City Notebook: Don’t look away

By COLLIN GALLANT on February 12, 2022.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Media typically doesn’t comment on other media outlets.

It’s more the result of politeness or competitiveness, rather than a conspiracy, protecting our buddies or orders from up on high.

More generally, who but the media would care for such commentary?

But it’s an interesting thing that CHAT News decided to shut down social media comments on its reports on Friday.

Tired of a non-stop barrage of criticism over coverage of the convoys and COVID, management made the decision to shut down the ability for comments on Facebook, at least temporarily.

It’s an unusual step, but this is an unusual time when head-hunting on the internet has become institutionalized on social media.

It’s a pastime for many — surfing the net and firing off pot-shots or worse at anything you don’t agree with – an occupation for others.

That’s a tough call made by the station, bound to bring heat from protesters and the free speech crowd, perhaps condemnation from others as well.

Perhaps a pause will refresh, but unfortunately, the end result may be people will simply go elsewhere.

But rather than turning away, I’d say it’s a perfect time, or at least high time, that people take some time this weekend and get a good look at the comments on media sites.

Find a couple you don’t agree with and hover on the source. Who are they, what else have they said.

They might turn out to be a perfectly reasonable person who happens to hold a different opinion than you. If that’s the case, then welcome to a democracy.

But don’t shy away from the hard-line comments.

Now, obviously everyone is entitled to a bad day or a slip of the tongue, not every argument can be laid out perfectly on a smart phone.

But it’s not hard to find named or anonymous accounts that seem to exist for no other purpose than to lay down vicious, often vulgar rants. Hundreds, thousands per day.

There are millions of these accounts, according to the social media companies themselves, which seem to have little ability to care or combat the problem.

With such incessant noise, is it any wonder any issue that’s up for debate has become a preconceived notion, a bomb ready to go off?

These are what are called bots, because of their robotic, relentless nature.

Ironically, while we were worried about robots becoming more like humans, there were humans who became more like robots.

They parrot lines, mimic a bot’s complete lack of empathy, and launch into tireless diatribes, and have the ability like an earwig to burrow deep inside an issue.

Now do the same with a few hardline comments you may tend to agree with.

One more thing

The opening sentence notes that so-called traditional media doesn’t comment on traditional media, but so-called “new media” can’t stop itself from lacing every story, stance, campaign, comment with some woeful cry about out-of-touch “legacy media.”

A look ahead

Monday is Valentine’s Day, and speaking of warm and fuzzy, a byelection for the provincial riding of Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche must be called sometime this week. That race, held this spring, will include UCP candidate Brian Jean, and is sure to create some interesting debate.

100 years ago

The Alberta Federation of Labour and Great War Veterans Assoc. jointly submitted to newly formed cabinet that Albertans should have a say in doing away with prohibition-styled near-beer.

Famed female rights and temperance movement leader Nellie McClung opposed such a move.

Also in Edmonton, new Medicine Hat MLA W.G. Johnston declared that Alberta’s educational system was the best in Canada and argued that wages for teachers should be maintained. A Labour MLA in support of the governing United Farmers, Johnston also called for proportional representation, sick leave and protections for indebted farmers.

A man wanted for murder in Prince Rupert, B.C. was arrested by a Mountie in Mexico City after the fugitive fled via the eastern seaboard of the United States, travelling some 10,000 miles. That led the San Chronicle to declare that the RCMP “always get their man.”

In Rome, Pius XI became pope.

On the local ice, Medicine Hat would face Bellevue in a two-game total-goals series to determine the Alberta hockey championship’s southern semifinal.

The local challenge league saw the Rotarians top the Washington Avenue Tigers by a 5-1 score.

Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com