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As someone who has had a long career in the media, including hosting CBC Television for 44 years. the essence of things, we understand how important a robust media is to a thriving democracy. Informed citizens can make better decisions about everything from health care to voting.
Unfortunately, some people see an informed public as a threat to their policies. Consider that one of the first things authoritarian regimes do is crack down on journalists and independent news organizations.
As we have seen in the United States, outright crackdowns are often preceded by campaigns to discredit the news media by calling them “fake news.” This exacerbates the spread of misinformation (inaccurate or false information), disinformation (intentionally misleading or false information), and propaganda.
This has become especially dangerous in a changing media landscape, with increasing threats to our ability to solve everything from pandemics to climate change to alarming shifts toward authoritarianism in many parts of the world, including the United States. This is because we continue to do so.
Traditional media outlets have always reflected the biases of their owners (and advertisers) to some degree, but journalistic standards, reader preferences, strong public broadcasting, and a wide range of news outlets make it relatively easy to obtain reliable information. It was guaranteed to be found and evaluated. Even the amount of climate science denial in mainstream media has decreased over time as journalists and readers challenge misinformation.
The range of news sources has shrunk significantly as traditional media outlets have increasingly been acquired by a few large corporations.
The growth of the Internet has had a major impact on news and information media, for better or worse. In a world of online media outlets, streaming services, and even social media platforms, the traditional model of selling advertising space around articles is no longer viable. Advertising still supports television and radio broadcasting, and to a lesser extent online journalism. However, businesses must come up with creative ways to survive within the capitalist system and attract readers, viewers, and listeners.
Traditional retail stores are disappearing as new online retailers emerge, and the Internet is partly to blame for this. Many newspapers and broadcasters have been acquired by hedge fund companies and other corporations, stripped of their assets, deprived of funds, and forced to close their outlets. Community newspapers, which are vitally important to communities that are not covered by big-city media, have been particularly hard hit.
Recently, Bell Media decided to sell many of its radio stations, lay off thousands of employees and end many of its news programs, including its groundbreaking and long-running investigative programming. W5. Parent company BCE had net income of $3 billion last year, but executives argued the move was economically necessary.
British Columbia Premier David Eby has blamed the “manufacturing” of local news by monopolistic media companies for the viewership decline. “Bell and companies like Bell have overseen a collection of local media assets that are a treasure to our communities,” he said. “Like corporate vampires, they fired journalists and sucked the life out of them.”
With so much information available online today, it’s often difficult to separate fact from fiction, truth from disinformation. However, there are still traditional news organizations that adhere to journalistic standards and provide reliable reporting on a wide range of topics. of guardian has played a leading role in reporting on climate change and other environmental issues. toronto star, gloves and mail, washington post The Reuters article seems to be highly reliable.
The growth of new media, often focused on critical environmental issues, also brings hope.In Canada, sources include: The Tyee, national observer, of Narwhal, mob, of energy mix, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network We provide a wide range of investigative reporting, news stories and opinion pieces, including: There are also many great online community news outlets.
Public broadcasting is also very important because the content it broadcasts is less dependent on the priorities of owners and advertisers. But recently, there has been an increase in attacks on broadcasters such as Canada’s CBC and America’s PBS, as well as threats by politicians to cut their funding. The CBC is already suffering from budget cuts and should be given more support.
Good public debate contributes to healthier, functioning societies that are more equal and less exploitative. We can all do our part to support public broadcasting and help journalism thrive by donating or subscribing to many new trusted news organizations and trusted traditional news organizations. Masu.
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hannington.
Learn more about davidsuzuki.org.
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