News and Propaganda

• MAY / JUNE 2011
• FEB / MAR 2011
• DECEMBER 2010
• OCT / NOV 2010
• AUG / SEP 2010
• MAY / JUNE 2010

There is a lot of information on the world wide web but how much of it is just that – information and not journalism. Television is entertainment with the cavalry riding over the hill; radio is background music punctuated by news and weather. I worry about this generation and its idea of what it needs to know. Twitter has finally proven that gossip is the lowest form of knowledge and this generation is consumed by it.

I have been educated by journalists the world over reporting in newspapers or magazines. This news has been distilled by people whose job it is to be relevant and democratic in its choices of what to tell me. I remember reading about the Yalta Accord - how the allies of WWII divided Europe, splitting Germany by giving half of it to Russia along with the Baltic states. Journalists study the world, not just their backyards. Perspective in journalism is a rule, not a policy. Real news is written by journalists, not professors or marketing people and has value.

Perspective is being eroded by citizen web blogs, social media and special interest propaganda like so-called ‘magazines’ chatting about food, furniture or house organs produced by retailers like clothier Harry Rosen and several others that promote their point of view and are really ‘magalogues’, a catalogue which looks like a magazine flogging ‘stuff.’

Journalists learn not only how to gather news but how to present it. You can be CBC’s news God Peter Mansbridge or news branding personality CNN’s Anderson Cooper, (AC 360).

Journalism is the front line of a democratic society and it is supported by advertisers who expect it to be that. So when you read a magazine or a newspaper, you should consider that it is brought to you by professionals whose job is to engage your attention, initiate opinion and discussion because citizens’ opinions support Canada, not politicians, and the news outlets help us understand the complexity of our country.

In doing so, the advertisers who raise their profiles are supporting free news in a democratic society balancing propaganda. Learning to know the difference is important to how well your opinions on your community are formed. We hope you find this edition rewarding and that it offers you that perspective in several ways.

Ritchie Gage, Editor-in-chief

Feedback: ritchie.gage@shaw.ca