Zoe Royer

I'd like to begin by welcoming witnesses from my community: Janis Cleugh and Mario Bartel of Freshet News. I want to thank them both for their decades of service. Of course, when Glacier Media's Tri-City News closed last year, it was a devastating loss for our riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam. Why is this? It's because democracy only works when citizens can see the truth clearly, and that requires [more]

What I'm understanding, Mario, from what you just said, is that accuracy and verification are absolutely key, as are multiple sources. Journalists themselves need to be free from conflicts of interest. There can't be any exchange of gifts or favours. There is a high level of accountability and transparency. Can you speak to some of these principles in how you report and avoid bias? How do you [more]

Okay, great. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to begin by welcoming witnesses from my community: Janis Cleugh and Mario Bartel of Freshet—

I'll keep it close. Are we going to start the clock from the beginning?

Okay, I got it. Can we drill down a bit further and speak to the core principles? What really are the core principles of the code of ethics for journalists? What are the pillars?

Is that better?

I know there was a gap between the closure of Glacier Media's Tri-City News and the opening of Freshet. Of course, the closure happened just ahead of the election. What do you feel the impact was on the electorate in making decisions in the lead-up to the election? What actually happened?

I noticed that there was a prevalence of other freelancers and journalists who we'd never heard of before taking up the space in the news desert. People were then tuning into that, because they were hungry. I think the electorate is particularly hungry for—