The large news organizations are too focused on the pursuit of profits to realize that their irresponsible coverage and algorithms are at the heart of a deeply divided world.
It is a fool's game to expect the mainstream news companies to change their ways and revert to producing high-quality, education-focused journalism. The focus for them will forever be on the size and ongoing attention – rather than the intelligence – of the audience.
Change must come...
The media organizations that accepted and promoted the words of medical officials and politicians without proper investigation and analysis over the last few years do not deserve your attention.
The New York Times, the Economist, the Globe & Mail, CNN, CBC, CTV – they all got the pandemic wrong. The coverage was no better throughout Europe and Down Under.
News companies stopped conducting good journalism and relentlessly published content that convinced most that the lock-down-and-take-your-shot approach...
Six years ago, I lost my youngest boy, Julian, in Italy’s Lake Como. Don’t worry - I found him right away.
After a few seconds of morbid panic, Julian bobbed to the surface, soaking wet, gasping for air, and gripping the cobblestone slope that had proved too slippery for his Velcro sneakers and sent him bumping into the water. While local vacationers looked on, sipping cappuccinos, and appearing to be bored to death by my nine-year-old’s near-drowning, I scurried my way down the cobblestones while silently...
Some people scoff at the idea that intellectual humility is a cornerstone of the BIG Media Ltd. business model.
They see me aggressively marketing BIG-Media.ca, making bold claims about the accuracy and integrity of a relatively new player in the news media game, and they wonder how such a serial self-promoter could possibly claim that his organization is practising intellectual humility.
However, pride, promotion, and intellectual humility are not mutually exclusive.
Wikipedia defines intellectual humility as "the...
In just 2.5 years, BIG Media Ltd. has established itself as a trusted leader in news coverage of the biggest issues.
How did we do it?
By recruiting an incredible team of bright minds who know how to educate with accuracy and integrity, and by adhering to editorial principles that minimize spin and maximize practical knowledge. We have not deviated from the mission statement that I wrote as we launched in February of 2021 – The Big Story.
Keep in mind that...
It seems that a lot of people are worried that Canada's Online News Act (Bill C-18), which went into effect in June, will make it more difficult for Canadians to find out what is going on in the world.
But the truth is, if Meta, Google, and other big players prevent you from reading content produced by Canadian news agencies, in almost all cases the tech firms will be doing you a huge favour.
In recent years,...
Turning off the news is not the answer.
Most of us by now are well aware that the mainstream media model is broken.
A ubiquitous focus on maximizing audience size and revenue rather than audience intelligence has led to a dreadfully ill-informed, increasingly polarized populace and far too many disastrous government policies.
We like to blame the politicians – and in many cases, we should – but often they are simply seeking to placate the misinformed masses.
Most...
Some contemporaries contend that I am a cantankerous contrarian who likes to create controversy by criticizing the status quo.
That sentiment is understandable when you look at some of my recent articles:
• Really nice people are a really big problem
• Top 5 Ways Mainstream Media Pull the Wool Over Our Eyes
• April Fool's Day is officially no fun at all
However, those who know me well know that I am an optimist who wants to get the...
Some people in my network have suggested that our society has moved past the pandemic and that there is no reason to provide coverage such as the high-level data analysis provided by my business partner Laurie Weston in the recent article linked here (Detailed analysis of 2021 deaths data reveals disturbing trends).
I could not disagree more.
If we do not examine carefully the consequences of pandemic policies, we are doomed to make similar mistakes in...
Really nice people are at the heart of much of what is wrong with our world today.
You know the type. You may even be the type – kind, trusting, avoiding conflict at almost any cost.
These traits are generally admired in our culture, but this needs to stop. I contend that the future of our society depends on it.
Really nice people must be prevented from making it really easy for really bad people to take over the...
