I have been aware of the news media since I was a young girl. We never had a television at home, but Mom listened to the radio news on the Toronto station CFRB twice a day. My oldest brother delivered the Toronto Telegram newspaper in the 1960s and we all read a copy before he started his route each afternoon. It was known as a Conservative-leaning paper while its competitor, the Toronto Star was Liberal-leaning. Grandma D did have a television. After dinner, before the dishes were cleared from the table, she always moved to the living room to watch the thirty-minute CFTO TV evening news.
When I was in university, I seldom missed CBC's 6:00 PM World Report on the radio followed by As It Happens, hosted by Barbara Frum. I loved her interviewing style and her interesting take on current stories. Both of these radio programs play in the same time slots today. Good journalism, whether in print, on radio or television is essential when sharing important news stories. I watched an interview with Peter Mansbridge who described how each story that he read on the evening news was discussed with his team as they worked to identify and eliminate bias in the reporting. He admitted that bias is always present, whether it is political, geographical, racial or gender-based in nature.
Today we wade through multiple online news sources, many luring visitors to their sites with sensationalized click-bait headlines. Photos can be manipulated and modified to fit any narrative. Citizen reporting is easy with cell phones available to record events instantly, but verification and context can be difficult to establish. Many independent journalists report on Substack and I have enjoyed reading some newsletters on this site. But there is a lot of misinformation presented on the platform as well. Facebook and Twitter encourage instant, emotional responses from their readers and false narratives can become viral very quickly. Online news has become emotionally draining and tiring for me, especially during the recent protests in Canada and the current invasion of Ukraine. Staying informed is important, but constant immersion in the news cycle is unhealthy.
Part of my effort in controlling excessive online scrolling is to read at least one book a week. It takes discipline to make my mind focus on more than 280 characters of a Twitter post or the five points of an informative blog. This week I read a library copy of Nothing But the Truth, A Memoir written by Marie Henein. The author is a renowned Toronto criminal lawyer whose family immigrated to Canada from Egypt and Lebanon in the 1960s. She shares her family story and how her early experiences shaped her values and aspirations as a lawyer. She has been criticized for defending people who have been charged criminally but points out that a surgeon operates on good and bad people because it is the ethical thing to do. Likewise, all people in our society are entitled to representation before the court of law. The book was so good that I purchased my own hardcover copy today, something I rarely do.
We are entering the season of Lent this week, and I have resolved to "fast" from social media for the next six weeks (other than writing posts on this blog). I can use the time to read and contemplate, visit three-dimensional people, and interact with nature. I will stay informed through more traditional channels such as radio and reliable print sources. I actually started this a couple of days ago and am sleeping better and have more time for projects I have procrastinated in completing. Social media is here to stay and it has the potential for good if used thoughtfully rather than with emotional reaction. Stepping away for a period of time will help me decide its value in my life.
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