Issues, ethics, memory
The giant digital gorillas Google and Meta are threatening to block Canadian news links from their sites because the federal government has passed Bill C-18, which would make them pay those who create the news for using their material. While that debate rages, I have practical advice about how to access Canadian news without relying on the tech giants at all.
I read recently in The Guardian that trolls on social media are spreading fake news that the raging bush fires in Australia had been set by arsonists and are not linked to climate change. This is a claim that has been picked up and repeated by shifty ministers in the British government of Boris Johnson.... Continue Reading →
The New York Times recently carried an investigative story about how high ranking officers at Facebook attempted to conceal Russia’s use of the social media platform to spread false and distorted information during the 2016 US presidential election. Here in Canada, the federal government will likely use its November 20 economic update to outline plans aimed... Continue Reading →
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has been forced by growing public criticism into prohibiting its on-air employees from giving speeches -- that sometimes netted thousands of dollars per appearance — to corporations and industry groups. The directive in January came almost a year after it was reported that Peter Mansbridge, CBC’s chief correspondent and host of The National,... Continue Reading →
Nahlah Ayed, London-based foreign correspondent for CBC Television, says the Arab Spring that erupted in the Middle East beginning in late 2010 was born in euphoria but its legacy is mainly one of dashed hopes. Ayed spoke recently to several hundred people at Carleton University in Ottawa at the invitation of the School of... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 