developments that provide the public with an all-encompassing view of an event. That’s what real journalists do, and that’s why it’s a trade that should be upheld and protected, as long as it continues to operate honorably.

To survive, these in-depth reports would have to air on a regular basis, not every few months. That makes the title of “investigative” null, however, something like in-depth coverage or in-depth storytelling should definitely have a place, at least on a weekly basis, in all local newscasts.

Just a thought.

Labeling the situation in Sri Lanka as bad is quite an understatement. It’s dire, dreadful and alarming. Even that’s an understatement. It’s hard to describe, through language, the emotional distress and pain Tamils are going through as their friends and families are being systematically killed back home. They’re a minority, it’s tough. The civil war between the majority Sinhalese government and the minority Tamil Tiger rebellion calling for an independent state has been going on for more than two decades. The end isn’t near.

Neither side is exactly peaceful. A recent attack, blamed on the government by the Tamil Tigers and the Tamil Tigers by the government, fired artillery shells that have killed 300, including more than 100 children, and injured nearly 1,000.

The government can be violent and the Tamil Tigers have been branded a terrorist organization in the U.S., Canada, India and 29 other countries. They’ve use child soldiers and suicide bombs. But their government kills their supporters too, so the real tragedy here is not the deaths of the Tamil Eelam fighters or soldiers, but of the civilians caught in the crossfire.

And while I’m not Tamil, I understand and recognize the hurt the innocent are going through, though I could never truly imagine or begin to comprehend the veracity of it. Hell, I can’t even describe it using language.

But here’s where it gets tricky. Some of you may have heard that a 2,000-strong five hour Tamil protest blocked off the Gardiner Expressway until midnight last night, the city of Toronto’s major highway which sees between 200,000 and 300,000 cars daily. It’s been called an artery at times as it transports citizens from the beating heart of the city out to the western suburbs, which are inhabited by more than 1,000,000 residents.

Imagine driving along a major highway when a Tamil mother and child suddenly pop up beside your car. Yes, they brought their children too. And yes, as you can see above, they actually walked up the ramp onto the highway. How? I have no clue.

At its height, the protest blocked off traffic in either direction for a few miles. It could have been quite dangerous if there had been a medical emergency, miraculously though, no ambulances reported to have been caught in the jam. No babies were delivered in taxis. Just some pissed off residents and a few missed flights (a friend of mine missed his).

Some might be saying, so what? How dare you compare a five hour inconvenience to the deaths of innocent Sri Lankans?

Well, I’m not doing that. But I am struggling to understand how in the world blocking off traffic and angering every Torontonian could possibly help the cause? Only those who hate Torontonians would laugh at us, and in Canada, there are a lot of those. But who cares about those haters, that’s beside the point.

Up to now, Tamil protests in Toronto have been pretty peaceful and sane. They walk down large streets in large numbers, disrupting traffic a bit in the downtown core but only for a little while. No big deal.

And I understand that the goal of this protest was to garner media attention so that the demands made would be heard by as many as possible. That’s fine.

But now everyone is angry at you. Torontonians are mad, many (as I read in the comments section on the CBC website) believe that the Tamils should respect Canadian society and protest in a way that doesn’t disrupt it. Or at least protest more at Parliament Hill, not downtown Toronto. Remember, the Prime Minister, that guy who runs our country (poorly) lives in Ottawa not Toronto.

The point of protesting is to get people to rally behind you and support you, not be angry with you.

And please, the next time you want to block off a highway or walk onto the court during a basketball game or something, don’t bring your kids. Someone could easily have gotten hit by a car last night, and the last thing anyone wants is to harm an innocent child.

I support the cause; the civil war should end or at least stop long enough to get the civilians out of there. Bring them to Canada, we’d love to take them. But seriously, angering Torontonians creates hate, and Torontonians are like the New Yorkers of Canada. Just waiting for something new to be pissed at.

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CBC reporter Mellissa Fung was released from captivity Saturday, after her captors held her in an underground cave for nearly a month, according to the CBC.

It’s great that she was freed thanks to an operation headed primarily by Afghan intelligence.

That shows we can work together.

Fung says her hands and feet were tied during her last week in the cave.‚  She told intelligence agencies that the cave was so small she could barely stand up.

“They dug a small hole…and then there was a little tunnel that went into the cave.”

Fung also told intelligence agencies that her captors did not mistreat her.‚  Minus the tying I suppose.‚  Not much compared to what could have happened.

According to CNN, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said no ransom was paid to secure her release.

While Fung was missing, CBC asked other media outlets not to report on her situation, in order to secure her safety.

It was a flawless mission, three people were arrested and police are looking for three more.

It seems like more and more journalists are being kidnapped around the world.‚  It goes to show you the power the press can have; people are going out of their ways to kidnap its members and silence its influence.

It’s important, as a reporter, to keep working even after this kind of thing happens to you.‚  It’s important to keep bringing the news.

Of course it’s terrible, but you can take pride in one thing. If someone tries to shut you up, it means you’re doing your job well.