A
new study has found that overwhelming
majority of Canadians believe in the critical role of journalism to
democracy, and support more policies to defend the industry.
“Financial pressures have strained Canada’s news industry,
with layoffs in newsrooms across the country.
News Media Canada has proposed overhauling the Canadian Periodical Fund, which currently provides funding only to print magazines and non-daily newspapers to offset their mailing costs. That policy measure was supported by survey respondents, with 79 per cent in favour of amending the fund to include daily newspapers. “
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted the federal government’s $675-million investment in CBC and its French language network, Radio-Canada, as evidence of Ottawa’s action. “Reliable local and community news is essential for the functioning of our democracy,” he said during question period, which has meant journalists now cover “areas where they had never served before.”
Its hard to argue with the concept
above but do we in fact have much reliable local community news
left? Certainly the newspaper industry has become increasingly
centralized and under the ownership of one or two monolithic media
chains and television 'news.' is also largly concentrated in the
hands of a limited number of large corporations. Thankfully there are
still a multitude of small independent radio stations across the
country which for many of us, particularly those of us in rural
areas, is the only source of truly local news.
Many of us rely upon the evening TV
news for much of our information however “One
of the challenges that mainstream television faces is sameness.
We’ve all scrolled through the listings and been presented with an
endless array of programming that fits into advertiser-supported
shows.
Advertisers want to speak to as large and as focused audience as
possible. They have a product to sell and they want to place their
product next to programming that appeals to a broad audience.
Therein lies the problem when it comes
to the production of programming that challenges viewers to
question their perspectives on big issues. Issues that lie at the
heart of our society, globalization, human rights, equality, freedom
of speech, freedom of faith, freedom to choose who they fall in love
with, and free market economies.”
This brings me to the article from
which the heading of this piece came from, a lengthy article titled
THE ROLE OF QUALITY JOURNALISM IN OUR DEMOCRACY by
Kevin O’Sullivan, Editor, The Irish Times which along with other
insightful commentary addresses the impact that the internet has had
upon “journalism”. A short extract follows......
“The perfect storm a sharp economic
downturn in many countries combined with a dramatic shift in
consumption patterns and diminishing traditional brand loyalty
means much of the rich and diverse blend of media in Europe is under
grave threat. In that turbulent mix are some great newspapers
and public service broadcasters. The phrase ‘once great’
will be applied to many who will fall by the wayside. A heavy cost is
likely to be paid to the detriment of society and democracy.
The open internet has ‘democratised’ content and
enriched the conversation with the reader. There has been
tremendous change in terms of participation. But social media have
also disrupted robust news gathering. Many in the new camp of
‘breaking news’ don’t apply the same value system as the big
established players. This has helped fuel a mistaken view that
‘old fashioned’ news gathering and verification is of less
merit. It has been described elsewhere as “abandoning
journalism for the tyranny of the click”.
One of the suggestions made in response
to the questionnaire by News Media Canada was to increase copyright
protections for content from news aggregators. The question then
becomes how far should we go to 'protect' original 'news' content?
Many news outlets are already 'protecting' their content with
paywalls and blocking users that subscribe to programs like Adblock
to reduce their frustration with addon crap, this blogger being one
of those users. Will we all be PAYING for our daily news, be it
print, digital or (I hope not) audio, what effect will this have upon
our ability to know what is happening in our community, in our
province and country and more importantly our democratic
institutions.
Finally a few words from Kalene
Harding at the The
Odyssey on line “Since the very beginning,
the purpose of journalism has been to report the truth to the public
without being biased. Although this may sound simple, journalism
involves a lot more than one would think. There is an ethics code
that comes with being a journalist. Journalists have a duty to the
public, to be honest and loyal. Unfortunately, this has not always
been as easy as it sounds. In fact, in the past, it was very common
for the government to attempt to censor publications. In some
countries, they would try to control what people could and could not
read. Of course, the governments of these countries were nowhere near
the democratic government that is present in our own.”
With the advent of internet 'news' it
is becoming increasingly difficult to tell truth from fiction,
legitimate journalists from spin doctors and genuine news from “fake
news”............... Now where have I heard that phrase before?
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