Thread by @youseepeeYYC

Want to play a media analysis exercise with me?

Of course you do!

Lets look at two articles about a topic and compare how they're covered.

Let's examine the laying off of 26 IT managers that happened late last year as covered by @CTVNews and @CBCNews.

#ableg #cdnmedia

First let's to CTV.

calgary.ctvnews.ca/26-it-managers…

Notice the title.

"26 IT managers laid off by Service Alberta due to budget constraints"

The implication here is that the budget constraints *forced* the hand of the government to fire essential IT workers.

Now the body. This article is short. Just six sentences.

Basically a press release.

The only added context here is that there have been ongoing budget concerns.

There is no attempt to explain *why* there are budget concerns.

There are no lies, but there are also no "why's."

Now lets look at the CBC article.

cbc.ca/news/canada/ed…

Again, start with the title:

"Service Alberta lays off 26 managers as government cuts continue"

There is no attempt to insinuate blame or cause here, just that these job losses are some of many caused by the #UCP's ongoing cuts.

The body of the CBC article is nine sentences. There's more here, but not a lot more.

The formatting makes it hard for me to get the whole article in one screen shot, so let's break it down into some smaller chunks.

To open with, Zahra Premji's article explains right away what the department being cut does that is being affected by cuts.

They give a quote by Service Alberta that explains why jobs are being eliminated. "Budget constraints."

Then we have a quote from the opposition.

The next line is very informative in what is said and not said.

"When the CBC asked for an interview and for information about how many managers remain in the IT division, the department provided a one-sentence response."

It shows how willing the #UCP are to answer questions.

Finally, a reaction from @JonCarsonNDP.

With basically no feedback from the #UCP government, Carson gets the last word.

"It's a time that is so important that we protect critical IT structure and protect the services Albertans are depending on," Carson said.

Analysis:

While the CBC article really isn't much longer than the same coverage by CTV, it's clear that they've done something that CTV didn't do: investigation.

There is an attempt to offer context, and show how this piece fits into a greater picture.

Within the body the CBC links to further actions by the government that show thousands and thousands more job losses within the public sector.

This is a connection that CTV fails to paint.

So when come across Conservative politicians attacking the CBC, you have an idea why.

They would rather work in the dark, where you can't see how they hurt you, your neighbours, and your family.

ipolitics.ca/2016/12/09/sch…

Today the consequences of government IT managers having their jobs eliminated was felt by.... 150,000+ Albertans trying to book vaccinations, and having those systems crash.

This is what happens when public services are allowed to crumble. It hurts you.

How much money was saved by hamstringing Alberta's ability to maintain its IT infrastructure?

City of Calgary is hiring an IT manager right now.

Let's be lazy and use 100k as our salary estimate.

26 * 100k = 2.6M
2.6M/4.3M = a savings of 60¢ per person.

Worth it?

To return to our media analysis it's important to recognize that while CTV and CBC both show facts about the loss of IT jobs, the CTV article is entirely uncritical of the Conservative government in Alberta.

This omission of critical thinking is detrimental to democracy.

Or, as news stations in the US might say,

"This is extremely dangerous to our democracy."

Make sure you get your news from more than one source.

And make sure those sources aren't all owned by the same corporation.

If you liked this thread, I have an equally depressing one about newspapers in Alberta being owned and controlled by American pro-Trump corporations.

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Here's a story that examines the fallout of the province's weak IT game as booking systems crash.

"Some people discovered ways to bypass parts of the overwhelmed website to register."

cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

And here's the thread where computer science wizard @korymath helps to save the day for many Albertans.

Thanks, Kory!