International Right to Know Day, which falls on 28 September, is a global initiative that highlights the role journalists play in providing reliable news and information.
This year, it will also draw attention to the turbulence and threats facing the industry and affecting citizens and democracy around the world.
Every year, our union marks International Right to Know Day: we believe that it is impossible to improve working conditions and the world without having trustworthy sources of information.
Journalists are holding authorities to account, but lately this has been less true at city hall and in smaller towns, where local news has been centralized and suppressed.
In Canada, many smaller communities are without a local television station, newspaper or digital presence, and are unable to share local news, question politicians and leaders or investigate wrongdoing.
This has created information deserts, with citizens turning to the internet and social media for information, leading to a proliferation of misinformation and disinformation.
Social media giants, run by American monopolies, are using algorithms to curate social media feeds and put their bottom line first, with local news and holding authorities accountable second. Unifor deplores Facebook’s callous decision to block Canadian news content.
Clicks mean dollars for these companies, and websites that make the wildest claims or most sensational headlines often get the most clicks, becoming moneymakers for American social media companies. Unfortunately, this phenomenon sidelines democracy and leaves the public misinformed.
Bad actors on the internet also feel emboldened to harass journalists, particularly journalists of color and members of equity-deserving groups. This hatred is real, and media workers in our union are confronted daily by people behind their keyboards who utter the most vile, often sexist and racist insults.
Unifor believes that International Right to Know Day should be celebrated every day. For years, our union has been pushing for support for local news and we will continue this fight for journalists and media workers on the ground. Our union has established a special advisory committee to prioritize the many issues facing media workers in the sector in a way that is meaningful and effective for them.
Unifor has also stood with journalists who have been harassed and is working to stop it at the source, particularly with the rise of conservative politicians like Pierre Poilievre, who smugly criticize journalists and media workers and threaten to defund them, including the CBC.
Today and every day, Unifor reaffirms its commitment to saving local news.
We still have the opportunity and the duty to save journalism.
