I wanted to address my concerns over the biased nature of this paper. Journalism and the papers like the Rocky View Weekly should, theoretically, be neutral in their positions. This is clearly not the case of this publication. This seems to be more prevalent now more than ever.
Whether it be an opinion piece (with no author attached to it for some unknown reason), an article outlining why a political party is changing banks or letters to the editor. They all seem to favour one political philosophy...the socialist side, more commonly referred to as the ‘Left.' Even survey questions are biased towards the Left.
Interesting how a publication (which seems to have fewer pages now than years ago) seems to favour the left side, ignoring the fact that the majority of the people it serves voted Conservative. The only constituency this publication reaches that does not have a Conservative MLA is Banff-Kananaskis. That constituency was decided by about 200 votes, which indicates that half of those residents who voted are Conservative. The other constituencies vote overwhelmingly Conservative.
It’s sad that now media outlets push one agenda over another at the cost of unbiased, neutral journalism. As disturbing is that for any person submitting a letter, they are bound to identify themselves, yet the publishers of the paper allow opinion pieces (“Our View” ) to be submitted anonymously. Yes it reflects the view of the paper, but who’s view withing that organization? All of them? Why the double standard?
Given the fact this publication clearly sides with one political view over the other I think the only option for us readers, is to not advertise or not support businesses who do advertise with this publication. Money talks , maybe it’s time it started to be heard loud and clear. In the most recent edition, the ATA made sure they were heard.
I will finish by stating this article was originally offered for review early March. It wasn’t until after I contacted the publisher of the Rocky View Weekly and had a conversation with the president of Great West Publishing that I was contacted the next day informing this article would be published. I think this reinforces my point about the slant this particular news outlet has.
John Douglas
Rocky View, AB
