An erosion of our freedoms and a silencing of the press

Rafe Mair is always a good read, whether you agree with him or think of him a relic of an other age, his ability to get a message across is always done with flair. Even more important with his articles or broadcasts, he leaves you seeking out more information and thinking about issues that sometimes fall under the radar from time to time.

His latest offering for the Tyee is one such article. He writes on that web portal about the quest to keep the concept of free speech alive in troubled times. A concept that is now approached more cautiously in a world that is finding it increasingly hard to speak its mind, lest they find themselves cast under suspicion for expressions that would be made effortlessly less than ten years ago.

While his critics will point out he may have an axe or two to grind, he doesn't wallow in self pity over his fates in the broadcast world (he does polish his halo a bit though). In his writing however he does warn of a growing trend of media concentration and the worries of a disconnected public and how they all can impact on the concept of freedom of speech.

Similar to the days of the McCarthy era, suddenly many look over their shoulder when they speak, afraid of a backlash or possibly worse. Many just don't bother to speak anymore, lest they reduce their chance for a promotion, a job or a friendship or business relationship. The concept of what was once known as a simple difference of opinion now morphing into a social convention best to be avoided.

It is to make democracy a lesser place when you can't speak your mind and as Mair points out the tradition of a free press has suffered as the media machine merges over and over again, reducing the number of voices willing to speak out against convention. Whether it be an in house corporate matter or in items of public concern, the current state of the Canadian media is such that the bean counters and those beholden to government largesse are afraid to rock the boat too much.

While there are still those in mainstream media who still go after the big stories and strive to get the public to pay attention, increasingly its the smaller independent voices that do a lot of the digging and the investigating into the stories that we should know more about.

They don't have the huge budgets of the big boys and girls, nor the audience, but for those looking for a complete story they're worth seeking out. Once we give up and stop looking for full information, we stop learning and the prospect of an informed and free society dims a little further.