Many citizens shape their opinions by paying attention to corporate media. What if those news providers are unreliable?
Continue readingTag: Journalism
IN-SIGHTS: Rip ‘n’ Read, 2024 style
There are many good journalists working in corporate media today. But, lack of resources stifles their work. At times, news people simply accept press releases as accurate and report the contents without close examination…
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Editorial cartoons
Starting as a young adult, I paid regular attention to the brilliant Len Norris and other cartoonists featured in newspapers and magazines. Ten years ago, Ian Holliday wrote an article for The Tyee that gave examples of work by BC artist Adrian Raeside. The article described the value of editorial
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: An error by Global TV News or part of a pattern? (2010 article repeated in 2024)
I spend much time on the internet reading reliable sources. (Well, mostly reliable.) My subscription list for mainstream media is lengthy, although I consciously avoid Postmedia. While the company employs some excellent […]
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Intellectual Self-Defence: Time For A Reading Sabbatical
To be brief: The obsession with quantity and volume has to end. More is not always better. Quality matters most. But people in the 21st century are addicted to endless entertainment, distraction, empty and largely useless talk, and endless amounts of “news” and commentary. Unless we step back, pause, reflect,
Continue readingScripturient: Why Local Media Has Failed Us
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024, released this week, identifies the biggest short-term risk to the planet is from misinformation and disinformation, even above extreme weather events. The risk is highest during the next two years when “more than 3 billion people due to head to the polls
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Use and misuse of words by journalists and editors
Dan Froomkin — one of my favourite American commentators — offers several suggestions for the New York Times style guide. Here are a few published at presswatchers.org:
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Unhealthy changes in the newspaper world
We learned this week that Black Press Ltd. and associated companies applied for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The BC based company’s main business is print and digital newspapers and magazines operating in Western and Northern Canada and in the USA. This shows companies affiliated with Black Press
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Not all sides are equal
Writing in The Economist, former New York Times editor James Bennet commented about the state of his profession. He thinks today’s mainstream media too often fails to provide open and objective, truth-seeking journalism…
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Corporate timidity threatens journalism
With disputes and condemnations over coverage of the mayhem in Gaza, it is worth considering the ethics of journalism. Whether or not generally accepted rules are followed by media is a subjective evaluation. But I believe there has been a general decline in ethical behaviour as ownership of mass communications
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Newspapers more about wielding influence than earning profits
People outside the United Kingdom should pay attention to opinion pieces by The Guardian’s Jane Martinson. The article that caught my attention today was ‘Why own a newspaper in 2023? Ask the very rich men trying to buy the Telegraph.’ This desire says a lot more about power than profit.
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Media should serve the governed, not the governors
I began following the Washington Post decades ago, when journalists often held the feet of politicians to the fire. Today, that is less likely since many media owners today rank among the world’s wealthiest people. In general, they oppose changes to the status quo that do not provide personal benefits.
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: A journalist who understands journalism
After 28 years as a key contributor at the Georgia Straight, Charlie Smith moved to Pancouver, a new arts and culture media outlet that aims to “shed light on how this history has shaped artistic creation in Vancouver.” Charlie Smith occasionally writes at Substack and recently he asked if it
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Truth matters
Fiction and invention are handy tools for politicians. Legacy media often repeats lies with minimal or no fact checking, although perhaps with opposing comments added to suggest balance. That process gives the same standing to false or unsupported claims as it does to well-accepted facts. After Pierre Poilievre released a
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Guaranteed chaos okay with fact-free ideologues
Canada’s largest newspaper chain promotes climate change denial and works to elect right-wing politicians, even Danielle Smith who a Postmedia columnist said was surrounded by “guaranteed chaos.”
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Murdoch/Fox called to account
Rupert Murdoch is a man whose lack of ethics should preclude him from being within shouting distance of journalism. Yet he is the world’s most powerful media mogul. He owns hundreds of publishing outlets around the world, including The Sun and The Times of London newspapers in the UK; The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Zak Vescera reports on the CCPA’s new research showing how an increasing number of jobs in British Columbia are precarious – with already-disadvantaged workers especially likely to be affected. Don Pittis points out the Bank of Canada’s continued attempts to hold wages below
Continue readingIN-SIGHTS: Bad governance, disinterested corporate media
Political observers who expected BC NDP to live up to electoral promises of 2017 are by now thoroughly disillusioned. Broken promises could pave the the grounds of the BC Legislature…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Stephanie Desmon interviews Ziyad Al-Aly about the danger COVID-19 poses for the heart – even for people with mild cases which have otherwise seemingly run their course. Megan Ogilvie, May Warren and Kenyon Wallace report on new research showing the avoidable risk that unvaccinated people
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Finally—a Bill to end news theft
It’s taken a while, and the loss of a third of journalism jobs and 451 news outlets since 2008, along with the migration of billions of advertising dollars to tech platforms, but finally the government has taken a big step to halt the bleeding. This week Bill C-18 (the Online
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