Don Lehn Podcast Complete 2

Dawn Lane, a former radio broadcaster, transitioned to starting his own digital newsroom called Fraser Valley News. He was inspired by his experience with social media and the need for more local dialogue and news coverage. Despite facing challenges and layoffs, Lane embraced the opportunity to become an entrepreneur and media owner. He uses his broadcasting skills to create content for Fraser Valley News, Chill TV, and Abby TV. Lane's newsroom aims to report stories that often go unreported by mainstream media, providing a unique perspective to his audience. You know, there really are many paths. An old-time rock jock can go into radio news and then enter the digital age with a one-man Fraser Valley newsroom. Yeah, let's chat with Dawn Lane of Fraser Valley News, Chill TV, and Abby TV. Broadcast Chronicles, revealing the most surprising, compelling, and even shocking stories behind some true characters from the other side of the microphone. Here's Bruce Plaggett. Almost 45 years in broadcasting, including a late career transition to a news website, social media, and online video. Well, Dawn Lane is an old friend, a seasoned broadcaster, and you might even consider him a digital pioneer who continues to find his own path in Chilliwack, BC. He's my guest, a man of many stories. We're glad to have him. Dawn, why did you say goodbye to radio and start your own digital newsroom? Ironically, as I'm going to poke fun at our old business of radio, one too many layoffs, and that actually was the genesis. Six media layoffs, five in radio, one in film. And prior to that last layoff, in between those last two radio stations, I had already got my feet wet with a thing called mychilliwacknews.com. This was after Rogers let me go in Vancouver and I came back to the Valley. And I had to learn this thing called social media. I had to learn this thing called a webpage and everything else about mychilliwacknews.com. And through other things that happened, I became news director. So I really had to bone up on it. And I went, you know, hmm, this is really cool. And I was one of those radio guys in the early 90s, and this was when I was still in Ottawa. I don't know about this social media thing. Now I'm laughing at myself because everything I do is social media. It's all digital space. It's all digital. And being able to do the video, being able to do other bells and whistles, and that really piqued my interest to the point where after I was laid off by a radio station in Chilliwack, here in Chilliwack, I went, okay, I got all this knowledge from mychilliwacknews.com, which has now since morphed into something else after ownership change. And one guy who was also a, he owned a social media and internet company and a web hosting company, but he was also and still is a Chilliwack city councilor as well as an FVRD chair. And Jason had said to me, Jason Lum said to me, have you ever thought of social media? And I said, I got this idea. And FVN had kind of been germinating in my head for a while. And we had coffee and he just looked at me and went, I can help you start this thing up. And Fraser Valley News was bare bones. I'm trying to remember the name of the initial platform we used, but it's one that everybody was using. And that's fine. I didn't realize how fast it would take off. Monetizing was a different story, how fast it would take off. And I went, okay, I'm onto something. And then literally about seven or eight months later, a new radio station in Metro Vancouver was signing on and okay, one more kick in the can, they were after me. And I had a gentleman's agreement to help out with their social media, but I would also be allowed to do Fraser Valley News. And that fell apart. Five months later, I was unemployed. But having said that, I vividly remember that day walking out of that radio station, laid off, that was it. And I said to myself, that's it for radio. I'm doing FVN full-time. Okay, I'm about to become an entrepreneur. I'm about to become a media owner, but self-employed, scared. I've never done anything like this before. This is new territory. But at the time, I'm 56. Okay, this feels right. I'm 64 and I don't regret that at all because it's led to other things. I've met other people and this is where Chill TV got involved and Abbey TV evolved. And the other thing too is when I started Fraser Valley News, I looked at the landscape and newspapers were still dragging their heels about getting into social media. And I thought, one end of the Fraser Valley is not talking to the other end. Oh, they weren't. I mean, there was the Abbotsford Newspaper and the Chilliwack Newspaper and the Agassi Newspaper, but they're not talking to each other and having a dialogue. And I took this idea to Small Business BC and they, I don't know what I said or did, they