The future of Canadian journalism was up for debate between Andrew Coyne and John Honderich on June 6, 2017.
Coyne and Honderich staked out opposite sides on the motion: “The government must act to save journalism in Canada”.
Honderich, the former publisher of the Toronto Star, argued in favour.
Newspapers play a critical and fundamental role in the health of our democracy says John Honderich #GCD2017
— Macdonald-Laurier (@MLInstitute) June 6, 2017
John Honderich says that more people read Toronto Star than ever before, people value journalism #GCD2017
— Macdonald-Laurier (@MLInstitute) June 6, 2017
There can be no more fundamental public good than helping Canadians be well-informed :John Honderich — Macdonald-Laurier (@MLInstitute) June 7, 2017
Coyne, a columnist with Postmedia, argued against.
People do not value what we are selling and who are we to tell them that they are wrong? @acoyne
— Macdonald-Laurier (@MLInstitute) June 6, 2017
With public subsidy government would effectively have the tools to choose who is a journalist and who isn’t, says @acoyne #GCD2017 — Macdonald-Laurier (@MLInstitute) June 6, 2017
Subsidizing journalism will inevitably affect its quality says @acoyne #GCD2017 — Macdonald-Laurier (@MLInstitute) June 6, 2017
The debaters also appeared on CBC Radio One’s Ottawa Morning the day of the debate. The debate was also live-streamed on CPAC and the Toronto Star covered it as well.
Click here for photos and video from the event.
