A collection of encore Lean Out conversations on the media - to coincide with the publication of the 2024 Massey Essay in the Literary Review of Canada
The word, conspiracy, is thrown around a lot lately. When does collusion, or organized opportunism, cross the line into conspiracy? According to Merriam-Webster the difference seems to be that conspiracy is overtly illegal or harmful; there's the subject of an entire book. The fact remains that when a small group of people plan, in relative secrecy, to enrich or protect themselves at the expense of a great many others it's conspiracy and the history of human civilization is a litany of conspiracy. The Final Solution was a conspiracy; Hell's Angels is a conspiracy; corporate globalism is a conspiracy; trickle-down economics is a conspiracy. When there is such concentration of ownership in the news media as there is now, and where there is evidence of collusion between security services or vested interests and outlets of journalism, people can be forgiven for believing that's it's conspiracy.
There's a more profound issue (than journalism) at work in the demise of print media--profitability. Yet most journalists are unequipped to collect the data, analyze it and report on the insidious results of its inattention. Almost everything we read these days ignores the fundamental requirement of journalism--the need to be profitable, to provide value to the public. Never has a significant newspaper said "Like and Subscribe".
The Globe and Mail has not produced a profit in decades--depending instead on the well-intentioned and beneficial philanthropy of the Thomson family. But once that generosity evaporates...turn out the lights.
The Toronto Star has been bought and sold twice in the past 6-8 years. Is it profitable? Not a chance. Is it shedding journalistic commitments--you betcha! Kiss 70 local Metroland papers and 600 jobs goodbye.
Missing from all this attention is the failure of owners and managers to demand a profit: to adapt to the internet, to adapt to changing readership values, to depart from rickety historical (and expensive) practices and to accept the need for change.
Tara, we could use some examination of the non-journalistic cause of the media implosion. Sadly, it is irreversible.
My morning routine of commenting here is complete.
Steve hit some very good points. The elite & class views in the media are a problem, not because these views should not be given voice, but rather because they are a bubble that endlessly feeds on other views in the bubble. Steve's suggestion that the media should be seeking out journalists where ever they are, with out respect to education or any other immutable characteristic is a valid one. Giving "Jane from the Crowsnest Pass" a platform would do far more to reform the media than anything else.
Allowing Jane to reflect on what is happening in the world, and how it impacts the lives of people in the Crowsnest Pass is absolutely what Canada needs. Jane is the expert on the Crowsnest Pass, and she also has knowledge of many other things (Education, heath care, child rearing, mining, natural environment, indigenous issues, transportation, etc.) By giving her a platform we would all be better informed.
The word, conspiracy, is thrown around a lot lately. When does collusion, or organized opportunism, cross the line into conspiracy? According to Merriam-Webster the difference seems to be that conspiracy is overtly illegal or harmful; there's the subject of an entire book. The fact remains that when a small group of people plan, in relative secrecy, to enrich or protect themselves at the expense of a great many others it's conspiracy and the history of human civilization is a litany of conspiracy. The Final Solution was a conspiracy; Hell's Angels is a conspiracy; corporate globalism is a conspiracy; trickle-down economics is a conspiracy. When there is such concentration of ownership in the news media as there is now, and where there is evidence of collusion between security services or vested interests and outlets of journalism, people can be forgiven for believing that's it's conspiracy.
There's a more profound issue (than journalism) at work in the demise of print media--profitability. Yet most journalists are unequipped to collect the data, analyze it and report on the insidious results of its inattention. Almost everything we read these days ignores the fundamental requirement of journalism--the need to be profitable, to provide value to the public. Never has a significant newspaper said "Like and Subscribe".
The Globe and Mail has not produced a profit in decades--depending instead on the well-intentioned and beneficial philanthropy of the Thomson family. But once that generosity evaporates...turn out the lights.
The Toronto Star has been bought and sold twice in the past 6-8 years. Is it profitable? Not a chance. Is it shedding journalistic commitments--you betcha! Kiss 70 local Metroland papers and 600 jobs goodbye.
Missing from all this attention is the failure of owners and managers to demand a profit: to adapt to the internet, to adapt to changing readership values, to depart from rickety historical (and expensive) practices and to accept the need for change.
Tara, we could use some examination of the non-journalistic cause of the media implosion. Sadly, it is irreversible.
My morning routine of commenting here is complete.
Steve hit some very good points. The elite & class views in the media are a problem, not because these views should not be given voice, but rather because they are a bubble that endlessly feeds on other views in the bubble. Steve's suggestion that the media should be seeking out journalists where ever they are, with out respect to education or any other immutable characteristic is a valid one. Giving "Jane from the Crowsnest Pass" a platform would do far more to reform the media than anything else.
Allowing Jane to reflect on what is happening in the world, and how it impacts the lives of people in the Crowsnest Pass is absolutely what Canada needs. Jane is the expert on the Crowsnest Pass, and she also has knowledge of many other things (Education, heath care, child rearing, mining, natural environment, indigenous issues, transportation, etc.) By giving her a platform we would all be better informed.