Canada’s Debate

Anyone who has read my blog with any regularity will know that I have certain misgivings about the entire “blogging” enterprise. What is it that bloggers hope to accomplish, either collectively or as individual agents? Some people are in it for the money, others for recognition and fame, some have a genuine beef that they want to share, and others want to be part of a program for change… and I think it is in this range of behaviours that we find the cause of all of our ills as a community, not in one or another.

Lets consider “traditional” journalism for a second. Journalism is generally dictated by a loosely defined code of ethics and standards. While there are numerous and sundry quantifications of this code, it can basically be summarized into three sets of principles: serve the public, tell the truth and minimize harm. Naturally, given the general fracturing of the news industry, these guidelines are constantly being bent and broken, but the most respected (and effective) journalists are always the ones who adhere to these canons. There is an understanding that role of the media is to serve the public in speaking the truth. Unfortunately, for us (and pretty much everyone who has ever been called a pundit) these canons read more like a multiple-choice questionnaire. Some people try to serve the public, others try to speak the truth (or their own truth), and to others a scoop is just an opportunity to make a their bones. What has sent me off on this rant? This extremely disturbing story in this morning’s Toronto Star.

An Internet blogger leaked a confidential court document on a massive police bust of the Hells Angels biker gang clubhouses 11 days before tactical officers launched their dawn raids this week, the Star has learned.

Leaked on the Internet was a judge’s order allowing federal authorities to seize the Hells Angels’ fortified clubhouse on Eastern Ave. in Toronto, which was home to the largest Hells Angels chapter in Canada.

I can’t for my life imagine any justification for this kind of “journalistic” behaviour, and yet as I look around at my peers (and even myself) I think that it’s not really that surprising. With the rise of blogging everyday schmoes and schmucks have been given the same tools to disseminate the “truth” as journalists, but we’ve yet to read the instruction manual that came with them.