The State of Journalism & Mark Carney's Vacation

Also available at mises.ca

Canadian journalism doesn't typically consist of stories one would read in a mainstream newspaper, or hear on a CRTC-controlled television station. Of course, there are "journalists" reporting on events and other happenings across the nation, but there is very little actual investigative journalism going on in mainstream circles. Take the recent "scandal" involving Mark Carney.



Now this is a man who's monetary policies are sowing the seeds of the next Canadian recession. He is (one of many) responsible for the level of consumer debt in this country, he has a questionable history with Goldman Sachs and he sits on the board of directors of BIS, an international cabal of central bankers. Yet mainstream media journalists gloss over these facts. Instead, they've built up an entire myth around the man (really, a cult of personality) that he is somehow the saviour of the Canadian economy and will perform miracles as the head of the Bank of England.

But no one is immune to scrutiny. The mainstream media weren't going to let Carney leave for England without tarnishing his squeaky clean record.

It seems that Mark Carney spent last summer with a Liberal Party MP. This is scandalous - apparently - because the Liberals wanted Carney to lead them to electoral victory in 2015. Not to mention this somehow interferes with the Bank's "independent," "non-partisan" role in the economy. The idea is that by vacationing with Scott Brison, Carney was engaging in a conflict of interest.

But wait -- there's no scandal. Never mind. Not even Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is worried, "Mark says there is no partisan political activity," therefore it must be true. Mark Carney never lies. Obviously.

The lesson to be learned here has less to do with Carney's Liberal vacation and more to do with the complete lack of integrity with mainstream media. Thanks to independent media and organizations like Mises Canada, Mark Carney can be scrutinized for who he really is and what he's actually doing. But we're supposed to hate that. As David Budge writes in a Calgary Herald editorial, "online nonsense is a threat to our intelligence....Political saboteurs have been planting misinformation on social media since its inception."

I'll concede half-way. My daily visits to 9gag probably don't leave me any smarter, but when it comes to distributing misinformation, mainstream media journalists are clearly guilty of incalculable crimes.