CBC’s Rosemary Barton
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The University of Ottawa's Centre for Law Technology, and Society is hosting a panel on Tuesday called "Journalists Facing Mean Tweets: What It Means for Our Democracy," featuring CBC's Rosemary Barton.


Comment: Perhaps foremost in journalists minds for this conference, might be the agreed upon understanding that unregulated people are "extremely dangerous to our themselves and democracy," with an eye on keeping it safe for those 'handlers' that benefit from the many deceptions of our reality (historical, social, economic, geopolitical and climate... ).



Panellists will also include Mississauga-based journalist Fatima Syed and Aboriginal People's Television Network (APTN) producer Mark Blackburn.

The event will be a live recording of associate professor Elizabeth Dubois's podcast, "The Wonks and War Rooms."


The university describes the event as a conversation "to discuss online harassment, discrediting journalism, and what incivility means for our democratic systems."

"It's no secret that journalists have faced increasing harassment over the past few years," it adds.

The university cites an Ipsos survey of Canadian journalists from Nov. 2021 where 72% say they experienced harassment of some form during the past year, with 65% saying the abuse was online.


Comment: Conversely, polls in France looked to the 91% who seem to agree that journalist often abjectly lie, or lie through omission -"Yes, the media lies to us." So, indeed it seems it is exactly their news business model that serves as a foundation for such polling reviews; aside from the good journalist who often self-reflect and easily point out their own deteriorating profession.



"From personal attacks to accusations of bias or being 'fake news,' negativity directed at journalists can have a serious impact on when and how credible information is shared and found," says the University of Ottawa.


Comment: "Accusations of bias," seem also to be the MSM's standard operating procedure (one would need to be asleep to miss it). To be fair, though, most corporate journalists themselves have owners who set their news standards, which can be 180 degrees opposite from the standards (and oaths of ethics) journalists take upon graduating. Moreover, even owners themselves have those who they are beholden to, and must kowtow to their patron sponsors, sometimes even allowing for infiltration into their ranks, ranks that have produced plenty of mockingbirds. Of course, there are payoffs, with a stream of corporate and government funding that depend on scripted story narrative outcomes that 'must' be followed. Owners know this, just look at how some overlords ensure narratives that help, by deception, to promotes forever wars, not to mention corruption of our very social fabric.
CBC President Catherine Tait: "We are shutting down free speech at the CBC to defend free speech"
"Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play." - Joseph Goebbels

Panellists will discuss online spaces which are "increasingly toxic" as well as tackling a series of "tricky" questions.

These questions include, "what can we do to cultivate civic engagement between individuals and news media? What counts as incivility and who is a troll? How can we encourage broad civic engagement while discouraging harassment? How do we create safer environments for journalists?"


Comment: For starters, how about just speaking truth without distortions, which is what the CBC et al. could do. In this light, truth is suppose to be the cornerstone of the CBS's Mission Statement that guilds them as to how to act:
- To serve the public interest

Our mission is to inform, to reveal, to contribute to the understanding of issues of public interest and to encourage citizens to participate in our free and democratic society.

- To protect our independence

We are independent of all lobbies and of all political and economic influence. We uphold freedom of expression and freedom of the press, the touchstones of a free and democratic society. Public interest guides all our decisions.

- Accuracy

We seek out the truth in all matters of public interest. We invest our time and our skills to learn, understand and clearly explain the facts to our audience. The production techniques we use serve to present the content in a clear and accessible manner.
Fail?

As for journalists, they don't need safe spaces, what they need is to foster RESPECT for work well done, and they have lost respect for all the obvious de jour and historical reasons.

So, don't hold your breath waiting for the MSM (or legacy media) to change. One might as well wait for a river to run backwards.



Barton, who serves as CBC's chief political correspondent, has faced controversy in the past, with some accusing her of bias.

Barton's name appeared as an applicant in a CBC lawsuit against the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) in Oct. 2019 when the government broadcaster had sued the CPC over an online election ad. CBC lost the lawsuit after it was dismissed by a federal court, with the Conservative Party calling the decision a "clear win for democracy."

Barton was also criticized for her town halls during the 2021 federal election, where she was accused of being softer with Liberal leader Justin Trudeau than with Conservative leader Erin O'Toole.

"The questions Trudeau faced were absurdly soft, some of the 'undecided voters' were openly Liberal and Barton didn't push back nearly as hard as she did against the Conservative Leader," said True North's Candice Malcolm.

Barton has also been observed to have friendly interactions with Trudeau on Twitter, and even took a selfie with him.


Barton was blasted last year after tweeting in defence of Trudeau's botched vaccine rollout after Ontario Progressive Conservative premier Doug Ford said the vaccine supply was "becoming a joke."

"Can someone tell the Premier 1.5 AZ (AstraZeneca) is coming next week. On Tuesday," Barton tweeted.


Comment: Facepalm...
There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press. ~ Mark Twain

Barton also came under fire in 2020 for laughing at a law student who said he would not mind working on a farm to support Canadians and himself during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Unlike Carleton University's "Journalism under Siege" event, which was held in person with proof of vaccination and capacity limits on Mar. 8, it appears that "Journalists Facing Mean Tweets" will be held virtually.