Friday, February 13, 2015

The Setting Sun

After four years on the air, the Sun News Network went dark at 5 AM.

So far, the Youtube channel is still up so that one may see this:



And this:



And this (I bet David Suzuki forgot about this):



And this:



And this:




And basically all the things that publicly-funded and perpetually timid CBC and CTV would never show in a million years.

Like this:




As of this writing, the main CBC site does not have any mention of a former deputy education minister's accused crimes and pleadings in court. One would think the publicly-funded CBC, the one that has mandatory carriage as well as taxpayer funds, would mention something as important as the court proceedings and relationship with the premier of Ontario. That the CBC has refused as of late to bring this to the attention of its audience says something chilling about it- that it is willing to overlook or outright ignore an accused child predator.

Screen cap taken of CBC search page. No Ben or Benjamin Levin.


But, then again, they ignored Jian Ghomeshi, too, so...

Is the publicly-funded CBC ever going to broadcast items that are pertinent to a story?

“This is not a ban, and it isn't censorship,”  David Studer, CBC's director of Journalistic Standards and Practices, said in an email on Wednesday, reminding news staff of CBC's long-established policy. 

“We are being consistent with our historic journalistic practices around this story, not because of fear, but out of respect for the beliefs and sensibilities of the mass of Muslim believers about images of the Prophet​. Similarly, we wouldn't publish cartoons likely to dismay or outrage mainstream followers of other religions​.”

Nope.

Sun News did, as it should have, because images of Mohammad are integral to a story about depicting someone some think of as a prophet.

The finicky mores of a reporting agency should at least be subject to consumers, yes?

And who can forget this recipient of softball questions and gushing yet completely undeserved praise?



God forbid that any politician should get an equal drubbing but, well, you know...

So, while Sun News TV is gone (for now), its impact is not. No one will flee to the CBC or CTV to fill in the void that is left. No one will look at the de facto "news" agencies in the same light again. The changing times and tastes don't hearken back for simpler times.

The gloves, as they were, are off.


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