just went, here's some money. Okay, and then I went to Community Futures in the Fraser Valley and they did the same thing, went, this is a good idea, here, boom. And then what really blew me away, because I didn't think I was pioneering anything, but Small Business BC gave me an award for innovation of a first-year business, and I went, wow, all right, we're onto something. And some of the people I've been able to meet online has been really, really cool. It's been a bumpy ride, but I mean, I did start off with a partner who we were partners romantically as well as professionally. That didn't work out, but somehow we got through COVID, somehow we got through a few other things. It's bare bones, but here we are. And I guess I was a forerunner of podcasts, if you want to call it that, because I was doing, I thought when I started to see Instagram, I went, maybe I should do something here. And the same thing with YouTube, maybe I should do a morning newscast. And compared to what I do with Chill TV and Abbie TV, that is a proper TV set, if you will, suit and tie. I'm supposed to look professional. It's my best Chris Gayless. Chris, sorry, I got to take this out of you. But when I do an 8 a.m. newscast daily for Fraser Valley News, welcome to, this is the studio. It's the home studio, this is it. I wanted that, and I wanted that casual feel because it should be, this is a morning cup of coffee. I have no heavy duty formalities here. It's like, I'm half awake, you're half awake. Here's what happened overnight. Swirl up the coffee. And for whatever reason, it's working. And again, I- But you have that background in broadcasting, not only as an announcer, but also as a news person. And some of those skills you're bringing over into this new space of writing content, doing the TV for podcasts. Yeah, and it works. And the other thing too, and I'm a BCIT grad. And when I went into BCIT, here's the funny part. This is how things do go in circles for many of us in media. I initially applied for TV and didn't get in. You want to get into radio? Oh, okay, boom, done. And right off the get-go, and guys like Lundy Sanderson are long gone, Lori Ervin, Terry Garner. Terry Garner used to do a show on CBC called Reach for the Top, very pro-news. Terry was on my case, and this is now part of BCIT folklore with a few people. You really should get into, transfer to news. That's your strength. I told Terry what to do and how to do it in no uncertain terms. And yet, right from the get-go, as much as I wanted to be the next Red Robinson, I wanted to be the next Doc Harris. That was where I was going with Jock Wise. I was still doing news and sports as a backup to the departments, literally, from the get-go and from every radio station I was at. Fast forward to when I was at Z99 in Regina. And this was under the old FM rules. So we still had to do these foreground shows. And Mike Saplitney, aka Mike Douglas, how's that for a radio name? Mike, and we're still good friends, Mike had an idea and he said, because you talk about the news so much on your jock show, why don't you co-anchor with the news director this thing that we have to do for the CRTC and let's monetize it. And it became OnTarget. Rollco took that to Ottawa and to the Calgary, which didn't pan out too well, the Toronto station, which ended up being sold to Rogers. But I enjoyed it immensely. So by the time I got transferred to Ottawa, Ottawa, the nation's capital, all the places. And again, the gods of radio were smiling because the morning news anchor on the AM side was gonna go on mat leave. And Bill Parker, wild Bill Parker, was an ex-jock who went into news and he was my news director. And Bill knew every single mistake I was going to make making that transition from being a jock going into news full-time. From writing to delivery to the whole nine years. Talk about having a mentor at the right time. And so that's kind of a peril when- And yet at the same time, I tend to notice that there are so many information sources out there, social media and whatever. But there are lots of stories and even some of the spot news stories that never get reported. Yeah, oh yeah. And it's not like RCMP are going to share everything. Or search and rescue. And some of them are, really, that happened? Yeah, I happen to know it happened because I'll listen to the radio dispatches and follow it from tips and sources I get. That must be amazing to you to know that some of this stuff never gets reported. Good example of that was we had an incident last weekend of a search warrant being issued. Mountie's never said anything. Standoff, a major intersection shutdown. They still have not, as we go to broadcast, they still have not mentioned this. But again, getting the reputation of trying to get it right. A former police officer who lives in the area