Vassy Kapelos and Steve Paikin should be in your media diet.
News is everywhere. Whether it’s on your phone, on your laptop, coming out of a podcast you downloaded earlier that day, it is everywhere. Thanks to the internet and the increased capacity of digital technology we can share anything to anyone at anytime. At the click of a button ideas, petitions, unnecessary baby photos, personal rants about unnamed coworkers, and just about anything can be sent into the digital universe. As social media becomes more embedded into our lives our ease of using it has become an extra appendage of sorts, shifting and shaping to be an active part of our daily lives. During this pandemic our use of social media has become a primary location for social discourse; TikTok users share more than the latest viral dance trend, they actively share protests and demonstrations in real time for human rights violations, the conversation is different in 2020.
Curating our media diets digitally brings a host of changes to the previously established media institutions that have served societies for many decades. I am no longer limited to the news that is available in local print, TV and radio stations. Now I can consume media from around the world at any time convenient to me. I can learn about current affairs from the comfort of my own couch.
Isn’t that a good thing?
Just like many other sectors across society, broadcast media has two main forms: the private and the public sector. The private sector news is owned by larger corporations such as Canada’s CTV being owned by Bell Media, whereas the public sector is funded by taxpayer dollars such as Ontario french language broadcaster TFO. These sectors play an active role in the media consumption in this country as well as our neighbours to the south.
The reason I bring up this brief introduction into media is very simple, how much of the news you consume is produced by private and public companies? How do you think that money affects what a journalist can say in a given story?
I am not saying that journalists are bought, quite the opposite. What I am saying is it’s important to consume local, publicly funded news alongside private sector news organizations. This practice should be crucial in every news diet. Journalism should be tough challenging and tell multiple angles to every story. If it does not include the grey how does it tell a full picture? Being in a position to tell a story that needs profit to survive can change how that story is told. That is why it is important to include those other voices.
So I thought you’d never ask, what better way to end of this week than to tell you about my two favourite Canadian journalists. As someone who grew up with probably an irrational childhood obsession with CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer alongside CBC’s Connect with Mark Kelly, I can appreciate a good on air news reporter. My only disclaimer is that I like to think that my taste in news has developed like my growing taste and appreciation for wine, so please hear me out.
Vassy Kapelos has easily become one of my most favourite additions to CBC in recent years, yes this is the kind of stuff I think about late at night. Representation is important and while I know that CBC has a lot more improvement to make in terms of how it represents this country on a national stage, I am beyond excited to see a woman holding guests accountable to what they say and asking difficult questions. Power and Politics is a show that has existed on the CBC for many years before Vassy was ever apart of it, I am glad to see that it isn’t a place where politicians get a blind pass for every claim they make. We need continued transparency in politics.
I could write an entire stand up routine on how much I love Steve Paikin and his contributions to Canadian journalism. Growing up, the best part about graduating from watching TVO Kids was being able to welcome Steve Paikin onto my screen to politely ask his guests what every other Canadian usually wanted to know. He is always open to new ideas even when he doesn’t understand them immediately and will ask specific questions about topics allowing for complex and nuanced discussion across party lines. The possibility of ever being invited to sit at the same table as this man would be an honour. As I saw someone say on Reddit’s r/Canada, ‘Steve Paikin is a national treasure.’ Sorry Peter Mansbridge.
By and large being informed is good and supporting public broadcasting is even better. I hope you check out these two amazing journalists. If you already knew who I was talking about, I send you a digital handshake.
Who do you follow in your media diet?
Where do you get your news from?
Who made your cut?
I’d love to know.
Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay
