LAURIE THRONESS: Most people I know are completely turned off by so-called 'journalism'

Metroland Newspaper Group is going bankrupt in Ontario, pulling down 70 community newspapers with it. It's part of a decade-long decline in traditional media.

The same thing is happening in BC, where one publisher told me that a certain community newspaper exists on a knife edge, making about $100 per week. Hardly a profitable business.

The internet is partly to blame, of course, where people have access to instant news and social media worldwide, for free.

But lack of diversity is another big factor. Today's journalists are uniformly leftist, so people like me can't trust what they read. 

Most people I know are completely turned off by so-called 'journalism.' For years our local paper slammed anyone who didn't agree with its radical woke perspective, and twisted its coverage accordingly.

For example, I remember standing at the end of a line of politicians at a local news conference. The woke reporter took a picture that conveniently left me out when it appeared on the front page. Things like that.

So while I trust most reports about crimes and car accidents, I don't believe any story about any social issue, because the news has replaced reportage with advocacy for a single viewpoint, berating any who disagree.

The uniformly-woke propaganda we are fed every day by all the major media outlets has alienated a large proportion of the reading public. 

Where is the business sense in that?

Just imagine if a major retail chain said to every third customer who came into the store: 'You're a bad person and your thoughts are stupid, backward, old-fashioned and offensive.' How long would that store survive? 

Yet media types insult at least a third of their prospective audience every day, and feel good about doing it. 

It's not a viable business model - I don't know what they're thinking.

I guess business doesn't matter to them. Morally committed to their views, they can't and won't change, and so the decline must continue.

So although I'm sad for the loss of vitality and jobs in communities, I find it hard to mourn these bankruptcies. 

Maybe something that respects and reflects the views of all their customers instead of openly despising those they find 'deplorable,' will rise from the wreckage.

 

 

Laurie Throness is a former BC Member of the Legislative Assembly

Prior to his election to the Legislature, Laurie served federal and provincial politicians. In 1984, Laurie began as executive assistant to former local MLA Harvey Schroeder, then Minister of Agriculture in the Social Credit government. In 1994, Laurie accepted a position with Reform MP Chuck Strahl in his first term in Ottawa. Laurie then joined the Opposition Leader's office, providing policy research and advice to three opposition leaders – Preston Manning, Stockwell Day, and Stephen Harper. Following the election of a Conservative government in Ottawa in 2006, Laurie served as Chief of Staff to Minister Chuck Strahl in the Agriculture, Aboriginal Affairs, and Transport departments.

Laurie is a supporter of continuing education and lifelong learning. A graduate of Canadian Bible College in Regina with a degree in biblical studies, Laurie later went on to earn a degree in history from Waterloo University and a master's degree in public administration from Queen's University. In 2002, Laurie pursued a PhD in history at Cambridge University in the UK, and wrote a book (published in October 2008) about the history of our penitentiary (prison) system.