got a hold of me. Hey, da-da-da-da. And here's what we know. And a security guard who I know at my save-on said, who lives in the area as well, here's what we know. Boom, there's the story. Nobody else had it. And I was like, okay, well, off we go. Yesterday was another example of that. We had this assault of a senior in front of a grocery store. Punched in the head, right? Punched in the head. And this guy takes off. It took about an hour for EHS to get there. And he just got up and left and went, well, nobody's gonna help me. And I went, oh, you got me. You know, this is the other thing I find amazing. I knew about this story because I listen to Game Two Dispatches. And I was listening to this in real time. And I thought, if this happened in downtown Vancouver, this would be a headline story for a week. Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. And I was appalled. This is where I will take a shot at my competition. I was appalled that nobody else at least did something. Because this was a senior. This guy- Random. Random, and waved off when help finally arrived. He waved it off, got in his car, and left. Well, what if the guy still has injuries? What if, what if, what if, what if? He's in his 80s, I think. Yeah, that's, and I'm hearing bits and pieces. You know, this stuff. And the other thing, too, and I don't understand why there are some outlets that do not quote-unquote harvest from the internet. We've got to get it the old traditional way. Note the term old. Yeah. Yeah, we used to do that. It was called the 1970s and the 1980s. And how many times would we make a phone call and hope that somebody gets back to us? By the time, in the 90s roll around, we had email. But in this day and age, and this is where I will take a shot at a certain chain of newspapers where they run a story that is a week to 10 days to two weeks old and call it new. Because the police or the authority released it. And you see, as a journalist, I find it interesting that they would say that. Meaning that we won't take it from social media or any other source until the RCMP or the fire department or whoever releases it. And it's like, well, that's a authority, an institution, and it may not be accurate. You're getting the spin of an organization. And as a journalist, you should be holding their feet to the fire too. Yeah, and the one thing I've always noticed, there's a big difference between, I remember having this conversation with one of the news anchors in Ottawa. There is a huge difference between RCMP and city forces. City forces seem to have really good, on average, really good PR people for whatever reason. RCMP, and I remember Wayne Parkinson, he said, I'm trying to paraphrase what he said, but RCMP are paramilitary and kind of have that military attitude in bringing out information, if you will. And I'm thinking, guys, this is to make you look good. Every so often, we get somebody with RCMP out here who gets it, and I love the bits. And we had one person who retired last year, both her and her husband retired, and both of them are Mounties. And it was like, I'm really gonna miss you because we gotta train the new guy. We had one person a number of years ago, and he made it very clear the only reason he was doing media for RCMP was he was there to retire. And a year and a half later, he retired. And I was like, yeah, but, there is a place for an informed public. And I would argue, and I always have said this, it is better to share as much information as you possibly can as a policing agency so that your public feels safe and secure and is able to help you with an investigation. To hold off on everything else, doesn't to me make any sense. It's not how it's done in the States. And I've had Mounties say to me, oh yeah, but Bruce, you understand the crown tells us it's all the crown's fault. Like, oh, okay, whatever. There's one guy, and you and I know him well, he was RCMP as well as IHIT Media. And at least this guy would openly say, we don't know. And that was so refreshing. He said, all I can say is this, I really don't know any more else, and I can't say anything, guys, sorry. Hey, that's more than- That's honest. That's honest, you're being honest. That way I can say RCMP are still searching, but I don't know, and IHIT's still searching, and X, Y, Z police department is still searching. And when that guy retired, it was like, oh geez, please teach these guys, please teach them. Because it's their PR, and I don't think they understand that just helps their credibility. And I mean, you and I and media, we're gonna get our trolls anyway, that's just the law of the land. But when we do at least have some of this type of information, at least it keeps some of those trolls pretty quiet, like, away you go. What is the Don Lane advantage, do you think? Because I'm looking at, even