The media has been referred to as the Fourth
Estate, it being the de-facto fourth arm of government along
with the executive, parliament and the judiciary.
The purpose of this Fourth Estate was to hold
the powers of the other three in check by keeping the public
informed about the truth behind their actions.
It is all too rare that the media - and
specifically the mainstream media - lives up to this duty. I
read a lot of media, and it's tiring to have to sift through
five or six stories on an event or issue to even make out a
shadow of the truth. Ever read Plato's Republic? He talks about
shadows on the walls of a cave as the only truth that humanity
as a whole can usually know.
Thanks to Northern Life for taking your
'duty' seriously in writing a piece about the Quality of Life
Report (City spin doctors misdiagnose report - Feb. 9 edition).
The standard media response would be simply to do a verbatim
report on the press release. You instead decided to look at it
with a critical eye.
In particular, I respected that you
highlighted women's issues, as they are all too often buried
beneath politics and PR.
I've read enough journalism and pondered its
role in the world enough to know when one of its practitioners
is doing their job well. I especially like to see
it in a local paper. All change comes from
the grassroots level. Thanks for being part of it.
Adam Gassner
Toronto