I rarely consult the CBC Vancouver website, but I do study propaganda, and knowledge begins with research. CBC websites are obvious locations to bag juicy Canadian variants for the stew-pot. As a Public Historian I feel an obligation to collect a sampling of government produced propaganda texts and videos. After all, it is conceivable that a minuscule fraction of future Canadians may become curious about the Great Covid-19 Scare of 2020-2023. I only archive material that is certain to be deleted, redacted, concealed by corporate algorithms, or conveniently "lost". Some information from our first year of lock-downs and travel restriction in British Columbia, has already vanished. The covert deletion of the public record (when it is kept at all) is just one of many consequences of embracing digital communication, and pretending that it is a natural step in our cultural evolution.
In fact our culture is almost dead. That statement is unacceptable to most Canadians, and I would not dare to make it myself. I leave that to an expert - Israeli psychologist Sam Vaknin. He recently posted a video to Youtube which is a gift to the ungrateful - "SILENCE WHEN WE ARE ALL GONE". Horrifying!
Back to the CBC, and still on topic - the destruction of our culture. This morning I went the CBC Vancouver website looking for a specific piece of information. Something else caught my eye. It was a photograph of an anti-lockdown demonstration held on March 1st. (see below) A protester is shown lofting a photograph of Dr. Bonnie Henry with a Pinocchio nose. That essentially Henry as a liar. That didn't bother me, because of course Bonnie does deceive from time to time. She has to, to get the population to obey dictates that often illogical and illegal.
What really disturbed more, was the article written by Alex Migdal. I invite you to read this sample (below). Do you consider that journalism? Doesn't the story read like it is written for children? I thought so, and I scraped the first five "paragraphs" (should I apologize for using sneer quotes?) and carried them over to an online tool that I often use to help students with their writing assignments. It is called the AUTOMATIC READABILITY CHECKER. It works by processing the sample with seven widely known readability formulas, and then establishing an average grading.
This is how the web-tool "graded" Mr. Migdal's writing:
According to official federal statistics, Canada has a 99% literacy rate. Have I not just shown you evidence that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation believes our nation to be illiterate? A Grade 8 proficiency in English is NOT the the profile of a literate Canadian.
The profile given for Mr. Migdal on the CBC web page claims - "He's previously reported for The Globe and Mail, Guelph Mercury and Edmonton Journal." So what happened to him? Now before you dismiss the significance of what I am bringing to your attention, I urge you to take the time to listen to Sam Vaknin's despairing report. My prediction is that when you have finished those 39 painful minutes, you must agree that Covid mania is just a symptom of a wasting condition that is probably fatal.
If you take the trouble to find out how the employees of the CBC view their responsibility as guardians of our National Culture and their duty to make truthful statements about the taxpayers who fund their pay, perks and pensions... you need go no further than the "Journalistic Standards and Practices" page.
Under the header "Language Level and Good Taste" we find this defiant statement: "We use the language of accessible, articulate everyday speech." Of course they do.
