Social media, with few rules or concerns about truth, has affected what we hear and believe
A respected news team for a radio station in Kamloops, B.C. (Radio NL), has been terminated as the station tries to change to a sports, music and news format. This comes at a time when radio stations and newspapers are struggling to retain audiences and readers.
Consolidation is occurring in our best sources of information. Today, there is more information available, but pinpointing the truth has never been more difficult. Social media, with few rules or concerns about truth, has affected what we hear and believe.
It is not patronizing to say that newspapers, for decades, have been the most accurate source of information, with more checking and confirmed details than any other. We called newspapers the “poor man’s encyclopedia,” and today when we want to look at our own or our community’s history, it is often old newspapers that we look for.
There’s no doubt that newspapers have had their own slant on news reports, but as long as there are publishers and editors confirming sources or questioning facts, there is a feeling that we get, for the most part, the truth behind the story.
Truth is an elusive commodity in today’s world. We hear much about “truth” but there is a gnawing feeling that all of the truths are slanted to suit the message that someone wants to deliver.
Looking at our American friends, it is fair to say that if you listen to the same political event reported on CNN or Fox News, it is often hard to believe that the two stories are talking about the same incident. Our Canadian networks and major Canadian daily newspapers are not immune from putting their own spin onto their reporting, but somehow in Canada we still harbour the belief that we are getting the truth or something close to it.
That is why it is so distressing to listen to or watch some broadcasts.
On the day that I write this, one news broadcaster in Calgary has been reporting that Mount Everest has become 15 to 50 metres taller in the past 89,000 years. Perhaps once, as a filler, this might be an interesting story, but when it is repeated by a network every 30 minutes for a morning, one has to ask whether this is a budget issue or laziness on the part of the producers.
We look to the news for information and also for guidance on what we should believe and what is the truth that might affect our decision-making. The public today craves good information.
There are two sides to every story. We question truth in advertising, environmental truth, truth about wars, energy or government and truth about our own history. Glaciers have been receding for 10,000 years, but today we are told to accept as truth that a changing climate has caused them to melt faster.
Details of war are reported but what are the truths behind these conflicts? Are electric cars really good for the environment?
At a recent forum, someone asked “What if we are wrong? What if we do everything to eliminate fossil fuels, create solar fields and giant windmills, what if we destroy industries and livelihoods, and after we do it all, nothing changes?”
Is it not worth asking whether we should spend billions in our economies if nations such as Russia and China decide not to do anything? At a time when we desperately need more truth, the stories become more confusing and polarizing.
The truth is that we need reporters like they had in Kamloops. We need investigative reporters in newspapers and we need reporters prepared to ask the tough questions, not just the trendy ones.
The truth is that we need to be more skeptical about what we hear, what we watch and what we read. In today’s world, truth has become more precious than ever and more difficult to identify.
George H. Brookman is the chair and company ambassador of West Canadian Digital.