Kilwack has a lot of online competition. Yeah, yeah. In fact, more than most communities its size. Yeah, yeah. And I'm thinking, yeah, but I know Don, and Don's got experience in newsrooms, plural, but what do you think the Don Lane advantage is? I've said this more than once, and I have upset people, and that's a good thing. I've worked three major markets, major markets of over a million. And I have said this to a number of people that you can tell, who has either A, worked a major market, B, has been in a market for 20 years and never gone beyond a medium or a small market, and has never worked these major newsrooms where the proverbial stuff has hit the fan. And you just sit there and go, guys, catch up. I have no problems, I would have no problems coming into some of these newsrooms and going, here's what I know, here, take it. Take it, this makes you better, this makes all of us better, competition will make us better. There are two online entities that came on almost two years ago now that took names very similar to Fraser Valley News. And I know for a fact, both of them did that to confuse people with what FBN is. Okay, fine. Imitation's the finest form of flattery. But, you know, you look at these other guys and go, oh, you've never worked a Vancouver, let alone, you know. And it's not to brag, I try to explain to these people, I've worked three major markets, I've worked three NHL cities, two Olympic games, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, how can I pass this information on to you? This is why, and you and I have taught before, and I love it, I just love it. And you're trying to, I don't know, enlighten people as best you can, because it's now a fact of life, we're always going to be in the crosshairs of the conspiracy theorists that, you know, we're all paid off, you know. And it's like, okay, fine. You can't let those guys bother you. That's a big thing. A lot of people get, let them get under your skin. I've learned not, I've learned to say, okay, fine, boom. Actually, to quote our somewhat controversial school trustee chair, but she does have a very, has a philosophy in which I agree with, I block with abandon. Bye-bye, you know. It just is. Again, with this information overload, and it's going to be with us forever. You know, it's going to be with us forever. You do have to learn to manage it. And part of my job is PR for myself. Yeah, I do have credibility. I have done this in the past. I have worked with these people. And there are days, yeah, I feel down, where I was like, oh, geez, you know, can I take any more of these idiots and blah, blah, blah, that are ragging on me? And then I have to, and it's usually somebody in the biz that has to point out to me, okay, you have worked at and with the Red Robinsons and the Wild Bill Parkers and the Larry and Willys. And you've worked with, to pump up your tires, you've worked with Bruce Flaggots, but you've worked with the Jim Goddards. You've worked at, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, right, I've got to remember that. And I was like, wow. And we just lost a great George Garrett. Yeah. And I just had this conversation with Sandy Hull, where, you know, did some of these old guys remember us? And Sandy, in an online conversation said, out of the blue, George was asking about my career. And I go back to 2019, I was emceeing the Surrey Cares Awards and George Garrett was getting an award for driving patients to their cancer appointments during the pandemic. He did that. Yes. That's the moment it was starting. And I did the same thing as Sandy. I, oh, Mr. Garrett, hi, my name is Don Lane. I don't know if you know. Don, da-da-da-da-da, you were at News 1130. You worked Ottawa Magic 100. This guy, I thought this guy didn't know me from Adam, but he followed my career. That, thank you, that meant a lot. And then being reminded of that when George passed. Yeah. And speaking of which, I worked with an Andy Walsh and a Brian Bren, and I was like, oh my God. You know, like. All the heroes who have passed. The heroes, yeah, yeah. And, you know, some of the stories that I would hear from guys like Andy Walsh are like, that really, that really did happen. You know, it's interesting because those people have the radio legend stories, but I wonder if that radio is even around anymore. And sometimes we can blame the corporations and the big companies for it. But I also think that some of the people that still have jobs in radio today aren't as passionate about it. And I don't blame them, because they're supposed to be passionate about. I don't blame it because of the landscape. Speaking of legends, downtown Julie Brown and Tom Jeffries, they met in radio about 35 years ago and got married. But Julie and Tom had a great line not that long ago, is that our ilk, we grew up at the tail