Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Twenty years ago, it should have been obvious to all that the jig was up for newspapers and journalism was going to need a new ride. Print had a good run—almost 600 years—but the invention by Tim Berners-Lee of the World Wide Web meant the era of massive presses and the power they bestowed on their owners was coming to an end. The only question, once Craigslist and Kijiji began boring holes in classified advertising, the economic foundation of newspapers, was whether there would even be time to save the furniture. Since the turn of the century, there have only been two alternatives for legacy news organizations: adapt or die ... CLICK HERE for the full story

An editorial by Alan Forseth -- Kamloops Last Falls Federal Economic Update spoke to ... Support for Canadian Journalism   ... a strong and independent news media is crucial to a well-functioning democracy. It empowers citizens by providing them with the information they need to make informed decisions on important issues, and also serves to hold powerful institutions—including governments—to account by bringing to light information that might not otherwise be made available to the public. In short, strong and independent journalism serves the public good—for Canada, and for Canadians. Canadians have a right to a wide range of independent news sources that they can trust, and government has a responsibility to ensure that Canadians have access to these kinds of news sources . What did Andrew Coyne have to say about that in the National Post on November 23 rd of last year (2018)?   “ This week all that effort paid off: a $600-million aid package, tucked in th...

Yesterday I received two emails, and coincidentally they were both on the same topic.... the News Media. The first was from Leah who said to me … PLEASE DO A BLOG ON THIS!!! By the way, that was her HUGE BOLD FONT not mind – I just copied and pasted to show her emphasis.   The request was in reference to a story “ Justin Trudeau Buying the Media in time for 2019 Election” Then there was the second email.   It came from Conservative Party of Canada Ontario MP Peter Kent who stated: I would like to apologize sincerely for suggesting yesterday that – based on government messaging – the Liberals were going to offer legacy media organizations a $50 million bailout package in an election year.   I was wrong – they are actually giving them a $595 million bailout package . It is highly unlikely Peter Kent is going to read this piece, but Leah likely will.   Likely because my response to her yesterday was to say, “So much ...