57 Replies to “Should Journalists Be Licensed by the State?”

  1. I want to see them license SDA and Five Feet of Fury and The Phantom Soapbox and…
    Really, go for it boys. Take a run, see how you make out against foreign servers and Anonymizer etc. The Great Firewall of China has more holes than a hole factory.
    They could license the MSM for all I care, it won’t make it any worse than it is now. 100% in the tank is still 100%.

  2. Wow, Quebec going the route of Hugo Chavez…. what a surprise….
    If there’s ever been a slippery slope to hell, one which involves any form of media regulation, no matter how seemingly benign, would be the most obvious one.
    Will the sheeple (pronounce with a french accent) wake up from their slumber this time?

  3. I’m sure everyone at the CBC agrees. They are government stooges, the only thing missing are the licenses to prove it.

  4. As soon as that happens, you will know that you live in commuinist paradise.
    One thing though, few will notice and fewer will care, until they are told what to think.

  5. “The stated intention is to distinguish those dedicated to “serving the public interest” from “amateur bloggers.””
    I’ve noticed that many of the “amateur bloggers” are a lot more dedicated to serving the public interest than the propagandists of the “journalist” profession.
    Quebec;what the hell are we doing allowing them to stay in Canada?

  6. Yeah, and this is the province that elected a lot of NDPers. Makes more sense all the time.

  8. The fact that something like this is even discussed is scary. And it really shows the mental states of those involved.
    The states only roll must be to provide the court system to allow recourse of those wronged by the press (or anyone for that matter)
    The truth should always be a defense and the idea that the state should regulate the means by which the public discovers what is done in our name by the states just a very scary slippery slope.
    Just as when someone says ‘if you did nothing wrong, why not allow a search’, the search is not the point. The idea that the state feels it should be able to request one is the scary thing.
    I’m not exaggerating when I states that the bottom of this slippery slope has people handing out armbands…

  10. Beyond the inevitable problems involved with journalists becoming government dependents, they will also be boring. Along with government regulation will come a process for accreditation that will become rigid and closed to outsiders (whomever isn’t of the politically correct variety). A uniformity of thought will naturally occur due to a uniformity of life experiences. The pathway to journalism will be,for example – middle class, growing up in a suburb of large city, university (humanities and social science) J-school degree, politics conforming to an area ranging from Red Tory to Quebec Socialist red . Sure there will be an enforced diversity of racial background but does the color of the hands typing the article matter if the brain has been programmed in exactly the same manner. It is not a coincidence that some of the most interesting journalists have come from unconventional backgrounds. (copy and paste from NP)

  12. Of course, once the government controls the “official” news market the quality of journalism will become irrelevant. Financial losses by the MSM will be recouped by fees and taxation. The scheme could follow a direct or indirect tax route- Fees on bloggers, fees collected by IPSs and charged to Internet users or direct artist-like funding from taxpayers.
    Who knows,even Coyne’s pundit marketing board is a possibility (it is Quebec, after all):
    What I have in mind is some sort of scheme whereby the government would restrict the supply of opinion in magazines and newspapers to some fixed number of column inches per year, with a view to propping up—er, stabilizing—salaries at a target rate. Naturally I am sensitive to the concerns of magazine readers, not to mention magazine owners, but I don’t imagine it would raise the cover price of magazines by more than about 200 per cent or so.
    No? Foolish? Extortionary? Outrageous? Then allow me to introduce you to the world of supply management:
    http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/08/15/the-25000-cow/

  13. anyone that thinks licensing journalist is a good idea is… well I can’t say but jail time wouldn’t be sufficient.

  14. We should license politicians.
    Anyone with an IQ less than pumpkin would be disqualified.
    That would get rid of the majority of the current group of nutters in the Liberals and NDP and even snag a few of PMSH’s team.

  15. When governments are wanting to implement this type of stiffling legislation – be afraid – be very afraid. It has a whole lot more to do with quieting certain voices that criticize government than for ensuring that people have access to information.

  17. I agree with duffman. It is scary that supposedly intelligent people, even people who are currently elected to office, would even think to propose such an idea! It just goes to show how horrid the Canadian education system is these days, that people don’t even realize the danger of handing control of the media over to the government.

  19. How does licensing this occupation differ Governments demanding proper accreditation for doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, lawyers, electricians, plumbers, arbourists and anyone else practicing a guilded trade? I think the answer is in professional oversite, something journalism does not have.

