eh? Wherefore the news today…

Ever wonder why some people rant about fake news? Ever reflect on who reads what newspapers or who watched what news channels? I started thinking about this again, when I heard the news that Lloyd Robertson had passed away.

I met Lloyd at least once. The time I remember I was with my older cousin at the National War Museum. We chatted briefly before he had to get ready to emcee the evening. After he departed my cousin remarked that Lloyd was shorter than we imagined. I replied simply: he didn’t need to be tall because he was a Presbyterian and therefore was more focused than most and was more confident too! After the laughter had subsided we took our seats for the event, which was emcee’d beautifully.

But thinking back to that time, actually made me realize that I made a conscious change in my viewing habits when Lloyd left CBC for CTV. Up until then I was primarily a CBC follower, probably because from early days in my youth I would listen to the ten o’clock news with my father, usually having a cup of hot chocolate (in the days before I discovered it was a trigger for migraines) and some of Mom’s homemade bread. Once I left for college and had access to a tv I naturally watched the CBC news when it made its transition from 23:00 to 22:00 and then the addition of the Journal. I trusted those people then.

When Lloyd moved, I became aware that newscasters did not have a great deal of say in the stories that they were reading. That is why he switched channels, so he could be part of the news assembly process. I had trusted him at CBC, why would I not trust him more now that I knew he was in part responsible for what was being presented. For the longest time I would watch both newscasts: CBC at 22:00 & CTV at 23:00 with the Journal in between. As a consultant with numerous clients in the public sphere, I needed to keep abreast of what was happening both near and far. Both channels helped. Both had different commentators. Both had solid staff.

Then I began to notice a slight shift. CBC spent more time reporting somewhat favourably on the Liberals when they were in power, and more critically on the Conservatives when they were in power. With the arrival of Global as a news source, I found that both CBC & CTV moved away from local news, ceding that to the upstart network. When Peter Mansbridge retired from CBC I sensed a real change at that network. By this time I was more directly interested: no longer a consultant, I was interested from my work in the academy (primarily teaching either ethics or leadership) as well as observing with a partner who was in the senior ranks of the federal public service.

It wasn’t that any network was peddling fake news, but I discovered there was definite bias. More importantly, there was a decline on the research side of the news. Headlines seemed more vital than solid explanations of the story. Ministers would be side-swiped by snippets. Instead of a full two-minute quote, it was reduced to thirty seconds, and then even shorter. Networks seemed to have their favourites, from every party or every corner. And seldom did anyone dig deep enough to even check with Deputies let alone field/front line workers.

From conversations I would have with grad students or colleagues I would hear different views depending on which channel they preferred. Sometimes it was the printed word that brought out the biases. A person would be a G+M reader and would disparage the NP reader; the next conversation would be the reverse. While living in PEI, news was doubtless the prominent topic of the day (the lack of professional sports teams, except for curling, probably impacted this). Many local reporters were known personally to most of the movers & shakers (of which there are countless numbers on the Island) but, as CBC was the only locally headquartered outlet, news could be skewed. And, there was only one substantive local newspaper. I came to appreciate access to other news outlets if only to give me perspectives on the national as well as regional scenes.

Now, of course, everyone is a news source and in some ways no one is a news source. In the Okanagan the local paper only comes out three times a week (W, F & S) and its significant contributions to my world are the coloured comics & puzzles. While I get the G+M delivered to my door, watch Global when at the gym, and in ski season listen to the Valley’s CBC-1 outlet on the way up the hill, the vast majority of my news comes on-line: Castanet for local, CTV, NP, G+M, BBC and a variety of Canadian & American editorial sources, along with the Weather Network. As each day unfolds it’s up to me to sift through it all and try to decipher what the real under the radar news is and what are the implications (& perhaps the immitations).

It was somewhat easier in the olden days in part because it was more straightforward. The news people did more research and the newscasts were generally more balanced. Now each source provides a particular orientation. We doubtless migrate to those sources we find most logical and most compelling in our realistic way. Are we more enlightened because the vast number of outlets? Or, are we actually more biased? Do we feel more smug because we are a CBC listener than those ludites who watch CTV? Do we think we are better informed because we read the National Post instead of the Globe + Mail? Not sure; probably best we source them all, and then start sifting. Or source none and ease our heart rate.

Upon reflection
g.w.