A few suggestions to APTN

Page 4

Editorial

The new world of journalism can be a frightening place for old school reporters, especially those who subscribe to the H.L. Mencken ideal of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

In an era where corporate monopoly ownership of mass media has become the norm, increasingly, "the comfortable" are the press, print and broadcast combined in this new world called convergence, where cheaper is better and the bottom line dictates the services that are provided.

For those reporters who just want to get the story out no matter whose friends get their noses tweaked if they get caught crossing a line, there is an acid burning away at their stomach lining. They are watching the decay of their profession, where image is favored over substance, and smart and sophisticated is replaced by shiny and slick.

The battle has always been to protect the news from degenerating into entertainment, and never has there been a more alarming call to arms. Yes, more people watch game shows or sports or some other form of harmless diversion than ever read or watch the news, but the temptation to jazz up or dumb down the news just to widen its audience base must be fought.

It's a mistake to think of news as entertainment. News is a public service. It's costly and it's hard work, and it's harder still to be outside of the mainstream, shouting into a windstorm hoping your perspective will be heard. But it's necessary. It's an essential element that contributes monumentally to a free and democratic society.

With that said, it's important to take a look at the state of journalism in Indian Country. Simply put, there's too much bad about it to be doing much of a good in this community.

Band- or tribal council-owned publications are disguised as newspapers to distribute propaganda, where reporters could never dream of exposing any wrong-doing or questionable activities by the politicians who control them. Independent operators, where the real potential lies for providing well-researched, well-written articles from the Native perspective, have only committed to raking in ad revenue.

And now, the board of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network has directed its chief operating officer to get "more bang for the buck" from the news department. The CEO told the staff that there is one particular entertainment show being aired on APTN that has a modest budget and attracts a decent audience and that can generate a decent amount of advertising revenue, which makes it profitable. The news, the board reasons, should be able to match that. But that's not the nature of the news biz, not in the short-term at least.

APTN has the biggest budget of any Native news operation in Canada-probably in the world. The reporters see $2 million a year as barely adequate and, with the cost of television production, it probably is. But if every penny of that $2 million is spent on protecting the rights of Aboriginal people to know what is going on in their world, then it's money well spent.

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The board should know that with a good news show comes prestige and respect, and that's just as good as money in the bank in the long run. So to get more bang for your buck, don't compromise on dignity and high ideals. If you decide to go with Entertainment Tonight instead of 60 Minutes or fifth estate, you'll pay a price.

We urge the board to be patient, to tolerate small losses in the short term, to keep improving the quality of the news programming and to maintain the commitment to first rate journalism. Your viewers deserve nothing less.

If you do, by and by, your news shows will start to make money and then they'll keep making money for a long, long time.

APTN has an extraordinary role to play in the field of news and current affairs in Indian Country. With commitment, you will become warriors for truth and justice, people of honor, who will improve the quality of the lives of Native people in Canada.

It's why you exist. It's why we exis.