Postmedia A Farce

Rory J. Koopmans, B. Admin.
#6, 14504-108 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5N 1G8

January XXIst, MMXVI

Hon. Dave Eggen, B. Ed., MLA
Minister of Education,
New Democratic, Edmonton-Calder

Dear Dave:

Most of the Edmonton media, especially the socially liberal & progressive left-wing part of it may have a hate on for me, but that doesn't mean I am not pissed off with Postmedia for letting go employees at The Edmonton Journal & its other affiliated papers yesterday. These reporters & support staff are good human beings with families to look after like anyone else. Having taken a couple of journalism & broadcasting courses at the Northern Alberta Institute Of Technology (NAIT) as options, I have a great deal of respect for the press & find this news devastating.

I. We need more journalists during these stressful times, otherwise how are we to keep politicians held to proper account? They will be able to get away with more schemes & fritter away billions upon billions more of taxpayer dollars without any media oversight & that is frankly just wrong!

II. Without media we wouldn't have excellent reporters like Darcy Henton of The Calgary Herald & Karen Kleiss of The Edmonton Journal discover the fact that many previous Tory administrations were covering up the numbers of dead kids in foster care, as well as the circumstances behind many of those deaths.

III. Without media we wouldn't have had then U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, Republican-California have to resign in disgrace due to outright lies & the investigation by The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein exposing his crap with The Watergate break in.

IV. Also, collapsing The Edmonton Journal & The Edmonton Sun into one newsroom to share one space is okay. However, its very unethical of Postmedia to use the same editorial staff to write copy & opinions for both papers. Thus giving both The Journal & The Sun less editorial control over their content & opinions as one opinion in either paper that might be valid could be struck out any time if it was seen to affect the status of the other paper & vice versa since interference would prevent either paper from retaining its "stand-alone" status.

A Bad Day For Journalism & Students Of It,

Rory

Source: Myself.