This Is Only a Test

Recent events have helped me crystallize what kind of journos I respect and when I respect them. News today is very binary. Yes versus no. Hate versus love. Support versus destroy. Discussion is crushed by fanaticism, righteousness and positionizing. The newest and most successful media in our world have turned out to be the most destructive. However to avoid being binary about this topic myself I will rephrase this to say “most challenging.”  Reporters deliver facts without editiorial. Journalists record facts and craft a position. Both reporting and journalism need to speak truth to power. Much of what repulses us with tabloid media is that they are rarely speaking truth to power. We all will slip up, we all will make wrong choices, we all will be lazy once in a while (but not me ever). So with this we should not prejudge our friends in the fifth estate. However some are savage pundits speaking power to crush truth. Here in Canada we are fairly lucky, our press is mostly subverted by cutting of funding, corporate pressure, or bribery. These elements will always be a pressure on journalists in a somewhat civil and corporate society. There are other states where reporters and journalists are obstructed, attacked, raped and murdered. How can we help these folks speak truth to power? Amnesty International and PEN are good starts. There is a new player on the field. Check out Google Ideas 

And I am also assessing WP’s new autopublicize feature.