Story Studio Network

Chief Executive Officer

The Echo Network

Co-Founder

ErinTrafford.com

Executive Content Strategist & Consultant

The Rounds

Manager Strategic Partnerships

Shaw Communications

News Anchor

Video Journalist

Rogers Communications

Weekend Talk Show Host

Afternoon Anchor Halifax

Moose FM - Haliburton Broadcasting Group

Morning News/Co-host

A media and communications leader with a proven track record of blending modern storytelling with new media.  

In 2021, I founded Story Studio Network, which is the culmination of all my years in newsrooms, in the field, working with brands and telling incredible stories. 

So it should come as no surprise that working with Story Studio Network is a lot like hiring a newsroom for your brand, combining the best of creativity, curiosity, courage and strategy.

At SSN, we live at the intersection of media, broadcasting and podcasting; going where mainstream media doesn't go. We capture ground level stories and produce them for new, modern consumers and audiences.

Our goal is to bridge the widening gap in media and communications, working with organizations and agencies to create engaging, compelling, modern storytelling assets.

We flourish in the audio format and most of our ideal clients are interested in tapping our 60+ years of radio and audio know-how. But we play in all sorts of other strategic sandboxes too.

More About me: 

In newsrooms across Canada, I have covered more than 18 elections, interviewed three Canadian Prime Ministers, won three National RTDNA awards for scripting and editorial, performance and storytelling skills. I am a CEO, who has been a reporter, producer, editor, host and anchor on both radio and television for major networks at Rogers, Bell, and Shaw.

In the last decade, prior to founding SSN, I worked with brands ranging from large corporations to solopreneurs on how to find, tell and leverage their stories in the digital space. Notable clients include Giant Tiger, Home Hardware, Staples Canada, Hoover Canada, Craftsman Tools, and Wayfair (US).

With SSN, we serve a cross section of large clients mainly in natural resources sector (forestry and mining), national not for profits, energy and infrastructure, veterans and entrepreneurship.

Find out more about Story Studio Network:
www.storystudionetwork.com 

Or DM me to set up a time to chat about how SSN can help your brand tell your story in a new way.

I understand the outrage at Bell Media. The outcry that it has, in less than a decade, effectively decimated local news in Canada. 

But reading the statements from CEO Mirko Bibic to the feds, there are significant clues as to why the entire culture at Bell and the way they perceive their role in news is *not going to change. 

Because they are working the wrong problem.

Let’s dissect for a minute: 

Quote: “Viewers today want news as it happens all the time,” Bibic told the committee. “Appointment viewing is no longer nearly as relevant as it was before, so we’ve invested massively to change how we deliver the news so the viewer can be served all day long.”

Let me correct you Mr. Bibic. 

Viewers, listeners and audiences today have zero - ZERO - desire to have news as it happens every time. Maybe sometimes we do - like the Eclipse or Gord Downie’s funeral. Cool cool. But those are events  that create community.

We have lives. We have emotions. We do not want to be constantly plugged into a news spewing machine. 

Viewers and audiences want news on THEIR time, not ALL the time. 
They want to make their own timetables. 

Which is why Appointment tuning, as you say, can’t be driven by hard news anymore. It’s driven by the audiences’ desire to be part of a community event. (see eclipse and funeral example).

Cue next quote: 

“We’re making as much investment as possible in the production of news, driving efficiencies in our infrastructure so we can invest in creating digital platforms so there is news at all times of the day for our viewers,” he continued.

Let me correct you again Mr. Bibic. 

Canadians have had ‘news’ at their fingertips and in their pockets at all times of the day for about two decades - since we all started putting news up on websites. 

So there’s flaw in that statement. That is not where more investment is needed. It exists already. 

There never was a need to *create new digital platforms to allow us to have news at all times and try to force new behaviours. (See first flawed assumption).

The problem Mr. Bibic is, you are working the *wrong problem.
 And that resulted in you taking action that has had catastrophic consequences. 

Instead of creating new platforms, you might have entertained new revenue streams that matched the growing desire of audiences to consume news on *their time and on *their terms…and made it compelling enough to be part of a collective community culture, conversation and dialogue… 

Whoa… kind of like the core principles of … ummm… journalism?  

