This week's Global Research News Hour focuses on the phenomenon of concentration of media ownership and how that serves to distort public discourse and by extension the fabric of our democracy.
We start with Mel Hurtig, a prominent former bookseller, publisher, and outspoken Canadian Nationalist, and author of several books including The Vanishing Country, Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids, and his latest, The Arrogant Autocrat: Stephen Harper's Takeover of Canada. In this recently recorded interview Hurtig shares his concerns about the unprecedented concentration of media ownership in Canada, including how it distorts reporting on critical stories about free trade and climate change, why Canada's State Broadcaster, the CBC is likewise suffering a deterioration in its reporting, and why the explosion of internet and digital media does not make up for the shifting of the mainstream even further toward profit-driven, as opposed to public-interest driven news and opinion.
In the second half hour, occasional contributor Kellia Ramares-Watson brings us a marvelous conversation with Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of the progressive media advocacy group Media Alliance. They explore the threats to democracy associated with huge media companies dominating the majority of what audiences see read and hear, the dangers associated with the vertical integration of private internet service providers with content providers, and the need for a 'Global Public' to counter the influence of globalized capital.
Interview with Mel Hurtig by Michael Welch Interview with Tracy Rosenberg by Kellia Ramares-Watson
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