Truth & Democracy

Or, go hug a journalist!

Today’s post is dedicated to my colleague and friend Rishi Nagar, who was viciously assaulted for doing his job as a journalist.

Believe in truth. Investigate. Be as courageous as you can.

Those are just four of Timothy Snyder’s twenty lessons from the twentieth century in his important book, On Tyranny.

I’ve been thinking about those lessons a lot lately. Snyder writes “to abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.”

There’s far too much spectacle in Alberta politics at the moment, and not enough truth. Chemtrails, vaccine safety, election fraud using electronic tabulators, and the list goes on. Elected to her party’s leadership by Albertans who opposed COVID vaccination mandates, Premier Smith now finds herself held accountable to those same people, as they are firmly in control of the UCP’s organization.

The Danielle Smith who speaks to the party base is willing to muse about the American military spreading chemtrails, to endorse ‘heterodox’ doctors who reject the scientific consensus over COVID and vaccines, and to treat figures like Jordan Peterson as beleaguered heroes. The Danielle Smith who knows she’ll have to answer questions from journalists and eventually face the broader electorate sometimes tempers the first Danielle Smith, or orders a ‘clarification’ to her statements after the fact.

It’s tempting to believe that the second Danielle Smith will assert herself after the November leadership review, but I fear the ongoing influence of the party membership and the ‘post-truth’ ecosystem that has flourished in recent years will ensure that the first Danielle Smith will be in evidence. In the meantime, we’re left with policies that are needlessly expensive (getting rid of vote tabulators), that victimize vulnerable Albertans (trans policies), and that do nothing to try to improve public health (still waiting on an announcement about COVID vaccines).¹

It’s no coincidence that Smith is willing to engage with ideological organizations that purport to be news organizations, and which spread disinformation. The rise of such organizations coincides with the decline of traditional journalism and leaves us much poorer as mis- and dis-information spreads and facts become a matter of opinion.

The fact checking, investigation, and willingness to speak the truth that traditional journalists offer are essential to democracy. Attacks on journalists — whether physical thuggery or statements from politicians claiming ‘bias’ when mainstream media tries to hold them to account — make our democracy weaker.

The seemingly endless rounds of cuts to mainstream news organizations leave us with less factual knowledge about our communities, whether they be local, provincial or national. The CBC, which provides coverage available to everyone, is bracing for impact after the next federal election.

So, if you want to do one thing for democracy today, hug a journalist. Or — better yet — renew a subscription to help keep a publication afloat.

1. A What Now subscriber whom I met in line for COVID and flu vaccines last fall sent me a tip yesterday — appointments are available for booking via Shoppers Drug Mart, with availability starting October 15. Thanks for the tip, M!