Listen Up! Perhaps media and politicians need to adopt Rotary’s Four-Way Test

Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler

Rotary has It right …

In this populist world we live in, there seems to be an escalating confrontation between politicians and the media. We see it every day in the United States, aided and abetted by their President and his daily tweets lashing out at any reporter or news anchor who dares to disagree with him. Just yesterday, he tweeted that Don Lemon, a respected CNN anchor, was the “dumbest man on television.” Very Presidential indeed and totally without substance. The good news for Lemon is that Trump’s tweet probably guaranteed that his contract would be renewed by CNN!

We see this unhealthy tension between the media and politicians in Canada as well. It is difficult to know who to believe any more. “Fake news” has even made its way to the Ontario Legislature! I happen to believe that a free and unfettered press is an essential ingredient of a democratic society. History has shown that the first step toward anarchy happens when freedom of expression is threatened or suppressed.

It is relevant to ask however, what the role and responsibility of a free press actually is? For sure it means that they should be totally free from government influence or control. They should also have a high regard for the truth and a passion for holding politicians and public servants accountable. There is simply no room for fake news in a free press. I sometimes wonder if that line has been blurred or indeed crossed in recent years, to the point where much of the media has become so politically biased that truth and accuracy in reporting is taking a second seat to creating and influencing the public agenda.

To be fair, media, especially newspapers, have had their political bias for generations. In Ontario, the Toronto Star was always proudly to the left, the Toronto Sun and the National Post to the right of centre and the Globe and Mail, pretty much kept one foot in each camp. There was a time when political opinions were relegated to the editorial page where they belong, or to opinion pieces, as long as they sang the company song.

Sadly, that is no longer the case. Political bias creeps into many news stories and is a major reason why so many people are no longer comfortable believing what they read. I remember one political wag, from years ago, who opined that if Mike Harris, walking down Yonge Street, noticed a burning building and rushed in and saved four lives and had his clothes burned off in the process, the headline in the Toronto Star would read, ‘Premier Seen Walking Naked on Yonge Street’. An exaggeration of course, but point taken.

Recently, much has been made of a Facebook and Twitter publication launched by the Ford Government called ‘Ontario News Now”. I confess, I don’t like it, especially when it is funded by taxpayers’ dollars. It smacks too much of government propaganda. But before anyone jumps all over this, please remember it is not a unique initiative. The Rae government published their own newspaper and the Liberals had something they called Liberal TV. All three Parties would likely defend their actions by saying they were not getting a fair shake from the media.

I find it disturbing that relations between elected officials and members of the media are at what seems to me to be a record low. There should be a degree of tension between these two institutions, each with a specific role to play in a democratic society. However, it has reached a point where there is no respect and no trust, resulting in no objectivity from either side. They define fake news, not by its accuracy but by whether it is consistent with their own bias. They dig in, on one side, the politicians, distancing themselves from the media through controlled scrums and their own news outlets and the media, on the other side, setting themselves up as the official Opposition. Both strategies are wrong and not at all in the public interest.

For a number of years I was a member of the Rotary Club of Huntsville. In fact, at 29, I was probably one of their youngest Presidents. Many years later I was privileged to receive a Paul Harris Fellowship, the highest honour bestowed by Rotary International. I learned a lot from Rotary and have always been particularly impressed with what they refer to as The Four-Way Test. It reads like this.

Is it the truth?
Is it fair to all concerned?
Will it build good will and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

This would be a much better and safer world if before mouths were opened or pen was put to paper, politicians and members of the media adhered to this simple creed.

Far too much to hope for of course, but as My Fair Lady’s Eliza Doolittle would say, “Wouldn’t it be loverly!”

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