General State of Affairs

-- General State Of Affairs

FTLComm - Tisdale - August 10, 2000

fragmentary awareness
There is a remarkable presumption on anyone part who attempts to describe the way things are. Although we each have some inkling, perhaps a good deal more than we realise, of the state of affairs in which we live, work and play, the big picture eludes us so that we are facing a fragmentary awareness of conditions no matter what our background or experience.

sigh of relief
This past week end you may have heard that Izzy Aspire of Winnipeg and his "CanWest" group, an investment holding company that also owns the Global Television network in Canada has been able to purchase Conrad Black's Hollinger properties which includes most of the news paper dailies and weeklies in Canada. At first we may give a sigh of relief because Aspire has always been much more of moderate then Conrad Black but his company has established a reputation for a more journalistic approach to news gathering whereas Black's empire was a simple done in Toronto deal.

concentration
of information gathering
It is to early to think things are going to improve. Only the Federal NDP has voiced its concerns about the take over as they stated yesterday that a similar blending of broadcast and print media would not be allowed under American law, yet in Canada, there are no regulations to prevent such a take over. I think most of us realise the dangers of the concentration of information gathering and entertainment industries however, there seems to be general agreement that though the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission) may place some restrictions on Global, the deal is likely to go through

what more do we need to know?
As we gaze off across a prairie field or raise our eyes into the Southern prairie sky it seems as though there is no need to get ourselves worked up about these remote and disconnected entities from our own personal existence. The temperatures great, a pleasant breeze, the crop is ripening what more do we need to know?

we are not peasants
As peasants in a feudal land we would need no further awareness than what we can see and touch but , we are instead self determining freeman, responsible for our own lives, that of our children and family and as citizens we are responsible for the course and direction of our municipality, our province and our country. Our opinions matter, our votes count and we must be informed to make conscious and responsible decisions.

controlling information enhances their authority
The axiom that "he who controls what people know, controls the people" has never been more true than it is today. Information is power, this is the prime reason governments are so guarded about information, they realise that controlling information enhances their authority and reduces the public's ability to make informed decisions. You will notice how our provincial government's various controversial operations all spend a huge amount of time and energy guarding information. The Workers Compensation Board, SGI and the Department of Health all refuse to divulge even the most insignificant bit of information without being hammered with the "freedom of information" regulations and even then they will squirm around grudgingly permitting only the least amount of data to enter the public stream of knowledge.

log jam of information analysis
The Internet and things like Ensign do little to break up the log jam of information analysis and dissemination. The CBC, the people's broadcasting company, is under the tightest of restraints because of reduced funding and with the newspapers being held under one or another massive holding company the public feels a serious break down of trust in the news they hear. Because broadcasting in general has been made so confused with cable and direct view television advertisers have spread their money around trying to get their message across using the Internet and reducing television spending so that networks are all struggling just to stay in business.

sensational
The consequence is that news has become only useful if it improves ratings and the trivallising of news to focus on the sensational degrades the whole process to the point that informative and needed decision making news is very hard to come by.

Manchester Guardian
On Ensign's News Source page you will discover some news sources that you can access, they were created to give you the reader a simple set of sources that you can check to see what is happening. The four Saskatchewan daily newspapers are worth a quick look and so is both CBC and CJVR's sites for summaries of today's news, but if you want some in-depth perspective don't expect to find that in Conrad Black's National Post or the Toronto Star. I have included in that list the Manchester Guardian and consider it the safest new source available.

British point
of view
The Guardian sees the world from its British point of view which means that it does not have to take the convention and accepted politically correct American view of things. In general it is pretty revealing about American issues, highlighting the continued existence of slavery and child labour in the US and the flawed logic of the American Republican party. For good world news and excellent writing the Guardian is one of the best sources you can find.

figure things out
I really wish that Ensign had two more Mario deSantis and Gerald Crawfords and we could offer you more in terms of informed journalism. What we, as responsible citizens need, is not more information, but more informed criticism and evaluated information. None of us have the time to comb through all the various reports and sorting out fact from fiction, we need trustworthy focused critical comment that will help us figure things out and from that data, allow us to judge things accordingly.

