Paul Deegan and Brent Jolly in the Prince George Citizen, Feb. 14, 2024
Late last week, British Columbia Premier David Eby dropped some verbal firebombs as he went on a 2½-minute tirade blasting BCE, the parent of Bell Media after their announcement of 4,800 job cuts and the sale of 45 radio stations across Canada.
He said, “The fact that they cannot find it possible with all of their MBAs to operate a few local news stations, in British Columbia, to ensure that people get accurate, impartial, reliable information in an age of disinformation and social media craziness is such an abandonment of any idea of corporate responsibility…I find it reprehensible…I think it’s appalling.”
He went on, “On behalf of all of the families, of the journalists, the media outlets, on behalf of all British Columbians that have watched their local news stations slowly turned to garbage by these companies, who now say, unsurprisingly, that there’s not a lot of support for them, I just want to say shame on you.”
The premier’s outspoken support for local journalism was admirable. We hope that unwavering support and passion will continue into next week’s Speech from the Throne.
There are four policies he can champion that will help support quality public service reporting in the province.
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