Reflections on a Train Wreck

Whenever I think about these sad times in traditional journalism I picture a train wreck. A quick peek at the wreckage scene:

• The Sun newspaper conglomerate has withdrawn from the National Newspaper Awards, Canadian Newspaper Association, The Canadian Press news agency, and now the Ontario Press Council. Despite whatever group spokespeople say, it’s all about saving money to boost bottom lines. Read more at: Honderich: Sad time for newspapering in Ontario - thestar.com
• Those are some of the same actions Conrad Black and David Radler took in running their newspaper empire in Canada, Britain, Israel and the United States. Their empire disintegrated.
• Rupert Murdoch, King of Kings in world tabloid journalism, is in so much trouble over the British phone hacking scandal that he might as well bend over and kiss his butt goodbye.
• There no longer is a national news service delivering news to all media outlets throughout Canada. Co-operative news gathering, mainly for the benefit of the people in our far-flung country, no longer exists. News in Canada now is tribal controlled, much like Afghanistan.
• What little remained of radio news is being further diminished by electronic networking.
• Television news continues to transform itself into just another entertainment manipulated for ratings. CBC’s The National has become a disgrace in the eyes of many serious, experienced journalists. One, Tim Knight, writes: “Simply put, the senior executives responsible for The National have gone rotten, abandoned the organization’s mandate and, in their frantic race for ratings, lost their journalistic focus and with it their journalistic integrity.” He calls main news reader Peter Mansbridge “A patronizing chief-anchor-for-life who . . . almost never actually seems to feel the scenes he describes. . . . doesn’t care what’s in the stories, doesn’t see the scenes, doesn’t feel the emotions. Has no genuine human response. As a result, of course, neither does the viewer.” Read more at: "The day I finally lost all respect for The National" | J-source.ca