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Is journalism losing its purpose?

Reporters used to be local — a journalist would be assigned a neighbourhood or a beat, focusing all their energy on collecting information, finding sources, and writing stories that truly mattered to the community.

Now, the media is becoming nationalized. Global News, owned by Chorus Entertainment, will be laying off 70 employees across the country, including camera operators, reporters, anchors, and control room staff. As a result, local news from the Maritimes will now be broadcast out of Toronto. The local anchors have been let go.

“Fewer journalists will be out gathering news from every region from Vancouver to Halifax,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias, the trade union for communications and media workers. “If the Maritime newscasts now come from Toronto – how can you still call that local news?”

Unifor blames lax rules set forth by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Last year, the commission softened requirements on local programming, no longer making it mandatory to have “feet on the street”.

Before this announcement, the Toronto Star announced the “suspension” of their internship program, which generally employed a number of journalism students and recent graduates in both summer and year-long contracts. The reason, they say, was purely financial. As a former intern in the Radio Room, (which luckily will still be operated by students), these kinds of jobs are critical to the professional development of young journalists. It is one of the few internships in which a student is expected to perform as a regular staff member, and gets paid to do so. Those kind of internships are few and far between.

It seems every few months more media jobs are being lost. What does this all mean? It means a grim future for journalism, in which the jobs are fewer and fewer, and those who are hired can’t expect any job security. It also means that local stories, stories that can only be told by having feet on the ground, will be lost.

What’s not lost on me is that the CBC’s frontrunner show The National is able to afford four anchors, but Global News can’t afford to have a single person broadcast out of the Maritimes. Reporters need to be able to have their feet on the ground and tell the stories that should be told, not being pushed to the brink with no resources and little compensation. It’s time for everyone to step up — the government, the media, and the public — to ensure that local, community journalism endures.

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Kim Campbell
Feminism

Former PM Kim Campbell denounces sleeveless anchors

In a tweet on Feb. 13, former Prime Minister of Canada Kim Campbell made a comment about television news anchors and their choice or wardrobe. “Bare arms undermine credibility and gravitas,” she said in the social media post, referring to female broadcasters who choose to wear sleeveless outfits.

The article Campbell references is a blog post written by Dr. Nick Morgan, a speaking coach, on his own private website. According to Morgan, a sleeveless outfit for women or a casual looking t-shirt for men will mean people won’t think you are as smart as you are. “We humans are pretty simple creatures,” he writes. “If you show up in front of us with skin exposed, we’re going to think about your body.  If you’re wearing lots of clothing, we’re going to think about your mind.”

The blog post goes on to suggest people should spend “real money” at “a high-end fashionista place” prior to an interview or speaking engagement. Morgan mentions a study that compares photographs of naked and half-naked women and asks people about how competent they think they are. Ironically, the article was then tweeted out by Informed Opinions, a handle that aims “to ensure diverse women’s perspectives and priorities are equitably integrated into Canadian society.” That is how Canada’s former PM found the piece.

Let us first address the research — wearing a sleeveless dress is different than wearing a bra and nothing else. Therefore, I don’t think the study referenced in the original article provides enough context for the statement made by both Morgan and Campbell. To do so proves that society objectifies women to such a degree that showing shoulders or your arm is essentially equal to a woman being stark naked while presenting the news. Most people would agree this is a ridiculous statement.

The public response to Campbell’s support of this statement was mixed. While it is true that most women are judged 60 per cent by how they look rather than what they say, that way of thinking is not something that should be perpetuated.

What interested me the most was the response from television stylists, who actually urge women to lose the traditional blazer or pantsuit for something more personal. There were others who argued that blazers and long-sleeve shirts were more professional, but the general consensus was that clothing wasn’t an indicator or success or capability. Here are some examples of the response:

Featured Image: Kim Campbell poses nude behind robes in this Barbara Woodley photograph from 1990. (Barbara Woodley/Courtesy Museum of Civilization)

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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The National CBC hosts
News

What do you think of CBC’s new National team?

Earlier this week, CBC announced Peter Mansbridge’s replacement as host of the flagship show The National. In an attempt to offer Canadians “a new kind of evening news”, the national broadcaster decided to hire four people to take turns hosting The National. The new hosts are: senior correspondent Adrienne Arsenault, political reporter Rosemary Barton, CBC Vancouver host Andrew Chang, and CBC News host and reporter Ian Hanomansing.

“Each of these award-winning journalists bring distinct strengths and expertise to the program,” said Jennifer McGuire, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief of CBC News, in a statement. “They will report as an integrated team, across broadcast and digital, to deliver depth and context on the stories that matter to Canadians.”

This is an interesting decision on CBC’s part — to replace one national icon with four others in an effort to make The National more relevant to local communities (although the North and Maritimes are missing). There will be offices based in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto, with the hosts split up between them. While this is a unique approach to national journalism, it does seem a bit of an oxymoron. It also begs the question: do we need four people to replace Mansbridge? Sure, he was a good anchor, but is he ‘we-can’t-replace-him-with-a-single-person’ great? I would argue no.

There is no doubt these four journalists are qualified for the job. I’ve been a fan of both Aresenault and Barton for a long time. Aresenault is an award-winning journalist known for her investigative stories. She has covered everything from natural disasters, conflicts, politics, sports, and human-interest stories, including the terrorist attack in Brussels and Paris. Barton has a long history of political reporting covering federal campaigns. For the last few years she has served as host for the daily CBC show Power and Politics and has done an amazing job keeping political representatives to account.

Chang has served as host for a number of CBC’s shows, including the National, and was a key member of the Olympic broadcast in 2014 and 2016. He has worked for both CBC Montreal (covering the NDP’s rise to power) and CBC Vancouver. Hanomansing is probably the most recognizable as a veteran host and reporter. He has covered everything from earthquakes, riots, the Olympic Games, and McMurray’s wildfires. He is the current host of CBC News Now weeknights.

The CBC’s choices, while qualified, are causing a bit of an uproar. If the CBC was looking for diversity — they succeeded. But, as was mentioned in a number of satire pieces written about the announcement, to hire two women and two minorities to replace one white man may not have been the message they were going for.

I’m honestly not sure what to think about this announcement. I have followed the careers of each of these reporters, and I am confident they will do an amazing job as hosts of The National. I think Canadians are going to have to wait and see how this new setup works before commenting on whether or not the CBC has overreached by adding so many co-anchors. Who knows? It could revolutionize the way people look at national news!

Personally, I’m going to miss Rosemary Barton on Power and Politics and am a bit more concerned about who will replace her on the show than what happens to The National. But, that’s just me.

The new National will broadcast on Nov. 6.

What do you think of the new hosts? Let us know in the comments below!

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