BY SIMONE J. SMITH
“I have worked at other news broadcast stations before, and one thing that I noticed is that the truth was not being told. It was refreshing to work with a group of journalists whose goal was to share the truth. That is what it is about; the truth.” Kerry Lee Crawford (Media and Broadcast Specialist)
As some of our readers may know, Carib101 Media Group has taken on a new initiative with the development of their mainstream news platform TCN.video.
As a slight departure from the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, TCN.video not only covers stories that occur in real time in Toronto, but also news that is occurring all over the world.
As a media and broadcasting conglomerate, we began to look at what the future of ethical journalism was in an age of fake news, and misinformation. We started analysing how journalism with a public purpose was being overwhelmed in a do-it-yourself world of communications, which has led to a movement where facts and expert opinion are side-lined in public discourse.
We wanted to resurrect the true duty of a journalist, which is to separate lies from facts, to inform viewers as honestly as possible, and to aim at the closest approximation of the truth. We felt the need to end the inventing or doctoring of stories to fit the political lines of media outlets, which is an abandonment of basic journalistic ethics.
The primary role of a reporter is not persuading readers or viewers to back your position; this is what journalism has turned into, and that is no longer journalism, that is communication. Every day before I start my show Simone Jennifer Smith LIVE, or write my articles for the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper I ask myself, “Am I enlightening my audience or confounding the truth? Am I allowing them to make a free choice or pumping propaganda down their throats? Am I working in the interests of the readers and viewers who ultimately pay my wages or for owners whose primary loyalty is to shareholders?”
On Thursday, April 8th, 2021, the TCN.video team which includes Grant Browning (Founder/Production Manager), Kerry Lee Crawford (Journalist, and Media Specialist), and myself made a decision to host The Awakening World Truth Summit Emergency Broadcast. Viewers of TCN.video, and readers of the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper had begun reaching out to us because they had heard what was coming down the pipeline: more lockdowns, more restrictions, and more bureaucracy.
In 24 hours, the team brought together four speakers who were willing to speak on what was happening, each with their own perspective, but each sharing their discomfort with the direction that this world is taking. Our very first guest was Dr Richard Schabas, a former Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario.
“The first thing that I want to say is that people need to be mindful of the snake-oil salesmen who are telling you that getting the vaccine is a bad thing. I flew all the way to Toronto to get my vaccine shot because I know that it is effective.” Dr Richard Schabas
Dr Richard Schabas has most recently come out in support of MPP’s who are against the lockdowns that have occurred during this pandemic. During the 30-minute interview, he discussed the fear mongering that has been executed to encourage compliance.
“What we have done to our children is criminal,” he stated. “Children will be paying the price for years to come. It is serious, but it is not the apocalypse. I truly believe the government threw away the rule book when it came to handling this pandemic.”
He spoke in depth about the mistakes that were made during the S.A.R.S. pandemic and reiterated that even back then quarantining had no effect on bringing down cases. “They did not do a proper post-mortem after S.A.R.S, and the one difference between S.A.R.S and COVID-19 is that it had a much shorter life span. Now all that we are seeing is this monkey see, monkey do when handling the pandemic, and it is clearly not working This will end when people stop obeying.”
Our next guest was no stranger to TCN.video, the loved and hated (depending on your level of polarization) MPP Randy Hillier.
“This is a war on our faith, a war on our freedoms.”
MPP Randy Hillier has been religiously outspoken about the handling of this pandemic. He has actively stood up for communities that are not even in his jurisdiction because he sees what it is doing to the nation.
“We are putting ourselves in jeopardy,” he began. “We are all under this relentless barrage of fear, and conformity is the highest achievement you can have now. Securing livelihood is guaranteed in our constitution, so you have to have the confidence that the constitution is there to protect you from the government.”
His advice to viewers, especially business owners, was to open up, and if you are ticketed, sign the ticket and fight it.
We had a special in person interview with Vlad Sobolev the founder of Hugs over Masks, and the discussion with him was eye opening.
“I’m not anti-vaxx, or anti-lockdown, I am pro-human.”
What made the discussion with Vlad impactful were his personal experiences, and how those experiences had shaped him. “I was born in communism, and this is why I can see further down the road than many people can. I now call this country Chinada (China and Canada joined) because I see the attempts that are being made to make Canada a tyrannical state. This is why when you go to the protests, you see so many immigrants there. Many of them come from tyrannical states and are in no rush to be back in one.
For many Canadians who are born and raised here, they have blind spots; it is impossible for them to see what is coming. Our goal as a movement is to activate people to stand up for themselves and take back their rights and freedoms.”
We ended the Emergency Broadcast with Human Rights Activist Mitchell Gerber. What this interview did was tie together what many have been observing in the present with what could be our near future.
“Be without fear in the face of your enemies.”
For over twenty years, Mitchell Gerber has been actively speaking out against the horrifying act of organ harvesting that is occurring in China. In the middle of our interview, we took the time to show a clip of our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showing admiration to the Chinese government who in his words, “Know how to get the job done.”
What we learned from Mitchell is that the killing of Chinese citizens for their organs is actually government funded, and this is the government that our Prime Minister admires?
A journalist’s job is to hold power to account, not flatter those who wield it. As a network, and a team, we will continue to question untruths rather than parade them as facts. We will continue to report as honestly as humanly possible rather than indulge in political grandstanding.
Power to the people!