How can we TRUST the Media, when it is constrained by Outside Forces?
Whither our Free Press? - Only outside of the Captured Mainstream it appears!
VERSUS
Is Canadian mainstream media actually FREE or is it BLOCKED, IMPEDED, RESTRICTED or otherwise constrained?
https://time.com/5956009/press-freedom/
This article reporting on the 2021 World Press Freedom Index of course did NOT include Canada among the nations listed as restricting freedom of the press. Instead, it points the finger at far-away countries ruled by “authoritarian regimes [who] have used the pandemic to ‘perfect their methods of totalitarian control of information’ ” and where propaganda is combined with the suppression of dissent.
Apparently, when policies in place in one country are copy-pasted and reused in another country, one assumes influence from the former on the latter.
An interesting aside - Bill 36, the Health Professions and Occupations Act, which was passed but not yet fully implemented in British Columbia allows for legislation written and implemented by OTHER JURISDICTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS to easily circumvent the elected legislators and be copied, pasted and implemented in BC.
Another interesting aside - a portion of the wording used in Canada re: Agile Regualations for pharmaceutical products is pretty nearly copy-pasted from some of the myriad “Agile” handbooks, guides and toolkits produced by members of the World Economic Forum. This is the world’s largest corporate lobby group that has as a member of its Board of Trustees our very own Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Ms. Chrystia Freeland. Here is a litmus test for press freedom in Canada: see if any of our mainstream media (government funded) organizations refer to the apparent conflict of interest that can ensue when the person charged with the country’s budgets also holds a position of influence of an outside body whose members stand to profit from certain spending priorities set in our budget. While there are plenty of “hits” in a search for “Member of Parliament” “Conflict of interest” referencing other MPs over the decades, there is NOTHING to see here folks:
I invite you to consider the following Exhibits as we examine the case for or against Freedom of the Press in Canada. (After you have toured these 8 exhibits, I invite you to visit the next post where I share my observations.)
Exhibit A
The Principles for Ethical Journalism document is a condensed one-pager.
For the full document, please see:
Canadian Association of Journalists Ethics Guidelines
Exhibit B
https://network.thetrustproject.org/feature/new
How does this shape up in Canada? Here is an example of a Canadian publication that is proud to adhere to The Trust Project as an indicator of “trustworthy journalism.”
https://thewalrus.ca/about/
Exhibit C
Given the small print, here enlarged are the top known “co-funders” of this initiative:
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Groupe - international development agency out of France, funding projects mostly around climate and gender issues https://www.afd.fr/en/frequently-asked-questions
https://craignewmarkphilanthropies.org/about-us/craig-newmark-bio/
National Endowment for Democracy - compare this description
https://www.ned.org with this one:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/western-interference-subversion-abroad/5841418
Another Canadian example: The Winnipeg Free Press is proud to announce its certification by the JTI.
Exhibit D
https://www.bbc.com/beyondfakenews/trusted-news-initiative/
While funding for this initiative is not transparent, here are the owners of some of the partners:
Thompson Reuters - same owners as Bell Canada and the Toronto Globe and Mail
Thompson Reuters Foundation - which back in 2015 wrote illuminating texts on the importance of press freedom, words which stand in stark contrast to current realities in this field.
Washington Post - Owned by Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon
For a more thorough description and the complete list of the current TNI partners, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_News_Initiative.
Exhibit E
In previous decades, major news media outlets had the resources to send their own foreign correspondents out into the field. These people would gather first-hand reports of developing news. But when newsroom budgets and high costs made staffing on the ground reporters globally cost prohibitive, more and more platforms began relying on corporate press agencies to provide coverage of emerging stories. These include
AP - The Associated Press - which not only is open to donations from the public (which can include corporations), and advertisement, it also offers the service of “editorial sponsorship. Imagine a brand like Pfizer being “aligned” with the specific topic of “Covid-19 pandemic” through the creation and global distribution of content that can then “amplify” the brand’s message.
CP - The Canadian Press refers to itself as an independent news agency. However, it is also closely aligned with GlobeNewsWire, now more of a public relations firm than a news wire service.
Reuters, billed as the world’s largest news provider:
They too, have branched out beyond the news business into the providing of accounting and tax preparation services, along with the provision of financial market data and corporate legal support.
Reuters, with its long history in the news business has developed its own set of trust principles and fact checking services. Not mentioned here though, is the close relationship between Reuters and the world’s largest corporate lobby group, the World Economic Form. Not only is the CEO of Thompson Reuters, Jim Smith, considered a WEF “Agenda Contributor.” He serves on the board of the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative and is a member of the Forum’s International Business Council. And he is listed as a Director of Pfizer.
Exhibit F
Here we find a global network of professional “fact-checkers.”
