MidCity, a monthly print-based zine created by Laura Blanchette,* aims to make Ottawa’s municipal politics more accessible and engaging.
Free for readers and funded by Carleton University’s Emerging Reporter Funds, MidCity bridges the gap between Ottawans and local government through approachable, fun and informative content. MidCity’s first edition was released on Nov. 23.
The Charlatan sat down with MidCity creator and sole reporter Blanchette to discuss the importance of municipal politics.
The Charlatan (TC): What inspired you to create MidCity? Was there a specific gap in local coverage that motivated this project?
Laura Blanchette (LB): It’s not necessarily a gap in local coverage. I think there are quite a few different news platforms that are available for people in Ottawa, even some local ones, like the Kitchissippi Times and the Centretown BUZZ. But I wanted something that was a little more playful and flexible, and something that was print-based.
TC: Why did you choose the name MidCity?
LB: Ottawa is a middle-sized city — we’re not quite as big as Toronto or Vancouver, but we’re not small either. It’s also a little bit of a joke that Ottawa is kind of “mid.” I really like it here, but there’s a lot that needs to improve, and part of why I wanted to make this zine was to give people a path toward getting involved in municipal politics and having their voices heard.
TC: What makes MidCity unique compared to other local, political reporting?
LB: MidCity is a pretty small publication. It’s just me, so it won’t be as in-depth as a lot of other sources of media are, but I’m treating it as an introduction for people to the highlights happening in the city to save them from the labour of paying attention all the time, and watching city council and reading the news every week.
I’m hoping this will be a way for people to dip their toes into municipal politics without all the background information that they might need to get involved in other ways.
TC: Who is the target audience for MidCity?
LB: People who might not pick up a newspaper, but might pick up something that looks kind of cute and fun. As well as people who might not have engaged in news and municipal politics otherwise. I feel like this is something that young folks are more likely to pick up, just based on the medium itself. But I also don’t want to discriminate — anyone can read it, and that’s probably partly why I made it free, so that there’s no wall blocking them from accessing information.
TC: How are you making municipal politics accessible to readers who aren’t familiar with political jargon or processes?
LB: I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible. I’ve done a lot of writing and journalism and other types of communications work in the past. But I’m hoping I can use that to make sure that I’m making things simple and concise and not getting bogged down in the language that politicians and documents use.
TC: To get a sense of your coverage, what does the first edition of MidCity contain?
LB: I’m talking about four key topics that have come up in city council and City Hall lately, including the bubble bylaw and the newcomer reception centres. I’ll also give people a little bit of a city budget 101: explaining what the city budget is, where the funding is from and what it means that there’s a 2.9 per cent property tax increase. I’m also talking about Lansdowne 2.0, which is the redevelopment project for Lansdowne Park.
TC: What feedback are you hoping to receive from readers?
LB: I’m encouraging people to email me if they have feedback or if they have suggestions for topics that I should be covering. If people have more questions or if I talk about something that they’re really interested in and they want to know more about it, then I’m happy to send them some more resources for them to learn.
But also I would love it if people could help me out. I’d love to know what’s happening in other parts of the city. I’d love to know what things people care about so that this can be a service and a dialogue between me and the readers. That’s the goal.
TC: Do you have long-term goals for MidCity? Would you ever expand it?
LB: I’m open to it, but I’m also really enjoying that it’s my project right now, that I have control over what I say and over where I distribute and how much it costs. I’m open to how it changes in the future, but it’s also really valuable to have a platform where I can say what I want and have an opinion and be informative. I can also criticize the government and criticize authorities as I see fit.
MidCity is free at several independent cafés in the downtown area. Those interested can email goodgollyzines@gmail.com to ask for a copy.
*Laura Blanchette was a Charlatan news editor in the 2021-2022 publication year.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Featured image by Laura Blanchette.