  20. There’s people who support searching people with no warrant who are heading to or attending public events like Canada day so I’m not surprised people would support muzzling journalists too. I’m not sure what’s going on but it seems like more and more people are actually wanting to see their freedoms taken away. It’s really bizzare.

  21. All of the above commenters have said it so well. Yes, it is scary that an influential person in Canada would even contemplate this.

  22. This is so you can all be spoon fed “Pravda” approved content.
    The hoi poloi shouldn’t be exposed to real information because that may cause them to think for themselves. Such a concept is far too radical!!
    Automotons of the world unite!
    If the government is doing the vetting, how does that square with the Charter’s section on freedom of the press?
    Yep, no one should blow the whistle on programs like Adscam corruption.
    Lift the journalist’s lisence and poof there goes their career. See its easy to ensure conformity…
    Cheers
    Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group “True North”

  23. I’m going to dredge up some sophistic sloganeering from the days when lefty was selling us the idea of a long gun registry and criminalizing unlicensed duck hunters, and transpose them to this drive for state control of public discourse ;
    – “well we licence our dogs don’t we?”
    – “All we ask for is registration, just like we do for cars.”
    – “if it saves only one partisan hurt feeling it was worth it”
    – “I came to Ottawa with the belief only the police and army should have an opinion or a way to publish it”
    – “Words are an offensive weapon and no one should have access to them.”
    Back when lefty was on a hydrophobic crusade to take duck guns away from the public, reasoning voices predicted that if we allowed the state to intervene in our right to armed self defense and our right to own legally obtained property without government approval, this will embolden bureaucrats to trim or ignore other fundamental rights like free speech or political opinion. Well here we are lefty – at another we-told-you-so moment – but I’m sure your political retardation will not allow you to see the relevance.

  25. Hmm, anyone seen this quote around somewhere..?
    “Why this blog?
    Until this moment
    I have been forced
    to listen while media
    and politicians alike
    have told me
    “what Canadians think”.
    In all that time they
    never once asked.
    This is just the voice
    of an ordinary Canadian
    yelling back at the radio –
    “You don’t speak for me.” ”
    Maybe we could grant the Parliamentary Press Gallery the powers to licence us all?

  26. BillElder, nice turning of the knife there. I like it! “We register guns, don’t we? Is the pen not mightier than the sword?”
    Oh, gotta mail that one to every lefty media jerk we know.

  28. Geez judging from their PC dumbass narrative disguised as a product, they already are.

  29. The very fact that a former journalist would see this as a good idea without the foggiest inkling of its implications is the very reason we shouldn’t license journalists.

  30. Maybe I am misunderstanding your post Bill Elder but I don’t think your reasoning will have any effect because the left is all for press licensing.
    The left begs for government control and regulation , they ache for it. They want it to be back to the good ‘ol days where the media (the progressive media) dominates. A new golden era where pesky right wing news organizations like NP, SNN and bloggers can be legally discriminated against via government legislation, deeming them unofficial (step 1) and illegal (step 2). Like Ezra mentioned on The Source the other day, it is not a coincidence that the architects of this plan are former CBC employees.

  32. From a purely functional point of view, saying that we should license journalists to investigate and bruit facts and opinion is identical to saying we should license people to do the same things.  Journalists are no different from you and I — they’re private citizens who (usually) work for news-gathering organizations, and as such, enjoy the same rights and freedoms with respect to information, its acquisition and its dissemination that the rest of us do.
    Journalists aren’t “special,” even though I’m sure some of them think they are.  And they sure as Hell don’t require special licenses, any more than they require special protections.

  33. This is a horrible idea. As soon as you get involved in licensing journalists government can control the press. Appalling. Appalling. I am not surprised it comes from Quebec.

  34. I for one think Quebec should have their own legislation, government, borders, dairy marketing board, gun registry, wheat board, and a visa requirement to visit the ROC.

  35. If universities are anything to go by, a call for a “diversity of voices” means allowing a broad range of political views stretching all the way from the far left to the center left.

  36. Quebec remains a hot bed for Marxist ideology. Anyone in doubt only need to scan through their numerous government programs and policies for centralised state control, so no surprise about this latest proposal.

  37. SunTV pointed out yesterday that Quebec’s culture minister, Christine St-Pierre, is a former employee of the CBC, as LC Bennett points out above.
    Wow! Amazing!
    I guess this harridan wants only government-approved journalists, which means that I’m-Peter-Mansbride-and-you’re-not et al. would be in like flint: Communist Broadcasting Corpse for sure.
    SunTV journos? Not so much?
    Bloggers? Off with their heads!

