It’s very easy to become disillusioned when it comes to the information in the media today. To watch the news on T.V. almost hurts with the same nip and tucked newscasters trying to maintain their youthfulness to keep their career alive. The print media has become a fight between partisan politics for readers and with the explosion of tabloids and blogs, a lot of news has become more sensationalism than actual reporting.
I am proud to see that recently there have been some glowing examples of journalism that have or are in the midst of actually evoking a substantial change.
Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington was the first to report that convicted child serial killer Clifford Olson was receiving an Old Age Security pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement from the federal government. The public was outraged and victims groups rallied forcing Prime Minister Stephen Harper to make a motion to stop the payments and investigate legislation to prevent convicts facing a life sentence from collecting the pension ever again.
After Toronto city council voted to extend the lease of the Boardwalk café in the Toronto Beaches, the media began dissecting the agreement and the details that emerged angered many residents and taxpayers. City councilor Sandra Bussin defended the contract but council is now ready to take another look at it to make sure that it was a fairly negotiated deal. Councilor Bussin who has been criticized in the past for her spending habits and her drunk with power attitude was berated last Thursday at a public meeting over the lease issue as well as a motion that she past designating a house a heritage property in her riding. The house belongs to a family in which Melissa Teehan, a quadriplegic, was looking to rebuild the home to make it accessible for her. One neighbor complained and without investigating the issue, she designated the house a heritage home.
Last week the media spotlight helped the cause of the town of Parry Sound trying to wrestle back a simple slogan “Welcome to Parry Sound” which had been trademarked by Nick Slater of Zeuter Development Corporation. The story has spread throughout the airwaves and has prompted riding MP Tony Clement to remark that he will look into the trademark issue.
I am encouraged that with the print media slowly eroding, that good investigative journalism still exists. It is up to individual readers to weed through the tabloid supermarket trash and embrace the stories that truly matter.
