If we measured the amount of space and time devoted to issues in news outlets, we would conclude audiences are most interested in politics, business, sports and entertainment. This is astonishing when we consider the impact of science when applied by industry, medicine and the military.
I was born in 1936 when smallpox ravaged millions annually (it’s been extinct for decades), polio was a feared childhood disease, and we didn’t have television, jet travel, computers, cellphones, penicillin, plastics, DDT, CFCs, satellites… the list is long and I’m not really that old! Change is inevitable, and science provides the best assessment of the state of a rapidly changing planet.
When I returned to Canada in 1962 after studying in the United States for eight years, I was shocked by the lack of government support for science here, which reflected the population’s lack of interest in science. I was a scientist so it was in my self-interest for the public to understand why science matters, how new discoveries in areas such as my field, genetics, might affect their lives. Science was and is too important to be used selectively to justify or promote political and corporate agendas.
I chose to work in print and electronic media on the assumption that with more information, people could make better decisions about how science and technology would affect their lives. Much of my career was with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the CBC, which is still vital. But the explosive growth in media outlets through cable, satellite and the internet flooded the public sphere with information and “content,” much of it pornography and advertising.
People can now connect to the global network any time, anywhere with our phones, but how can an ordinary person navigate the glut of information designed to sell stuff and unfettered by such a distraction as truth? All the demands for freedom from government dictates or restrictions on corporate or industrial activity — outrageous claims backed by cherry-picked data or even manufactured information — serve vested interests driven by all manner of goals. Political events in the U.S. have plunged the country into an Orwellian nightmare where lies have become indistinguishable from truth.
Disinformation, misinformation, advertising, distortion and deliberate lying are now unavoidable. Science has never been more important, to respond to viral disease outbreaks, artificial intelligence, nuclear threats, biotechnology and climate change. But how and where can we find the truth, the evidence?
The adage “He who pays the piper calls the tune” is as relevant as ever. Well-funded right-wing and libertarian organizations (the Heritage Foundation, Fraser Institute, Heartland Institute, Cato Institute, Koch network) flood the media and internet with biased materials that undermine progressive government policy and promote unfettered corporate activity. Conspiracy-driven efforts attack vaccines, climate activists, scientists, doctors, environmentalists and more. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on advertising to drive pacified, uncritical audiences to consume more.
We now have federal and provincial politicians opposing carbon pricing, using simplistic slogans like “axe the tax” — without even mentioning climate change. It’s a distraction tactic from the fossil fuel industry’s playbook: never mention the real problem.
The CBC is publicly funded. This makes it different than commercial networks, which rely on advertising as the primary revenue source. When major advertising revenues come from forestry, fossil fuels, banking, pharmaceuticals, car companies or salmon aquaculture, commercial media might avoid or tone down reports critical of clear-cut logging, oil and gas development, drug profits, automobile pollution or open-net pen fish farms.
The CBC isn’t entirely ad-free, only its radio broadcasts. Television has long been supported by advertising revenue, although proposals to make it ad-free often emerge. Relying too much on advertising leads to greater reticence about broadcasting shows that might generate a negative response from industry.
A publicly funded broadcaster’s constituency is the public. It must stand free of corporate or government control. It needs money to do that — but now we’re seeing political proposals to slash a billion dollars from CBC’s budget. With rapid and potentially disastrous change spreading from our southern neighbour, CBC is the critical eyes and ears on Canada. Its funding shouldn’t be cut; it should be increased by at least a billion dollars, so that it can inform all people in Canada, free of government or corporate control.
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation.
Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.
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