end of boss radio. We grew up at the tail end of a really wild time in radio before the consultants really took, in Canada, the consultants really took. Oh, yeah. Took hold. And I purposely wore the WKRP in Cincinnati. Because KRP started my second year at BCIT. And these legends are going, watch this show. That's us. And that will be you. And years go by and go, yeah, I worked with a Johnny Fever. I worked with a Herb Taralek. I worked with, I worked with a Les Nesman. I get it. I totally get it. And you and I worked with, Andy Travis, the program director, we did work with an Andy, whose name was Andy. And he defended, not only defended the jocks, he defended the newsroom. He loved us. And ironically, the consultants got to him, eventually got to us, but they got to him. And I'm like, yeah, okay, it's the biz. But a quick history lesson, the WKRP in Cincinnati, two of the showrunners, one worked at KHJ Los Angeles. Yeah. Another one apparently worked at Shum in Toronto. So that's how, that's why they got it. And if you really want to see how crazy it was in our glory days, if you will, watch the reruns. You know, that- Or the movie. And I often say this, there are a lot of terrible radio movies that don't do radio well. But one of the ones that did was FM. Yes. And I think that, not a great movie, but a great radio movie. Yeah. FM, Airheads. Yeah, I remember that. That happened to me where a band walked into the control room. This was in Regina. And I was, hey man, hey man, just, and the program director's going, what the hell just happened? Ed, can you deal with these guys? Because I got to do a show. It happened. You know- You know, there are so many great stories and we're going to have to touch base again and do another podcast. But the one question I have for you, Don, what is the future, the immediate future? Because I don't want to go too far ahead. But in the next year and a couple of years, in the space you work in, in the digital space and in a community like Chilliwack. Yeah, it's, well, Chilliwack is interesting because we are growing so fast. The first time I worked in this market was 96 when I got back from Ottawa. And Chilliwack was about 75,000 people. Chilliwack officially is 105,000 now, unofficially about 115. Yeah. And that's just for migrant workers and stuff like that. And more and more, those of us who do, for lack of a better term, and this is where the trolls will get upset, but legitimate news, legitimate sports, legitimate entertainment, legitimate sports, hands down, we have to step up our game and keep that bar high. And for some of us, myself included, what I have learned along the years, this past February 12th was 45 years in the business. But everything I've learned, I got to throw that into the pot to keep the bar high. And hopefully if the ones that are trying to follow me, attack me, clone me, whatever, well, if you're going to clone me, keep the bar high. It's one of the things FBN does and Chill TV and Abbie TV do as well. We don't have to have a CRTC license. We operate as if we do. We don't have to be operating under the guise of the Canada Broadcast Standards Council. But we act like we do. You're not going to hear F-bombs. You're not going to hear C-bombs. That drives me nuts with podcasts. Yeah. It just absolutely drives me nuts. Not because I'm a prude. I can swear with the best of them. I just get bored with it. There's a Joe Rogan podcast, which is priceless. And it goes exactly to where I'm at, where he's flying F-bombs with James Hetfield and Metallica. And James is kind of like, really? You're trying to impress me? You know, you can see in his face. He's trying. The shock value isn't much of a shock value, but the good content, I agree with you. That's got to be the bar. If you are plugged in, as I know you are, Don, to the community, and if you produce good content, there you go. You know, we've got to do another podcast, because we'll pick up on this again. But what a pleasure. And Fraser Valley News, Chill TV, all of that searchable on Google. Abbey TV. Abbey TV. Yeah, and it's good content. Don, thanks so much. Anytime, thank you. Well, indeed, an interesting take on digital news, where it fits in, all in this ever-changing media environment. Don Lane, paving his own path in Chilliwack, BC, taking us along for the ride. Broadcast Chronicles is written and hosted by Bruce Claggett. Music, follow your heart via Upbeat. Graphic design, Creative Shovel. I'm Sarah McKenzie. Subscribe to Broadcast Chronicles wherever you download your favorite podcasts. This has been a BFG Communications production. Broadcast Chronicles is produced by BFG Communications. Broadcast Chronicles is produced by BFG Communications. Broadcast Chronicles is produced by BFG Communications. Broadcast Chronicles is produced by BFG Communications.