Google's commitment to a free press; Big Brother tightens the noose

I see where Google Canada has found half a million in spare change to fund a media literacy program at the Canadian Journalism Foundation. This will equip Canadian youngsters age 9 – 19 to better ferret out “fake news” and develop a “deeper understanding of the role journalism plays in democracy.”

Of course it will. After all, a free press is the very cornerstone of our democracy. Just ask the CJF if you don’t believe me. Here’s CJF chair David Walmsley; “fake news accelerates distrust in our institutions, including distrust of the trained media who spend so much time trying to hold the powerful to account.”

Oh, so that’s what they’ve been doing! If that’s the case, they’ve been doing a slovenly job of it over my lifetime. As near as I can tell, trust in mainstream media was on a downward spiral for decades before Trump and Putin invented fake news a couple of years ago, and for good reason; the typical news consumer figured out long ago that if and when media hold the powerful to account, it is by accident rather than by intent.

No, there are many agendas that have priority over that particular mission, and they’re generally the agendas of the rich and powerful.

Be that as it may, we’re truly going down the bunny hole if we buy into the notion that Google or anybody else in Big Tech has the slightest interest in saving journalism or promoting truth-telling. These outfits are now the richest and most powerful entities on the planet, with the exception of a handful of nation states.

It’s safe to say that holding themselves to account is not a plank in their program.