A country that claims to be a democracy should never raise up the media above everyone else.
What is the media today?
Is the media each and every one of us, each able to record what is happening, and able to share our views on new platforms?
Or is the media a special, protected class of people that are placed above the rest of us, and are the sole arbiters of what is true?
I imagine that you and I would pick the former. After all, the rise of the independent media has been one of the most democratizing processes in recent history, giving a wider range of people the opportunity to document and comment upon what is happening around us.
However, there are still some who believe that the media should be placed above the rest of us.
We can see this in the response to the Pierre Poilievre campaign pushing back against Global News, when Global tried to set up an obvious left-wing hit job against the CPC frontrunner.
Some – especially people in the establishment media – reacted with outrage.
They seem to believe that the power dynamic should go only one way: The media is allowed to say whatever it wants about you, but you can’t push back and criticize them in return.
It’s a deeply anti-democratic way of thinking, as it insinuates that ‘journalists’ are above everyone else.
Of course, you’ll note how that only applies to journalists the establishment approves of.
Those outside the establishment are not afforded the same presumptive status.
If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out
Free expression means people are allowed to disagree.
The media can say what it wants.
But those targeted by the media can also say what they want.
It’s not ‘dangerous’ to push back against a reporter.
In fact, the real danger would be in not pushing back, because we would be doing severe harm to our democracy if the establishment media had the impunity to say anything they wanted without expecting criticism in return.
We find our way to the truth through an open debate of ideas, and that debate can’t happen if the establishment press is given special powers and privileges.
It’s no coincidence that the more the Liberal government subsidizes and co-opts the media, the more the media acts like the government.
Both the Trudeau Liberals and the establishment press believe they are better than the rest of us, and should rule over us.
Exempting reporters from criticism would mean feeding into that mindset, and that is the last thing we should do.
Instead, we should make it clear that no Canadian is placed above another, and that those who dish out criticism – particularly when it involves making relentless left-wing attacks on others – can also be criticized in return.
In a free society, accountability works both ways.
Spencer Fernando
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