Six Rivers Gone But Not Forgotten

EDITORIAL OPINION

In the Radio business, the end of the broadcast day was once known as “signing off.”  In this new age of 24/7/365 entertainment and infotainment, the signal doesn’t die — but change is inevitable.

And so it is with Six Rivers News, Radio and TV.  Founder, host, and the voice of Morning Talk, Bill Martin is making a change. Not signing off, per se, but moving on to something new, much bigger, and closer to his heart. 

Before we talk about the future, let’s take a brief look at the past.

Eight years ago, in April 2016, Six Rivers News launched from the basement of the Pugwash Baptist Church. Martin envisioned Six Rivers as filling the void left by The Oxford Journal when it shut down unexpectedly a year prior. The online community newspaper was first to go live, followed by the morning radio show a few months later.

Geographically focusing on Northern Cumberland County bounded by the Tidnish, Shinimicas, Philip, Pugwash, Wallace and Dewar rivers —the Six Rivers to the Sea— Martin launched this news and current affairs initiative as a community service, he would say “filling a void.”

As it grew, Hope Centre Ministries was born to house what he expected would be a staff of employees. The not-for-profit society, based in Pugwash, received all advertising revenues and facilities rentals to support the organisation’s mission. 

Six Rivers Radio —internet radio, a strange concept for some listeners to grasp— experimented with multiple music offerings for listeners, who for a time could choose from All-Hit, Country, or Christian music. This programming filled the afternoon and evening hours when Morning Talk wrapped for the day. After a period of experimentation, technical challenges, listener preferences resulted in a unified mix of popular music.

While the SixRivers.ca website provided visitors with a wonderful archive of news stories and features covering topics of great interest to residents of the region, perhaps its greatest challenge was reaching listeners who wanted to find Six Rivers Radio on the “actual” radio: in their car, in their home, and not requiring a computer or smart phone to receive the show. 

In response to the ephemeral nature of radio interviews, and taking advantage of the technology available, Martin brought the Morning Talk interviews online with an audio archive that enabled visitors to the website to listen at their leisure to newsmakers.

And what newsmakers they have been! Martin’s history in the news business and his personal connections led to surprising guests. A regular monthly visitor since before forming government, was Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston. Weekly regular interviewees included Cumberland County Mayor Murray Scott; Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables, the Honourable Tory Rushton; Oxford Mayor Greg Henley; Amherst Mayor Dr. David Kogon, and weekend Christian chat with guests from the faith community from across North America.  Saturday nights featured the programme “Saturday Night in a Harbour Town” with legendary east coast broadcaster Eric McEwen.

But Six Rivers as an entity was never an easy project.  Faithful local advertisers brought in enough revenue to keep the lights on and make the Hope Centre a going concern. But, revenue was never enough to hire that staff of employees. And Martin wasn’t getting any younger. Frequently referring to himself as “the old, fat, bald guy,” Martin’s apparently inexhaustible energy was coming up against the challenges of reality, time and mortality.

The news side of the venture was a grind. This “one man show” saw Martin flitting around the county, covering council meetings in Oxford, Amherst, and Cumberland County, sitting in on Pugwash Village Commission meetings and then covering the community happenings that were important to listeners and website visitors. Staying relevant is a full-time job. 

And then there was the Morning Talk show, whose broadcast day was recently shifted to a later start, giving Martin a little more shut-eye. Folks who aren’t in the business may not appreciate the preparation and planning, both technical and personal, required to get in front of the mic every day like clockwork. Did I mention it was a one-man show? He picked all the music, produced the commercials, pushed the buttons, and answered the phone, all while the songs were playing.

Martin found some relief by tapping local reporting talent to supplement his efforts. Larry Duchesne came aboard to cover local events and Town Council in Oxford for a time. When other commitments took him away from the task, Martin sought me out, as I just happened to be attending Oxford Council meetings anyway. 

It seemed like a good fit, and helped Martin deal with what at the time were conflicting council meetings as the County also gathered on the same night.  

As a former news reporter in Halifax, I shared Martin’s lament over the loss of The Oxford Journal, and contributed reports on local happenings.

It’s a shame to see Six Rivers News fade off into the ether. It provided an essential service in covering news and events from Oxford, in a community where people still today say how much they miss The Oxford Journal.

The demise of local journalism has been declared many times. This year, things look particularly gloomy. As Six Rivers shuts down, we note the ongoing bankruptcy and impending sell-off of SaltWire’s news operation, which itself had been downsized and cut and trimmed —we could say decimated— year after year until it reached its present state. Even its free digital newspaper “The Cumberland Wire” was one day unceremoniously replaced by the Antigonish paper, “The Casket”.  

It’s almost as if the writing was literally on the wall. For residents who care about local journalism, there are few, if any options left. A handful of online digital newspapers, most of them behind some sort of paywall, continue to cover Nova Scotia news, but none have the local relevance that we remember from yesteryear… or even yesterday, as Bill Martin signs off.

And now the twist in this not-so-sordid affair: Martin isn’t going far —though his reach is going pretty far-out. With a new partnership with Inspire-FM, he’s landed a syndicated talk show on actual, real, radio. Martin’s new, live, afternoon call-in show from noon to 3:00 pm offers the same casual conversations as his Morning Talk show but now instead of local, the chats are Maritime-wide. This is near and dear to his heart, as a Pastor with something to say, and people he’s hoping to reach. 

The nine-station coverage with Inspire-FM (formerly known as Harvesters FM) gives Martin access to new listeners, backed by an Atlantic Canadian Christian Radio success story founded over two decades ago by Jeff Lutes.

To catch Bill online and on-air, visit HopeCentre.ca to learn how you can still hear the dulcet tones of “the old, fat, bald guy” on your favourite radio receiver.

And for Six Rivers, to borrow a probably copyrighted phrase, “That’s All, Folks!”

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