We are all already listening to podcasts, watching YouTube, scrolling Reddit and engaging in Slack communities and private online groups. 

The platforms exist. It’s not Netflix’s fault or the ‘lunch hour newscasts’ fault for dropping 43%’ … it’s that you are working the *wrong problem. 

And so your solution will, and has thus far been, fatally flawed. 

https://lnkd.in/g7c8ypUm


Erin Trafford

broadcastdialogue.com • 4 min read

Bell didn't give feds advance notice of February layoffs - Broadcast Dialogue

Truth time.

Last year, I was diagnosed with a chronic condition that totally changed my life.
I was super angry and frustrated at first.
I tried almost everything to ‘just make it go away’.

Because …
I have a company to grow.
I have learning to do.
I have places I want to go and big ideas I want to make real.

I didn’t have time to be sick all the time.
On really bad days, I’d catch myself deep in judgement. Angry that I had no energy or that I looked horrible - ‘who is this woman? Sick as a dog. Pull yourself together Trafford. No one will trust you looking like that!’

So on my birthday, December 21st - I took radical action.

Knowing that being sick all the time was not an option. Knowing it was holding me back from being a good mother, a good entrepreneur, and in some cases, even liking myself.

It’s been 115 days since my birthday.
And I haven’t had a drink.

I’ve moved my body meaningfully (cardio, strength, yoga, swimming, boxing) at least once a day and I haven’t missed a day.

115 days straight.

I’ve, by necessity, become almost entirely vegan (with some exceptions)

And every morning, come rain or shine, I am up before the sun to sit with myself for as long as I can before the busyness of the day washes over me.

The last step has been the most transformative.

Because everyone will tell you that growing a company takes grit, determination and hustle.

They’ll even tell you where to spend your time and your resources and your money; how to network, how to find good people to hire, and more.
But not a lot of people will tell you that it starts with healing & loving *you.

It starts with loving, yourself enough to put yourself first, especially if you’re a woman and especially if you’re a mother.

And no one else can teach you how to love yourself. And no one else can heal you.

You’ve got to do it yourself.

Self healing and love is a critical ingredient if you’re going to be in this game of life for the long haul.

My condition is managed. I feel better now than I have in years. My mind is clearer than ever!

I’m so grateful for every lesson.
And I look forward to many more sunrises.

April 21st is Story Studio Network’s official 3rd anniversary.
Three years ago, we didn’t set out to start a new media company. 

We set out to find a channel through which we could use our skills as journalists, broadcasters and generally curious and tenacious people to help tell better stories. 

That’s it. 
Three years later and I honestly can't believe what’s happened. 

Since April 2021, SSN has produced hundreds of shows for brands and organizations - but not just *any brands. 

We tend to work with really special organizations and people who know they have deep and necessary stories to tell. 

Brands and leaders who know that SSN isn’t just a corporate mouthpiece or 'content vendor'.
 
We've continuously set ourselves apart by, quite frankly - caring a lot about what we put out into the world, whether it's through podcasts or otherwise.

We don't really have clients per se - we have partners in a mission.

It’s been incredible to feel the full circle moment … of going from a newsroom where many of us felt stifled by time, space and ‘how it’s supposed to be’... to knowing we are effecting change in big sectors such as: 

food security,
poverty reduction, 
climate change, 
energy policy and more…

So here is my BOLD ask of you.. LinkedIn lovely people. 

I want to do MORE. 

In the next 3 years, SSN wants to work with and for companies doing GOOD work in 

✨ESGI spaces
✨Indigenous and First Nations Storytelling and Legacy
✨Natural Resources and Conservation
✨Health and Wellness - Particularly as it relates to Women, Aging and Children (As a Mom of two girls, this is so important to me…) 

Who do you know in these spaces that I need to know? Who can I help? 

Thank you for an amazing three year ride so far… I cannot wait to see what’s next. 

And thank you to all the people along the way who have encouraged me to lead, picked me up when I have been down and who have reminded me of my gifts. 

It means a lot. 

