Politics and your Vote

Time for another election… Once again. You would think by the amount of elections we have had over the past few years Canadians would know how to vote. Now I don’t mean that in the context of who to vote for I simply mean how to physically vote… As in make a check mark on the ballet.

Judging by the last election and the fact that 40% of those who are eligible to vote did not, experts are saying that this coming election is not going to be any better (http://www.montrealgazette.com/Experts+predict+voter+turnout/4551740/story.html) Why is this? You may ask. Well there are numerous opinions regarding this matter. The link posted states that one of the reasons people do not bother with voting is the fact that they feel that politicians make it seem like their vote does not count. The article also makes the argument that people are not voting due to the fact that promises are continually being broken by those whom are elected.

And then in my own personal opinion there are those that just may not understand and who “don’t have the time” to bother voting. A small part of me can’t blame them. The reason I say this is that politics is rather confusing and can take a good deal of time to understand fully. When you put that together with the other reasons previously described it makes for a very unappealing way to spend your time.

There are those that try to solve this problem such as CBC’s vote compass, which has gained attention from over one million people (http://www.vancouversun.com/Vote+Compass+passes+million+mark/4557719/story.html). I was included in those one million people and I participated in finding out what party I should vote for. Although for me, as I assume it is for others, it is not just the party I am voting for but the person as well. The question I ask myself is not only what party to I want to have the most electoral power but who is it that I want to be in charge of running the country that I live in. To add to concerns regarding this there has also been news story’s accusing the vote compass to be bias toward the liberals (http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/03/31/cbcs-vote-compass-accused-of-bias/).

So if we can’t rely on a 5 minute questionnaire to give us answers, if we can’t be bothered to spend countless hours to research who would be the best leader for our country then what are we to do? I’m sorry to disappoint any of you who thought I would have an answer to this question because I do not. I am left with simply doing my own personal best to be an educated citizen. If you decide to do the same then good for you, that makes at least two of us. 

 

So you want to be a Journalist??

When I picture what the perfect journalist would look like I see someone with a disheveled appearance likely due to lack of sleep because they have been working on a story all night or researching other news stories that are possible leads. I’m not sure if I say this because this is the way Hollywood portrays journalists however even so this is how I picture a dedicated journalist.

When thinking about skills missing in journalists today it is a difficult question to answer. I say this because there are so many different types of journalists out there all over the world with so many different opinions and outlooks on stories. Maybe that is the skill missing- lack of communication between journalist. I can read the same story in 5 different newspapers and finish with not only 5 different opinions but 5 versions of the same story. I am then left with wondering which one is closest to the truth.

When I think of topics that might be under reporting the first word that comes to mind is truth. Can we really blame journalists for this though? As we know the news organizations are being run by large corporations and add campaign companies that are telling the paper what they can and cannot print thus it leads to the news organizations to tell their journalist just how much truth they are allowed to reveal.

So I ask myself the question - What is it that sometimes prevents journalists from being journalists? To answer that question in regards to myself and what is preventing me to choose that career path I will give you these three reasons.

1.     The ability to write freely is taken from you as soon as you begin to work for news organizations. As I mentioned above journalists are constantly being told what they can and cannot write in regards to truth.

2.     Journalism isn’t what it was say even 50 years ago. With the internet and personal blogging there is a great change from when someone would go down the corner store and pick up a newspaper. I would not go so far as to say journalism is a dying profession, I would simply say it just isn’t what it used to be.

3.     Finally going back to how I began this blog with my vision of what a journalist should look and then trying to relate that to myself… That is not what I want. I’ve talked to others in the profession and it seems to me that it takes a great deal of commitment and time, which includes time away from the office. Personally I just feel it would be an extremely stressful environment and unless you’re extremely committed it would be a difficult job indeed.  If you are this type of person that can be so committed to the news and allowing the public to be informed (to a certain degree) then I have a great deal of respect for you. After all someone has to do it and if it’s you then all I have left to say is go for it.