While this network is listed as a registered charity and a non-profit company out of London, England, it appears to be owned by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in Florida. The Poynter Institute has been receiving monies from various entities for their work with young minds:
In March 2018, Google.org appointed Poynter Institute as the leader of their MediaWise program to equip middle and high school students to better differentiate online news and information. Google funded this with a $3 million grant.[18]
In 2020, after receiving funding from Facebook, the Poynter Institute expanded the MediaWise program with a national media literacy program called MediaWise Voter project (#MVP). Its goal was to reach 2 million American first-time voter college students, helping them to be better prepared and informed for the 2020 elections.[25]
Exhibit G
https://www.press-presse.ca/en/press-gallery-members
According to the Canadian Encyclopaedia,
“Press galleries, or correspondents associations, are important democratic institutions that serve the public (by informing them of political news) and government (by delivering its messages).”
“The Press Gallery began as a small, exclusive club of elite newspaper writers who had close relationships with the politicians they covered. In the 19th century, newspapers were essentially vehicles of partisan propaganda, and journalists were usually attached to a political party (see Newspapers in Canada: 1800s–1900s). …
The CPPG has a membership of about 350 full-time journalists from various newspaper, magazine, broadcast and online organizations. Gallery members observe and report on legislative debates including Question Period (see Parliamentary Procedure) and committee meetings as well as the courts and the public service. They also interview political actors in media scrums and press conferences….
Membership is open to any journalist whose primary function is to report on parliamentary or federal government news and who lives in Ottawa and requires access to parliamentary facilities to perform his or her job. They cover the activities of not only the legislature and committees but also the prime minister, Cabinet and the public service. …
Most of what citizens know about politics comes from news media, and without information, citizens cannot effectively make political decisions. Within the political system, news media are also watchdogs. They scrutinize the actions of government, political parties and politicians, requiring them to account for their decisions. The democratic importance of the media is entrenched in Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of expression and the press. The CPPG is important for its knowledge and reach — its members are able to relate complex political issues and events quickly, concisely and to a broad audience.
While the list of the Parliamentary Press Gallery members has/had a few hundred names, the Independent Press Gallery’s membership list is not shown on the website, but I assume it is much smaller.
The Independent Press Gallery of Canada (IPG) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to independent, non-governmental journalist organisations. IPG helps protect the rights of journalists and promote a culture of free and independent media in Canada.
IPG provides a vital counterbalance to the increasing government control and funding over journalism outlets in Canada. Likewise, IPG provides an alternative to the government-influenced Parliamentary Press Gallery. …
In this new era of citizen-journalism and digital distribution, the Parliamentary Press Gallery is once again shunning outsiders. They have refused membership to digital news outlets and banned independent Canadian journalists while allowing state-run foreign media organizations membership and priority. Perhaps worst of all, there is evidence that the Parliamentary Press Gallery has been working with federal government officials to ban independent outlets that are critical of the sitting government.
That is why the Independent Press Gallery of Canada was formed. Journalistic independence and freedom of the press are under attack in Canada.
Our Vision is to provide a platform and community for professional, independent journalists who wish to maintain their freedom and independence from government control.
As the federal government in Canada asserts more control over journalism sites and outlets, as they repeatedly block journalists from outlets critical of their political agenda, and as they increase public funding to media outlets that provide favourable coverage, independent-minded journalists are more important than ever. https://independentpressgallery.ca/about/
Exhibit H
https://canucklaw.ca/category/media/
This ongoing citizen initiative archives original and official documents on a wide range of subjects. Truly an excellent starting point for investigative minded citizens.
See also:
*HOW TO: INFORMATION FOR DO-IT-YOURSELFERS, RESEARCHERS*
Exhibit I
This ongoing citizen initiative is a gold mine for independent investigators on a wide range of topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The term “Media” alone generated a long list of hits.
So, back to our opening questions:
Is Canadian mainstream media actually FREE or is it BLOCKED, IMPEDED, RESTRICTED or otherwise constrained?
and
How can we TRUST the Media, when it is constrained by Outside Forces?
Here is hoping that as many Canadian journalists find themselves laid off by the media giants (CBC, Bell, etc.) they take the time to visit these exhibits as well. Possibly back in their journalism school days, before the major news organizations were bought up by corporate interests and before they signed with the Trojan Horse - style “TRUST” initiatives, one could abide by the CAJ Code of Ethics. There definitely has been a cultural shift away from being objective arbiters of news, holding the powerful to account and making space for holders of diverse views to persecuting those who hold a different viewpoint than that promulgated via the newsroom on behalf of BigCorp interests.
I invite readers to visit the next post where I provide my on commentary for the above tour of the 8 exhibits.
I invite them to search terms like “CAJ”; “media”; “ethics” and “misinformation” using the followingthcovidscience.substack.com search tool to learn of the pivotal role journalists had/should have had in the past 4 years.
And I invite them to visit this post, where I introduce them to the world OUTSIDE of the CORPORATE NEWS BUBBLE - where there is still LOTS of room for truly curious, committed, courageous and intrepid news investigation and reporting.