| Mesley takes on information |
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by Jason Kerr the Carillon Award winning CBC journalist, Wendy Mesley, spoke at the U of R about spin in the media and how people need to learn to think critically about the information they read and hear. A large crowd was on hand Tuesday, April 3, to listen to the three-time Gemini Award winner. Mesley spoke mostly about the role the media plays in cutting through the spin and getting to the core of the story, or in some cases, the lack thereof. It was a topic that Mesley, as host of CBC's smartly-crafted show, Underdogs, was quite capable of discussing. Mesley called for more investigative reporting, rather than passive acceptance of one version of a story. She said reporters have a duty to dig into issues and separate fact from fiction, and to gain credibility among citizens. "If you want to be a journalist you need to gain the respect of a large swathe of the public," she said. Mesley said she felt that the use of anonymous sources was creating suspicions about the credibility of Canadian journalism. She said journalists and citizens alike should not accept everything they hear without double-checking the facts first, even if the facts seem to be a given. "It's very difficult to figure out when you're being played," said Mesley, in a reference to one of her first jobs in the media, covering Canada's defence department. After attending Ryerson University, Mesley accepted a job on Parliament Hill. It was a trial by fire for Mesley, who has no regrets about taking the job, but said she wishes she would have been more critical of the issues and people she was covering at the time. Mesley's personal experience battling cancer factored into a large portion of her lecture. It was her subsequent research about the causes of cancer that taught her to be less accepting of everything you hear. Mesley's research led to the documentary Chasing the Cancer Answer, where she focused on preventing cancer rather than curing it. She believes that the Canadian Cancer Society's campaign of leading a healthy lifestyle doesn't do enough to explain how to actively prevent cancer. Before her lecture she met with journalism students to share her experiences, and after she was willing to answer some questions from the audience about the current state of the media in Canada. Although she had some sharp criticism of the press, Mesley said she can't imagine doing anything other than journalism. "Where else to you get to meet people, go places, hear their stories, and get paid for it?" she asked. Mesley has worked as an investigative journalist on numerous CBC programs such as Marketplace, CBC News: Disclosure, and Undercurrents. She won two Gemini's for hosting Undercurrents in 1999 and 2001, and a third when Undercurrents won a Gemini. |