When you’re an activist for vested interests, complete and accurate reports are never offered. These might educate low-information voters that have supported BC Liberals for many years.
Corporate media works for some but not for its audience
Careless or captured?
Despite deep cynicism about journalists backing BC Liberals, I had long held respect for the writing of Vaughn Palmer. My reservoir of appreciation has now run dry. He has been bright, skilled and articulate, usually worth reading throughout 35+ years with the Vancouver Sun. Now, I don’t know. Is he distracted, overburdened, grown careless or captured by his subjects?
The misinformation strategy
However, this is a province where government routinely spends billions annually to subsidize multinational resource and power companies and spent 14 years in the courts fighting delivery of educational services to children in need. This government, found by the land’s highest court to be contemptuous of constitutional rights, cannot be counted on to change its priorities.
Piled higher and deeper
Mr. Baldrey wants people unfamiliar with online journalism to imagine the Internet largely provides “outrageous, libelous, threatening and inaccurate” commentary. One reason he might want to sell that false image is that he worries about mainstream media losing readers to the online world. Baldrey also may not like to be criticized and held accountable for his expositions. Keith, if you aim to be respected, don’t be an extension of vested interests, treat all sides with doubt and wariness and don’t only advance interests of the powerful. Be prepared to make them uncomfortable, if deserved. Be transparent about potential conflicts involving you or colleagues, be knowledgeable and impartial…
Some business is very private
The eastern media had much to say recently about conflicted journalists. On the west coast, even CKNW’s Sean Leslie, a newsman who knows the subject, weighed in on Evan Solomon’s difficulties at […]
Enablers of misconduct, "if it is done here"
The current FIFA scandal illustrates a human behaviour that allows criminal behaviour to succeed. By nature, people tend to ignore the misconduct of others if preventing or revealing it extracts a higher […]
C of C head suffers annoyance and anger
REPLAY, first posted Sept.15, 2011 This piece below from months ago came to mind when I thought about certain prominent reporters who are travelling this week. According to Bill Good, it’s their […]
Shining a light
Glenn Greenwald: A key purpose of journalism is to provide an adversarial check on those who wield the greatest power by shining a light on what they do in the dark, and […]
Report news while making news?
It is appropriate to ask if political writers can report objectively after they become paid participants in the public forum, earning appearance fees and other remuneration from businesses with interests in their coverage…
A crime family depends on its enablers – rerun
The bulk of this item was written in 2010 and it was moved to the top a year later. I’ve done a little editing to recognize the political environment of 2014 but […]
This week’s Liberal direction: lower LNG expectations
Friday, The Common Sense Canadian — a site that usually provides worthwhile journalism — posted an article written by Keith Baldrey for Glacier Media, publisher of numerous community recyclables. Not surprisingly, anyone […]
Good questions
Not-a-nincompoop blogger RossK at The Gazetteer mentioned difficulties faced by Bob Mackin, the province’s preeminent investigative journalist, when Bob digs, and pays, for information the government does not want us to know. […]
No free lunches… ever
I published this article a year ago and repeat it because issues are little changed. Recently, our promedia friends learned that BC Liberal chief Laura Miller was refusing to speak with Ontario […]
Broken trust
After shifting his focus in recent months, Alex Tsakumis is blogging again and getting ready to launch yourshow.ca as a 3-hour a day webcast on politics, media and other current affairs. A […]
A weapon to change the world
Those who educate children well are more to be honoured than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well. ― Aristotle This week the […]
Sanctimonious, who me?
RossK at The Gazetteer notes one particular whine of one particular practitioner in the corporate media, Sanctimonious was an interesting choice of word by this guy but it better fits a message he sent […]
No sense of decency
In Liberals’ memo shows party’s delusion, Keith Baldrey takes aim at the government crowd and fires a cruise missile through the target. Actions of these minor league partisans suggest Joseph Welch’s famous […]
Friends caring for friends
Bill Good mounted a defence of Christy Clark today following release of David Basi’s accusations that Premier Christy Clark was very much involved in the corrupt sale of BC Rail and was […]
Fact free radio
Friday morning on BC Liberal radio, one of the trio assured us that BC Ferries has been cutting administration costs and its overheads had little or nothing to do with financial problems. […]
Spread this story and these links
Ian Reid cleverly captures the question to be answered about BC Rail: Why did the BC Liberals want to shut the trial down? What were they so afraid of that they would […]
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