Dave Trafford Jaime Nickerson Andrea Palacio Becky Coles Judith Richardson Matt Symes Tony Chapman Leanne Hall Stephen Moore Menna Riley Neil Hetherington Susan Larkin Dean G. Gatien, C.E.T., ICD.D Scott Clark Lauren O'Grady

Can we agree, Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic’s appearance before the Commons Heritage Committee was entirely performative and predictable? It was nothing more than a political theatre production that accomplished next to nothing.

But it did serve to clarify the 2024 state of the media landscape in Canada.

After dumping more than half of the Bell Media radio stations and laying off more than 6000 Bell Canada workers in less than twelve months, it’s abundantly clear Bell is in the wrong business. 

Bell has admitted as much. News and local media just don't fit when the primary objective is selling cell phones and internet services. 
That point was punctuated by Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson, who told The The Canadian Press “it’s not a viable business anymore,” 

It amounted to a “great disturbance in the force”. And as bad as it was, there is some good news. Those 45 stations will soon be managed and operated, (if not owned), locally. Several of the new owners have already committed to improving local programming and news - and that means more opportunities for local advertising! 

So, let’s consider that a hopeful sign.

But as easy as it is to criticize the big telecoms for the state of broadcast media and local news, let’s remember one thing. 

You don’t get if you don’t ask. 

Bell, Rogers and Corus asked and they got. 

They ended up owning and controlling the bulk of broadcasting assets in Canada because the CRTC, the Competition Bureau and various iterations of the Heritage Committee put their regulatory and legislative stamps of approval on all their mergers and acquisitions. 

Since then, the feds and the regulators rank as one of the most destructive, destabilzing agents in the Canadian media landscape. 

Blame Bell all you want, but you can’t understate the role the watchdog agencies and MPs have played in effectively killing local news and media across the country. 

Remember C-18? 

The Trudeau government tilted at the Meta windmill and lost the duel. Then they bowed to the pressures of Google. Since then, local news outlets have, at best, languished. In the worst case, they’ve gone out of business. 

So, what have we learned after all this?

First, telecoms should not be in the business of news and local broadcast media. ✅ 

Second, legislators and regulators, DEFINITELY do not belong anywhere near the business of news and local broadcast media. ✅ 

Third, no matter how “pissed off” the Prime Minister may be over Bell’s “garbage” decision, all the table banging and gnashing of teeth over big media business practices won’t amount to a Parliament Hill of beans. ✅ 

It’s time for the new media era to begin in Canada. Don’t look back! ✅ 

To Vista Radio Ltd, Whiteoaks Communications Group, Durham Radio Inc., My Broadcasting Corporation, Zoomer Media, Arsenal Media, and Maritime Broadcasting System Limited from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high!

- Curtain! -
Story Studio Network

“So why don’t you just buy the whole company?”
I was casually chatting with one of my advisors and coaches about the SaltWire Network bankruptcy protection news… 
Engaged in a thought experiment about what I would do with the property if it suddenly fell into my hands. 

And then he asked me why I don’t just BUY IT ALL. 

To which I immediately LOL’d and said ‘why would one buy a burning boat?’ 

And then my body reacted with… wait, but what if? 

And I’m by no means suggesting that I can buy an *entire flailing media company that’s mired in more debt than any human can reasonably or rationally understand (let’s round to the nearest $100M shall we?) 

But it did embolden me to think about what I would DO with it if I could… 

Since September, we’ve been quietly-not-so-quietly experimenting with new local media models with The Echo Network. 
We launched the first site in North Bay, ON on September 14th. 

And if I’m being honest, we weren’t sure *what would happen or *how it would happen. 
We just knew if we showed up with valuable, well produced local content and gave a sh*t about the community, only good things would happen. 

In 7 months of following that playbook, we've learned a TON about what makes NEW Local Media tick and generate growth. 

So if I all of a sudden developed the business beaners to buy a media company that’s $100M in debt… here’s what I would do with it: 

➡️ Refocus on being IN the communities we serve. Journalists are a Fourth Estate, but are only trustworthy because they are inherently blue collar. They are OF the People and FOR the people. 
The last decade separated news people and media from the masses and celebritized them. We need to stop this dynamic in its tracks. I’m talking storefront studios - bring them back, just like CITYTV did in the 80/90s. 
Make the media belong to the people again. 

