Limiting questions lets government control dialogue

By Lethbridge Herald on April 22, 2023.

OUR OPINION

In today’s political climate, democracy is at considerable risk in many jurisdictions across Alberta, Canada and the world. 

Democracy (not a democratic party) can only be maintained in a society when elected officials can be held accountable by their constituents/residents when they have access to informed reporting through reputable media outlets.

For many decades, traditional media (newspapers, television and radio) has been, and still is the most trusted source of reporting to their community and with their respective constituents. 

In the past two decades, digital media has become a significant source of information to the people of all areas in the world. The new digital media has many legitimate, trusted digital outlets that do provide valuable reporting and insight that people can rely on – however, in recent years we have seen a proliferation of social media outlets that have become popular and considered as mainstream media.

What has also become evident during the past number of years is that – while there are reputable digital media outlets – there are many, many digital media outlets that only exist to perpetuate false narrative to create confusion and mislead people to believe their false information is fact when it is anything but fact. 

Government’s recent restriction on questioning limits does not promote open and honest dialogue. These restrictions allow government to control the message and no longer allows for residents of Alberta to access real fact-based reporting on the government’s decisions and actions. 

There is a long held wisdom that when a government shows you its true character through their actions … believe that character, not how they try to evade that truth.