  39. next, an apprenticeship program on how to wipe one’s arse with one SHEET, after one sheets:-)))

  41. If we had journalistic licenses, blog videos would always be under their appropriate headings.

  42. Licensing would entail considering journalism a profession would it not?
    Journalism meets none of the criteria to be a profession. It meets none of the criteria to be considered a trade.
    Maybe a craft?

  43. Now, you see…the CBC thinks they ARE the government.
    And all you lackies who think otherwise better get in line.
    The NERVE of Ezra Levant, an extraordinary Canadian Citizen, Canadian Citizen, nonetheless, bearding the CBC lion in it’s own den. The Absolute NERVE.
    Who do these Canadians think they are?
    They simply do not realize that WE are the CBC and you underlings had better know it.
    “1.2 Billion” in funding…why ..we are just getting started.
    With Quebec and the CBC we can do anything, make you believe anything…
    See how nice we were during the last election, all the while furthering the NDP move to utilize the flash mobs and vote mobs and questionable ballot boxes on University campus’…. just wait …we are just getting started with US style buffalo-ing and voter fraud… if Jack had not passed on we might move a bit faster…but let’s not underestimate the value in turning this development into a full blown hero worship, crafted carefully to ensure our NDP and Quebec alliance successfully catapults separatist and NDP wishes and dreams into marxist and socialistic realities.
    Ha, you rubes… have your four years with your conservative government…we will work and plan to undermine you with your money. Ensure you continue to pay for the CBC so we can use that outlet to further our subversive aims.
    Licensing Journalists would ensure we would be in a position to determine just WHO is a journalist and who is not.
    You can bet all the cbc moronic commentators would be front and center for the coveted “license”.
    Why on earth do we suffer these fools?
    Quebec is NOT going to separate. They know which side their bread is buttered. BUT it is an excellent issue in this country to ‘divide and conquer’.
    As far as I am concerned, NDP as official opposition is just as dangerous as the Bloc as official opposition.
    We have more than one fox in the hen house and they need to go.

  45. Wanna bet a majority of la press thinks it’s a good thing?
    And, if you agree to be a willing participant in your own neutering, who better than the “Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women” to wield the knife.

  46. I commented on this a couple of days ago here and drew a comparison to the so-called “grand norceur”” of the Duplessis era. Another commenter took issue with the comparison and praised Duplessis for the “Padlock Law” and other government measures aimed at countering Communists and radical labour activists. Long before the Charter, the Padlock Law was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada, and Duplessis also introduced similar legislation for use against the Jehovah’s Witnesses. For all of the positive contributions (now forgotten or suppressed) of Duplessis, his methods were often indistinguishable from Falangism.
    Gilles Duceppe claimed in an interview last year that one of the reasons he had become a Communist was that, having experienced the authoritarianism of Duplessis and the Church in Québec, he gravitated toward an opposite authoritarianism. Unfortunately, he lacked the self-awareness to see the totalitarianism at the heart of his post-communist ideology.
    But perhaps we should not pick on Gilles Duceppe; the same condescending authoritarianism that current opinion associates with Québec before “la révolution tranquille” characterized as well the Québec of Robert Bourassa, that of René Lévesque, and now that of Jean Charest (and his minister, Mme. St.-Pierre). The elite in Québec have abandoned (or, more accurately, now villfy) the Catholic Church, but they have retained and refined the xenophobia, authoritarianism, and close-mindedness (not to mention some of the moral lapses) of the old Québec Church in the service of their new religion.

  47. I’m sure everyone at the CBC agrees. They are government stooges, the only thing missing are the licenses to prove it.
    Posted by: Owen at August 25, 2011 12:19 PM
    That is so not true, Owen. Mothercorpse is a left-wing stooge, not a government stooge.

  48. Some say “scary”. Sounds like they are giving up.
    Like the British guy said, “never, never, never give up”
    If there were real journalists around, they would damn this politicians into the dust bin of history never to be heard from again. Those kind of politicians are the scum of the earth, the earth probably has a way of disposing of this garbage.
    If there were real journalists around that is.

  49. Quebec Ministers should be licensed and that license should only be good within 2 feet of their home.
    Past that point? It’s an indictable offense punishable by life with no parole or use of the faint hope clause. Time served is not part of the sentence.

  50. rabbit
    Every time I hear the word “diversity” from these goons I instinctively cover my ass with both hands and clench…kinda like Pavlov’s sodomized dog.

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