➡️ Force local support. I know, I know, this sounds like socialist business modeling, but to be honest, I think this is a far more worthy approach than relying on the government to subsidize the news. Enforcing that a certain percentage of every ad or sponsor buy must go back into local content support will grow the base faster and more sustainably than any subsidy could. 

➡️ Bring experience back to media. No more pump and dump on a website without some sort of interactive payoff. Back to point one, if we want to build trust in local media again (and trust = revenue), then we need to create a culture of expected and celebrated transparency… from the top down. This means including the public in more of the media; intimate and interactives, community town halls, heck- I remember when politicians had office hours on the radio in front of a live audience (TALK 640 circa 1992).

These are just a few ideas. And I know all of them work. Others with amazing ideas for local news? Jeff Elgie Jon Pole Chuck Lapointe
Would I like to buy SaltWire? I dunno. 
Do I think it can be saved? 
Maybe. But only with extremely bold action.


Who has two thumbs, four eyes and just did 4 hours in studio? 🤓 

It’s so funny to me that I used to do four hours of live radio a day and I’d need to recover for a day.

Now? Four hours of engaging conversations, script reading and big idea talk energizes me!

Thanks for the great session Stephen Moore  Jamie Stephen!
I’m sure we will do it again soon…

I wake up every day expecting my mind to be blown.

Because honestly, basically every time I sit in a studio session with a source for a show, I leave with a head full of things I never knew before. 

We’ve been deep into production on the new Forest Nova Scotia podcast. 

I’ve been working on forestry related shows for the past two years. I feel like I have a decent handle on things… even still, just last week, 

I learned about bio-waste and the startup culture in Halifax from Joe Lewis - and the learning here was about more than just the economic benefits of using ‘the whole log’, but also about how entrepreneurship is a lonely and yet universal experience. We need to forge relationships with people outside our own worlds. It’s better for us all as we grow.

I learned about the challenges to partnership business models from Mark Symes. This blew my mind, because I went into this recording believing one thing and walked away seeing the flaws in my thinking. I won’t say more, you’ll have to tune into the episode to see if your mind is also equally blown. 

I learned about the challenges in getting our young people to be brave enough to train for jobs that don’t yet exist in my recent interview with Heather Boyd from the Forestry Sector Council… and the need for innovation to meet curiosity if we are ever going to collectively solve climate change. 

Learning something while I produce a show is a metric of success for me. 

It’s not the same for mothers. 
It’s just not. International Women’s Day, Women-owned certified, celebrate diversity and inclusion … but it’s just never going to be the ‘same’. 

In a recent conversation with girlfriends, all of whom are business owners, it came out that each of us *hides our motherhood in certain business situations. 

To be blunt, I would never go into a meeting with a bio that started with ‘Family Mom’ (and my friends agreed they also leave that key detail out of descriptors and meeting intros) … but men do that all the time. 

Being a Family Man is lauded. It’s aspirational. It means, or purports to project, that as a man, you’ve got balance. You’ve got your eye on the real prize, while still tending to the business of the day. 

But women? 
We daren’t describe ourselves that way. 

I’ve found that women are choosing who to be in every scenario… and mother often falls right off that identity list.

We are CEOs. Period. 
We are serious business. Period. 
We are moms when we need to explain away why we can’t take meetings at 5pm or 6pm - because we are cooking dinner, wiping butts or doing swim practice drop off. 

We are not Family Women + Business Leaders. 

Even though WE ARE. 

Because for us that simple + can be read as DISTRACTION rather than commitment to balance.

My two girls, Piper, 7 and Marigold, 3, make me BETTER at my work because they force me to be completely myself all the time. They force me into that + situation.

I have learned in my short time as a Mother, that balance is an illusion in the mind. And that my best self comes out when I am my full self. When I embody that + sign.

A business owner + a creative + a CEO + a mother to two wild and wonderfully curious children. 

I imagine the day when women leaders can lead with that. Instead of willfully hiding it and only emphasizing it when it serves a purpose that is microscopic in the face of its true value. 

