It鈥檚 best to be at least slightly aware of local and provincial issues if you intend to vote on April 4.聽
If you weren鈥檛 aware of the upcoming provincial general election by this time, then it鈥檚 probably best that you don鈥檛 vote.聽
That sounds counterproductive to the usual messages put forth from those who are in the front lines of defending democracy, but in some cases, ignorance should not be rewarded with the right to cast a ballot based on hearsay or other sources of bad information.聽
Those who diligently work away at attracting these ill-advised potential voters into the folds of the different parties, refer to them as 鈥渓ow information voters.鈥� This is a polite way of saying, know-next-to-nothing-about-the-issues, voter.聽
Unfortunately, there are a lot of them, and we fear their numbers are growing.聽
How this can happen in the online world is fairly easy to grasp since a goodly portion of the so-called information being emitted, is nonsensical stuff dressed up as news. In many online postings, the reader will come across prejudiced opinions, disguised in unconfirmed statistics.聽
Naturally, freedom of expression is a base for democracy, in fact, we鈥檙e doing that right here in this editorial. It鈥檚 a right we hold dear.聽
But attempting to pass off opinions as facts, or skewing facts to make a point, or eliciting an online report without having done any research, is not playing by the rules.聽
Saskatchewan鈥檚 political parties are going to great lengths to spread correct information about their respective platforms and while they might play some games regarding financial costs regarding certain platforms, we鈥檙e made aware of their directions and what they stand for on vital issues.聽
Naturally, we make the case for newspapers as still being the best source of verifiable news. They are also a great source for opinions, which are designated as such, not disguised as news. We will leave the speculative rumour-mill wanderings to the bloggers, tweeters and Facebookers who are allowed to 鈥渕ake stuff up,鈥� if they wish, since they require no filters and generally aren鈥檛 held accountable.聽
However, potential candidates in Saskatchewan (and elsewhere) have discovered that what they鈥檝e posted online in the past with no recourse, often comes back to kick them when they decide they want to pursue a job of representing the masses as their public spokesperson and servant. The prospective employer, on occasion, might kick back.
All of a sudden, accountability counts.聽
Mainstream journalists/reporters in the traditional media, however, need to be accountable. They can鈥檛 always be free of bias, but they seek to represent all sides on issues of importance, knowing that what is posted, can be found years later with ink on paper or a sound track and postings from the past.聽
Reporters are trained to inquire, cast a light on the questions and report what was said and what was going on around them. They find out how it鈥檚 going to be done, or how it is being done and will question the wisdom of the decisions and the action plans, because that鈥檚 the job. It鈥檚 called reporting and it鈥檚 work and just like other real jobs, some can do it more effectively and efficiently than others.聽
The traditional media, which includes your newspaper, sheds a light where it needs to be directed and without it, democracy takes a big step backward. Ask anybody who lives in a country where press freedom is not found, and there are many of聽 them, about their quality of life.聽
Then think about the 鈥渓ow information鈥� voter.聽
