John Oliver on the Forces and Powers Strangling Journalism
Another reminder of why The Tyee exists, and why we need your support.
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For obvious reasons, we at The Tyee obsess about the shifting media landscape. It boggles the mind to think that Twitter and Facebook didn’t even exist when we started in 2003. We also have a section dedicated to our evolving industry called Mediacheck, with our writers covering the changing trends, everything from mega mergers to new content models.
Talk show host John Oliver turned his attention to this world of ours this week with his latest episode of “Last Week Tonight” on journalism. Oliver touches on everything from downsizing big papers, putting artificial intelligence in charge of editorial responsibilities, and the takeover of media by owners whose sole interest is profit. (“I want to make enough money so I can afford you,” says the former owner of the Tribune media company, Sam Zell. “Hopefully we get to the point where our revenue is so significant that we can do puppies and Iraq.”)
Oliver laments the day that all journalists will no longer be able to do their jobs, at least, not without some higher-up telling them what they can or can’t write. For some journalists, that day has already arrived.
As Oliver says, “We’re going to have to pay for journalism or we’re going to have to pay for it.” Fortunately for The Tyee, over the years thousands of our readers have done just that, pitching in to hire a reporter in Ottawa, boosting our coverage of provincial and federal election campaigns, and helping grow The Tyee while other newsrooms shrink.
Most recently we raised $25,000 to fund a forthcoming series on youth voices across British Columbia – just this morning, our education reporter Katie Hyslop boarded an airplane to the Bulkey Valley to kick off the project.
We call our voluntary subscribers Tyee Builders, and we can’t thank them enough for their ongoing financial contributions. Learn more about Tyee Builders here. And thanks to John Oliver for the reminder of why The Tyee exists, and why we need reader support.