Embrace the +.

I’m still taking in all the considered and considerate responses to my last LinkedIn post. To be honest, I whipped it off on my phone and mostly from the top of my head. 

But the response has been intense. 

Most folks applauding in agreement. Filling my DMs with notes and new articles - more evidence that ‘corporate greed’ and ‘placing shareholders above newsroom ethics and quality journalism’ is the heart of all our media problems. 

But here’s the thing. 

While I don't disagree. I want to make sure we're accessing the full nuance of this problem as we attempt to solve it... 

It’s easy to say the problem with media today is corporate greed. 
It’s really really easy to blame a faceless, blurry concept like ‘corporate greed’. 

Quickly my logical brain resorts to asking - how big does a corporation need to be before it is accused of being greedy?

I mean, *I own a corporation. I expect my corporation to generate profits and legacy wealth. 
I build and structure my business to generate revenue with every project we undertake. 

But I also expect it to do good in the world. 
To uplift our clients and their stories. 
To create space and energy to allow more stories into the world. 

I expect my corporation to function so optimally that it allows me to generate wealth AND do more good in the world. 

Both AND. Not one or the other. 
I daresay, this is not a logic that has anything to do with size.

I will expect 'both AND' to be the case no matter how big my company grows. 

People still run companies. 
People who have egos and fears and who are flawed and fallible, just like you and me. 
We make mistakes. 
But we are also capable of infinite creativity.

So saying ‘Bell Media is just an example of corporate greed’ is too simple and begs a bigger question.

And as my Friday post suggested, it teeters on working the wrong problem. 

The problem facing newsrooms and news companies, media companies is the same problem that’s always faced them… 

It’s that the pace of change in the outside world is faster than the pace of change *inside the world of media. 

And the people - who have faces and *egos - who are in the ivory towers, and who have celebritized the news - are bullish on keeping things the same. 

They are holding onto old corporate structures, old revenue models - hoping that repeating the same thing they’ve always done will yield the same results… 

Forsaking the fact that the world around them is changing very quickly.

They are playing the violin on the Titanic. 

It's a people problem. 
It's a leadership problem. 
And leadership is intensely personal. 

As I mentioned to one astute commenter who pointed out that Bell’s profits haven’t budged since 2019 - the writing has been on the wall in media for a decade. 

The question is now - who’s going to check the ego and step out boldly to try to lead a changing narrative. 


I was in a meeting about a new soon to be announced project for the SSN team… and someone said the A-word…And it’s not the A-word you’re thinking. 

My colleague Jaime Nickerson and I were in a proposal meeting with a large not-for-profit client… and in my experience, these conversations can go in one of two ways. 

One -

The foundation wants to use new media to amplify their accountability marketing. (Not the A-word I’m talking about). They want a bigger vessel to tell deeper stories that aren’t being told through their social media or newsletter.
We love these projects. We do quite a few of them. 

Two - the A-word. 
As in this case, when the foundation decides  it’s doing accountability marketing really well already … and now they want to build a base of content that builds *Advocacy. 

That’s the A-word I’m talking about. 

Advocacy. 
It’s a huge part of where new media is going. 
And it’s a massive opportunity for not-for-profits and corporations to consider when assessing gaps in comms. 

Where is your accountability marketing falling flat? Do you have a lane established where your brand can truly OWN a narrative and use your new media content to push towards a goal that is greater than sales or donations? 

I laughed that morning because as soon as the client used that word, I knew this was a project perfectly designed for my team to tackle. 

I’m chomping at the bit! 
Can’t wait.


112/366. That’s where we are in 2024. And that’s how I’m measuring my progress on what feels like a long journey towards a massive goal. 

At the end of last year, Story Studio Network set sights on a groundbreaking challenge - to be a partner in creating and producing 100 distinctive, bold, purpose-driven media projects within the next three years. 

The goal is a stretch on purpose. 
Locking into it each morning, I am forced to face the fact that we want to work only with organizations who are seeking to have massive impact on the world around us. 

I mean, climate change, women’s health, green economy, food security - none of these issues is small. And we tackle all of these challenges through work with our clients.

We have a goal of working with 100 partners. 