Sincerely
Timothy W. Shire

-- General State Of Affairs

FTLComm - Tisdale - August 10, 2000

fragmentary awareness	There is a remarkable presumption on anyone part who attempts to describe the way things are. Although we each have some inkling, perhaps a good deal more than we realise, of the state of affairs in which we live, work and play, the big picture eludes us so that we are facing a fragmentary awareness of conditions no matter what our background or experience.

sigh of relief	This past week end you may have heard that Izzy Aspire of Winnipeg and his "CanWest" group, an investment holding company that also owns the *Global Television* network in Canada has been able to purchase Conrad Black's *Hollinger* properties which includes most of the news paper dailies and weeklies in Canada. At first we may give a sigh of relief because Aspire has always been much more of moderate then Conrad Black but his company has established a reputation for a more journalistic approach to news gathering whereas Black's empire was a simple done in Toronto deal.

concentration of information gathering	It is to early to think things are going to improve. Only the Federal NDP has voiced its concerns about the take over as they stated yesterday that a similar blending of broadcast and print media would not be allowed under American law, yet in Canada, there are no regulations to prevent such a take over. I think most of us realise the dangers of the concentration of information gathering and entertainment industries however, there seems to be general agreement that though the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television Commission) may place some restrictions on Global, the deal is likely to go through

what more do we need to know?	As we gaze off across a prairie field or raise our eyes into the Southern prairie sky it seems as though there is no need to get ourselves worked up about these remote and disconnected entities from our own personal existence. The temperatures great, a pleasant breeze, the crop is ripening what more do we need to know?

we are not peasants	As peasants in a feudal land we would need no further awareness than what we can see and touch but , we are instead self determining freeman, responsible for our own lives, that of our children and family and as citizens we are responsible for the course and direction of our municipality, our province and our country. Our opinions matter, our votes count and we must be informed to make conscious and responsible decisions.

controlling information enhances their authority	The axiom that "he who controls what people know, controls the people" has never been more true than it is today. Information is power, this is the prime reason governments are so guarded about information, they realise that controlling information enhances their authority and reduces the public's ability to make informed decisions. You will notice how our provincial government's various controversial operations all spend a huge amount of time and energy guarding information. The Workers Compensation Board, SGI and the Department of Health all refuse to divulge even the most insignificant bit of information without being hammered with the "freedom of information" regulations and even then they will squirm around grudgingly permitting only the least amount of data to enter the public stream of knowledge.

log jam of information analysis	The Internet and things like *Ensign* do little to break up the log jam of information analysis and dissemination. The *CBC*, the people's broadcasting company, is under the tightest of restraints because of reduced funding and with the newspapers being held under one or another massive holding company the public feels a serious break down of trust in the news they hear. Because broadcasting in general has been made so confused with cable and direct view television advertisers have spread their money around trying to get their message across using the Internet and reducing television spending so that networks are all struggling just to stay in business.

sensational	The consequence is that news has become only useful if it improves ratings and the trivallising of news to focus on the sensational degrades the whole process to the point that informative and needed decision making news is very hard to come by.

Manchester Guardian	On *Ensign's* News Source page you will discover some news sources that you can access, they were created to give you the reader a simple set of sources that you can check to see what is happening. The four Saskatchewan daily newspapers are worth a quick look and so is both *CBC* and *CJVR's* sites for summaries of today's news, but if you want some in-depth perspective don't expect to find that in Conrad Black's *National Post* or the *Toronto Star. I have included in that list the Manchester Guardian* and consider it the safest new source available.

British point of view	The *Guardian* sees the world from its British point of view which means that it does not have to take the convention and accepted politically correct American view of things. In general it is pretty revealing about American issues, highlighting the continued existence of slavery and child labour in the US and the flawed logic of the American Republican party. For good world news and excellent writing the Guardian is one of the best sources you can find.

figure things out	I really wish that Ensign had two more Mario deSantis and Gerald Crawfords and we could offer you more in terms of informed journalism. What we, as responsible citizens need, is not more information, but more informed criticism and evaluated information. None of us have the time to comb through all the various reports and sorting out fact from fiction, we need trustworthy focused critical comment that will help us figure things out and from that data, allow us to judge things accordingly.

	Sincerely Timothy W. Shire