Winter Walking and Cycling

[danbrotherston]

Voltaire would have also supported your right to criticize.

But, Voltaire was certainly a strong supporter of the freedom of the press. TorStar and The Record do not have a monopoly on this -- and even less so now, in the age of Internet and social media.

You're not wrong...the press is obviously important. But I do think it is reasonable to hold the press to a different standard from any asshole's opinion. Just as we do for others in power.

As for monopolies, no, TorStar does not really have a monopoly, but media, including traditional media is orders of magnitude more centralized than historically. I believe at a national level this is probably true, but at a local level it is indisputable, there are very few independent local papers left, and while I am somewhat convinced by the claims of editorial independence, it is still the case that an analogous "soft power" is still present, through hiring and corporate policies....we hear from fewer viewpoints and hear a more establishment voice than we've ever had. Some of it is merely an artifact of larger companies being more establishment than smaller ones...pretty much by definition.

The saddest part to me, is that the internet gave us the promise of democratization of information, where anyone can post and publish at near zero cost....which, in some ways it has achieved, but it has also resulted in the single largest concentration of media power in the history of our society...social media companies have a scary amount of power over what most of us see.

Anyway, very off topic, but I do think the "anyone is entitled to an opinion" while true, is so oversimplified as to be irrelevant most of the time, a far deeper discussion is needed.