But I never lose sight of the true mission - which is the impact that will have on communities, provinces, the country … the world. 

It’s a ripple effect that goes far beyond a social media plan or strategy. 

At Story Studio Network, we know media relations isn’t simple anymore, neither is audience engagement, or storytelling for that matter. 

Everything is billed as ‘content’ - when not everything can be treated as simple ‘content’. 

When 100 brave, bold organizations seek to tell the stories they aren’t otherwise telling, own the narratives they want to own, and share it with audiences who - right now - are disengaged and confused … the world, not just your metrics, will change. 

It’s not about content. It’s about impact. 

We have a few coveted spots remaining on the SSN client roster for 2024. I am calling on all of you who are bravely leading and building organizations that want to create true impact to reach out. Drop me a DM and we can chat it out.

Weekend reading.
I can feel that this one is going to be a doozy.
I’m hoping it results in me questioning many ingrained behaviours.


However, I might finally need to ‘shop’ for reading glasses, because the print in this edition is tiny!!

Want to measure the impact of seemingly ‘unquantifiable’ marketing?

Ask yourself these questions 

Did you get to say something today that you’ve never been able to say before?
If you did, did you generate any kind of response from saying what you said? 

If yes, that’s impact.

Measure the obvious results in terms of: 

Sentiment analysis
Reader/Writer/Audience requests
Depth of response - literally how long and deep the responses where
The referral rates (this can and should be measured over the long term) 

But now ask this: 

What would happen if you had a place to say the unsaid more often? What if you did it weekly or twice a month? Just said the thing. Asked the question. Went *there?

What is the best thing that could happen? 
What is the ultimate outcome you could achieve? 

I’ll tell you that for our partners and clients at Story Studio Network working with us on the new media plans and storyboards, this is what we do. We create spaces to say what needs to be said, but for whatever reason, can’t get out using typical marketing channels. 

And the impact measurements go  well beyond the sentiment analysis and response rates. 

It goes to creating an environment for change, whether that’s at the policy level, ground level or government level. 

Where are you saying things you’re not saying otherwise? 

And if you find you’re NOT able to say those things, then we should talk. My DMs are open. 

I read John Warrilow’s Built to Sell last year. Okay, I actually read it twice.
And while I don’t think I’m ready to consider an exit, the lesson Warrilow teaches is incredibly valuable for creatives…. (I’m looking at you transitioning broadcasters and journalists!!)

Your creativity increases in value if it can be articulated.

Not entirely; there will always be a need for magic. 

But at least articulated well enough to define a repeatable and scaleable process.

Then and only then have you accessed the full *legacy value of your creativity- allowing it to fuel your business (or trust fund) after you’re gone.

I could NOT stop thinking about this concept.

I’ve worked with many coaches who stress the idea of delegation, of removing the ‘CEO’ from the doing… but if you’re a creative CEO? 

That’s next to impossible because almost all the ‘value’ of the company is in your brain and DNA.

Pulling this out took us THREE YEARS at Story Studio Network.

And this is on top of the six I spent as a solo consultant trying to articulate my creative process to other business owners (sometimes to great success and sometimes not - I am not a perfect machine).

But wow - when you finally land a map of your brain and the process… the questions and the gaps … you start to feel the value chain kick in and with it the confidence to grow and … delegate.

If you haven’t read Built to Sell - stop everything and go get it now.

The below messy map is all that happens at SSN before we even turn on a microphone for a project.

It’s wild how in-depth creativity truly is!

I was about to write about the need to enhance media channels to create more value for Millennials and GenZ … but then this - and it’s VERY cool. 👇🏼

“Younger viewers aren’t interested in broadcast because they don’t want to tune into shows that have already started. Nor do they want to be forced to watch a 5-minute segment they don’t want to see in order to get to the segment they do want to watch.”

Who’s gonna try this in Canada? 
My guess is it takes another 3-4 years before this is attempted here.

nexttv.com • 6 min read

NextGen Broadcasting Takes on TikTok With Interactive Fast Stream Technology

If you were to go back to school, what would you study? If you have a degree, does it match up with what you're doing now? 

I'm so curious!

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