Have to argue with the fourth point, at least the point of it. I mean yeah, our satirists in Canada aren't as good, and I love Stewart and Colbert, but I'm not sure how much they're changing the conversation or industry. Journalism in the States appears to be in an even worse state than Canada. CNN is ALL about sensationalism to improve ratings, and Fox isn't even an option, and has zero credibility. Olbermann and Maddow, while not nearly as bad as Beck or O'Reilly, have pretty obvious leanings themselves and aren't what I would point to as great insight or debate. At least, not often.
I do agree that journalism has declined rapidly and constantly over the last 30-40 years, and more obviously and quickly during the news channel revolution, due to a search for ratings. And that while we are not at the level of garbage as America, we don't have a lot to be proud of either and there are some big problems.
South Park actually has a pretty clever episode addressing the media doomed to fail as ratings become more and more important.
I do think that having a CBC or BBC or publicly funded organization does help, but it is prone to problems too, just not as quick or defined as a private station.
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