American-style news: divisive, ideological – and Canada doesn’t need it.
In an age of news media transformation, it would be a far stretch to say that any person could give an all-encompassing answer to the question, “what is news?”
But here in Canada, we should have a clear idea of what we do not want our news to look like.
Wisdom comes from challenging your beliefs, not sheltering them.
Taking a look at the history of journalism, news outlets in the past did not always have the best track record of being objective and often pursued specific political agendas pushed by influential sponsors and special interest groups.
The overarching tendency towards tailoring the content of the news stretched well into the 20th century, with journalists in the Second World War often acting as vehicles for government propaganda. This was before balance and objectivity topped the list of journalistic priorities.
But at some point in the last 50 years, a lightbulb appeared over the collective head of the media and we thought to ourselves that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea that the very people who were reporting on the issues that mattered to us were little more than partisan puppets of interest groups and lobbyists.
The journalistic values of balance, accuracy and unbiased reporting are now regarded as the very foundation that the free press is built upon. So why now – knowing what we know about the problems caused by a prejudiced news media – would we allow for our core to crumble by setting up news institutions that are intrinsically and unashamedly biased?
Sun TV News, if allowed to become a national news channel, will be little more than a soapbox upon which right-wing pundits will stand and tell Canadians what they should think.
The beauty of the new tradition of objectivity in the free press is that it must seek balance; it must look to be as impartial about news reporting as possible. This means that facts will be collected and reported, opinions will be gathered and disseminated and in the end, the consumer alone will be left to form his or her own opinion .
The danger with an openly partisan news outlet is that people will no longer be confronted with more than one side of the issue.
Canada’s strength as a nation is rooted in our tradition of contemplation; it gives us a stability that comes along with being terrified of making rash decisions.And what often tempers the extremism that causes rash decisions is being exposed to all angles of an issue.
If Canadians only consume media that reinforces their beliefs, then what will they have learned in their search for truth? Clearly not much, as they will simply be reinforcing pre-existing beliefs with opinion disguised as news. Take a look at the top of this column – Viewpoint – this is where the polemic belongs.
There will always be a place in the Canadian dialogue for opinion, dissent, and convincing rhetoric, but let us remember such a place already exists. For those who have an agenda to push or a cause to champion: take to the Internet, to magazines that cater to special interest groups, start a blog.
But stay out of the newsroom.