Dear Editor,
We often hear that a free press is essential to the functioning of any true democracy. This is why it is enshrined in section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, many people have misconstrued this as to guarantee their right of publication – a sort of obligation on the part of the press to print anything anyone says under the guise of protecting their “freedom of speech.”
The freedom of speech in section 2 only prevents the state from suppressing beliefs or opinions, save for such “reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” As private entities, the publishers, newspapers, television broadcasters, media companies, and social media platforms in this country have no obligation under the freedom of speech to publish anything that is presented to them. This is a decision held entirely at the discretion of the editors.
At the same time, the discipline of journalism has many recognized standards to which professionals attempt to adhere. This includes regular fact-checking and ensuring logical consistency of material prior to publishing. This is what draws the line between responsible journalists and tabloid journalism. As such a foundational piece of our democracy, it is incumbent upon this profession to ensure that the quality of their publications encourages responsible public discourse and serves to enlighten the public.
I am therefore profoundly disappointed in the Fort Frances Times for its handling of the Colonization Road “debate.” Rather than printing every piece of material generated by the locals – which is often of the quality one would find in 1930s-era encyclopedic entries on race and colonialism – it should be pursuing the endless possibilities for investigative journalism to shed light on the issue and build bridges in our communities.
We could instead be reading about the many laws that defy the imagination in their cruelty which served to create a situation where commemoration of a troubled past inflicts real pain upon entire groups of people here in the present. We could be reading about the land appropriations that Colonization Road facilitated – land appropriations that are still impacting my community and prevent us from accessing sacred sites that we have used for thousands of years prior to colonization. Or we could be reading about the everyday discrimination and the very real social issues in this town that clearly demonstrate themselves when I have a noticeably more pleasant time in Fort Frances when I am with colleagues that are white.
Instead, we consistently see the publication of profoundly simplistic and denial-based historical recitations that do nothing but continue the erasure of indigenous experiences and further entrench the societal divides. I ask of the Fort Frances Times, for the sake of a region which will see its demographics fundamentally shift in the next two decades, to get it together and honour the sacred role journalists have in democratic societies of informing and enlightening the public through responsible public discourse.
Signed,
Dan Morriseau
