The Niagara Now newspaper committed real news this week!
Covering a recent Poilievre speech at a Niagara-on-the-Lake food coop, reporter Richard Wright reported yesterday on Poilievre's remarks and, remarkably, also explained how wrong and inaccurate they were:
Does Poilievre actually think community newspapers were operating back when Menes was the pharaoh of Egypt -- funny, because papyrus had only just been invented then; The Times of London wasn't founded until 1785. And, as Niagara Now says, it was the internet that has destroyed newspaper profits.Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre doesn’t believe outlets that serve the nation’s “news deserts” deserve financial help to continue giving Canadians the important and accurate information that affects the areas they work and live.The man who hopes to be the next prime minister of Canada said the Local Journalism Initiative, which provides rural and small community news outlets with funding to hire reporters to cover specific areas outside the reach or interest of large media organizations, is nothing more than a sounding board for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal government.“It is terrible … how local journalism has done under nine years of Trudeau,” he told The Lake Report in an interview last Thursday after speaking to a Conservative-friendly crowd at a NOTL food co-operative.“He’s tried to take it over and basically wants everyone to work for the government so that he can have regurgitated propaganda paid for by taxpayers.”News deserts — areas that have little or no regular news coverage — have grown enormously over the past 15 years as scores of newspapers have closed.Launched in 2019, the Local Journalism Initiative gives grants to independent publishers, such as The Lake Report.Those organizations then hire reporters to cover specific areas, such as agriculture or civic government. Those reporters have no connection to the federal government nor does the government tell the publishers what stories should be covered.Publications pick and choose what news items to cover without threat of reprisal from any form of government.The Lake Report, for example, often tackles issues that do not align with the federal Liberals’ agenda and messaging.Poilievre claimed the program threatens free speech and when asked what he would do with it if elected prime minister, he did not directly answer.“I am looking into it. But more important than that, the question is how do we bring back free speech,” he said.“The answer is journalists getting eyeballs so they can sell subscriptions and advertising, get sponsorships and do what media have done for, I don’t know, 3,000 years.”“How has the media funded itself for 3,000 years?” he asked. “Subscriptions, advertising, sponsorships. That’s how it has worked for 3,000 years.”Today’s journalists have to contend with the internet, where stories are often shared by people not trained in journalism and whose ethical standards or motivations may be suspect. Their work is often distributed free via social media and digital platforms.This practice, combined with online giants like Google and Meta sharing legitimate news items on their platforms without compensating publications for the content, has deeply dug into news organizations’ bottom lines.Poilieve seemed fine with letting what is often illegitimate news be the source of information for Canadians...
Then in their editorial about Poilievre's ignorant and insulting speech, Niagara Now editor-in-chief Richard Harley commits more real journalism:
This Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a plethora of lies during his visit to NOTL, forcing The Lake Report to respond with the longest editorial it has ever published....There are a litany of problems with citizen journalism and Poilievre’s mindset that journalism is doing just fine because every Bob and Sue can post on Twitter is not appropriate for someone who wants to run this country.Run it into the ground is more like it.We realize this is probably the longest editorial we’ve ever published. Yet, it might be one of the most necessary editorials yet.Because one of Poilievre’s tactics is to throw out so much misinformation, that it’s almost impossible to fact check it all, especially on the spot.It’s why he often appears to eat journalists and other politicians alive. Because he’s on another planet and it’s almost impossible to have a rational conversation with someone who just makes things up.So it’s our duty as a free press — one that isn’t going to take anything at face value from any political party — to call out Poilievre’s dangerous lies. Or his inability to comprehend the truth.Either he’s lying to you and knows it. Or he’s just incompetent.And because he’s not a stupid man, it’s not hard to figure out. If you think critically about what he says.
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