Free speech is a liberty enjoyed by the media in Western countries. Yet it seems journalists are still producing cookie-cutter stories, when they could be exploring new ideas or investigating leads. Rick Salutin, author and columnist for the Globe and Mail, says especially since the end of the Cold War, the media has been more free and less scrutinized because the dominant Western political structures have felt a greater sense of security. However, he argues that the media haven’t embraced this freedom and seldom produce genuinely alternative points of view.

In his talk “Media and Politics,” presented by the Faculty of Arts, Department of Political Science, and the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, Salutin will examine the reasons behind the bland stories in today’s media, and the media’s complicity with state powers since the end of the Cold War, and especially since 9/11. He will use his own experience as a journalist and the pressures he feels in the course of his own writing to explore this phenomenon.

Join Salutin on Friday, March 9 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the University Theatre in the Riddell Centre as he and a panel of local experts discuss the role of politics in the media. Panelists Dr. Joyce Green, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, Professor Gennadiy Chernov, who lectures at the School of Journalism, and Stefani Langenegger, a legislative reporter for CBC Radio, joined by moderator John Whyte, Senior Policy Fellow from the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, will participate in the event, which is free for the public.

The talk and commentaries will be followed by a session for questions and discussion.

Salutin is a renowned playwright, author and journalist. He received the Toronto Arts Award in writing and publishing in 1991 and the National Newspaper Award for best columnist, for his Globe and Mail column on media, in 1993. He held the Maclean Hunter Chair in Ethics in Communication at Ryerson University from 1993 to 1995 and has taught in the Canadian Studies program at the University of Toronto, since 1978. He is an op-ed columnist for the Globe and Mail.

For more information, please contact Elsa Johnston at
585-5863 or Corrine Gogal at 585-4332. Parking is available in Lot 15 in designated “M” areas.