Your editorial on journalism, (Gazette, Jan. 11), should have struck fear into everyone who read it. This is such an important issue that every real journalist, and all real news agencies, should be screaming this at the top of their collective lungs.
We in the West accept that places, like Russia and the Middle East, control what information is told to their citizens. We here in Canada take democracy and freedom of the press for granted. For the past year and a half we have all watched Donald Trump take lying and misinformation to a whole new level, and the media was partially to blame. Rather than call him on it, they thought it was entertaining and good for ratings. Now he is beginning to bypass them all together and just tweet his lies. What is terrifying about this story, is that Americans didn't care about truth, and elected him to be their leader.
I am worried that this trend that worked so well for Trump, will be used in our upcoming elections. We are all aware that politicians will try to bend and massage the truth, but we are standing at a turning point in our history. Our apathy is becoming dangerous. Do Canadians agree that truth is not important?
The media needs to step up like never before. They cannot allow misinformation to stand unchallenged. Our politicians and those running for election need to be held to a higher standard than ever in our past. We as citizens need to stand united, and not cast a single vote for anyone that doesn't respect us enough to be truthful. No matter what your politics, we must agree that honesty is a value we all demand.
Throughout history there have been many times that journalists have stood as heroes. Never before have they been more important than right now. It is not hyperbole to say, they hold our rights and freedoms, in their hands.
Tim Andrew, St. Albert
