The idea the CBC is an essential disseminator of some higher truth is the starting point for a national campaign for more government funding of journalism
The idea of government-funded journalism, including newspapers, is not new in Canada. It was an active concept in 2003 when the threat of the internet had not yet materialized. As I said then and since, Canada “should be removing government control over other media, not expanding it to newspapers … There is no justification for government involvement” in any element of journalism.
Others who believe in CBC “truth” say Ottawa should merely reform the public broadcaster, maintain public funding but remove its ability to accept private advertising. David Skok, the editor-in-chief of The Logic, an online news site, said recently that “The CBC is no longer simply a broadcaster. It is a platform for truth in journalism.” In a letter this week to his subscribers, Skok referred to the CBC’s importance to Canada’s “collective truth.”
There is no such thing as Canada’s collective truth. A ban on advertising on CBC does not change the principle. The government has no business in the newsrooms of the nation.
