The Canadian News Board
Sometimes it is difficult to clearly understand a situation someone
else is in until you apply the same principles to yourself which govern
them. Much like the expression, "Don't judge someone until
you've walked a mile in his shoes."
In October 2002, 13 Alberta farmers went to jail. They want the
opportunity to exercise marketing choices for their wheat and
barley. They do not wish to be compelled to support the Canadian
Wheat Board monopoly.
Some editorials written about these farmers have favourable explained
the farmers' plight in wanting marketing choice while others have
condemned them or simply dismissed them as attempting to dismantle the
CWB.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, editors' support
for the CWB monopoly and the single desk marketing concept would have more
credibility if their editorial board would call for the same marketing
conditions to be applied to their industry.
For example, let's call it the Canadian News Board (CNB). While
Canadian by name, it will only apply to the prairies. This board
will have extraordinary powers. It will be able to take ownership of
every story, every article, editorial content, what advertising will be accepted,
how much the news will be worth, how many papers will be printed, and how
much they will sell for. In other words, the Canadian News Board
will have a monopoly on every printed word produced and the CNB will sell
this material all over the world.
Every journalist will receive an initial payment at the beginning of
the news year. The spin will be that this initial payment will
stimulate creativity and imagination. After one year, and depending
on how successful the CNB was at selling news, the journalist will receive
a final payment. The fact that only half of the journalists agree
with this system is of little consequence.
If a group of prairie journalists become unhappy with this arrangement
and decide to take a sample of their work to the New York Times of the
Washington Post to get paid upfront in US funds, they will discover that
they cannot do so without a News Board export permit. In order to
obtain the export permit they must buy theirs news items back from the CNB
at inflated prices, which negates the potential for profiting from the
sale to a US buyer. Meanwhile, their counterparts in Ontario and
Quebec will be free to sell to whomever they please with no export permit
and no buy-back.
A high level of anger and frustration will justifiably creep into this
situation and the journalists will vent their frustration by openly
calling for change - a news dual market - only to have those requests for
change fall on deaf ears.
The authorities, driven by the voices of those who relish collective
mediocrity, will call on the Justice Department and Canada Customs to
punish these wayward journalists to the full extent of the law. And
if the law does no exist, make one up. The border must be
closed. no news that is not controlled by the CNB will be allowed
out of the country. "Throw the dissident journalists in
jail" will be the rallying cry. And while they are in jail,
others will write feverishly that they are deserving of their fate.
I wonder how many journalists would like to work under the Canadian
News Board monopoly. Editors and other onlookers who support the
principles of the CWB monopoly should call for the same conditions to
apply to their industry. No doubt, they'd judge these farmers differently
after they "walked a mile in his shoes."
Ken Dillen
November 25, 2002 |
