No News Is Bad News

October 3, 2016
Longtime journalist Gill (All That We Say Is Ours) takes an unflinching look at the state of traditional Canadian news sources, finding them struggling as a result of self-inflicted wounds and narrow-minded worldviews: corporate concentration and cost-cutting, smugness at the CBC, a decline in overall quality and in public-interest stories, and an inability to comprehend digital platforms that have thrived outside of traditional media hands. Traveling abroad to assess how other countries are handling the decline of legacy media, he finds examples of good synergies at companies such as the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper and Manhattan's ProPublica investigative journalism outlet. His hopes for Canada are somewhat dimmed by the lack of outcry over increasing losses in an industry that, when functioning properly, is a key component for healthy democracies. Potential solutions include a greater role for philanthropic institutions (which often fund alternative U.S. news outlets but would run afoul of Canada's charitable advocacy laws). Gill posits that the discussion is much larger than a technical debate between print and digital. He invites readers to consider new national narratives and innovative means of telling stories as part of the new blood needed to infuse a dying industry.