Andrew Cohen of the Ottawa Citizen, in a newspaper column, sniffs that released Somalia adventure journalist Amanda Lindhout hardly qualifies as a member of his august profession.
Cohen says Lindhout’s adventures are without “institutional support,” as if having a large Eastern Canada publication is needed to establish one’s press credentials.
We, who have worked in Red Deer, affectionately called the Red Deer Advocate the “Red Deer Aggravate” because editorially they aggressively and professionally did a good job of uncovering inconvenient truths.
Compare that with the giant conflicted print giants like the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post, until recently inextricably linked to Global-TV, the company that permanently shuttered Red Deer’s only TV station.
So none of these publications’ columnists and reporters tell the public the truth about the debates waging between the cable TV giants, and the broadcasters’ needs to save local TV in Canada.
The professional columnists and “journalists” seem to fear to tread where their owners ‘interests may be conflicted. We need some honest, open, real journalism.
Maybe Amanda Lindhout’s “leggy” good looks should come down east where the supposed self-important real pros are and teach honesty, just like they do at the Red Deer Advocate, where Amanda Lindhout is measured by her words, not her legs.
Wendell Wilks
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
Editor’s note: Wendell Wilks was program director for CHCA-TV in Red Deer during the 1960s.