Evidence of lethargy in journalism was witnessed in the latest U.S. election campaign. The Washington establishment was either ambivalent or oblivious to the plight of marginalized factory workers in the rust belt States. Lest it be said that the sentiment surrounding these shut down towns may have deserved more journalistic attention. Lately it seems a road rage incident will make front page news but a decade doubling of violence rates in Canadian prisons is muted due to some perceived notion that an editorialist may believe Canadians’ tolerance for the statistic to be acceptable. What Donald Trump has espoused as bias in the media may more aptly be described as mere arrogance.
When the news should be reported at face value with a semblance of organized hierarchy in terms of relevance, I’m afraid that the media has lost its way in the context of a populous deemed impressionable by commercial interests and media promulgated opinion. I don’t know how many times I’ve responded responsibly via comment over at editorials published by a Postmedia only to see my comment nixed seemingly because my opinion differed from that of the author. On the one hand they provide a commenting platform for readers and on the other they overtly breach their industry creed of “freedom of expression”.
However; yesterday while running an errand, I stumble upon a coin box filled with editions of the Epoch Times. Pleasantly, I’ve garnered a favourable first impression and renewed hope that independent journalism is not yet down for the count. Society does transform but not necessarily positively with adherence to a group which conveniently has access to your mind.