Peter Mansbridge spoke in front of a packed crowd of nearly 300 attendees as he delivered the 18th annual Kesterton lecture at Carleton on March 21.
Mansbridge’s lecture focused on the challenges journalists face in an industry that is always changing, now more rapidly than ever, he said.
The event, which was part of the Faculty of Public Affairs’ Research Month, is named in honour of Wilfred H. Kesterton, one of the founders of the School of Journalism and Communication.
Mansbridge, the long-time host of CBC’s The National, will be retiring on July 1 this year.
He suggested that his “face” of The National could well be replaced by the “faces” of multiple anchors, and has encouraged the CBC to make sure that a new post-Mansbridge version of the nightly newscast would better reflect a new Canadian demographic.
“The problem with talking about the future of journalism is it’s hard to project what’s going to happen in the next five weeks, let alone, the next five years. . . Things are changing so fast,” he said.
One of the principal challenges that Mansbridge discussed was the evolution of technology. He described how the development of new technologies has changed the ways in which journalists complete their jobs, while maintaining a responsibility to remember their jobs.
“We are storytellers,” he said, “and the stories we tell are true.”
He reiterated the importance of identifying falsehoods, digging deeper and reporting fairly, accurately and in context, while not taking untruthful information at face value.
As Mansbridge explained, The National is finding new ways to utilize technology to share news and educate the public. For example, the CBC will be publishing virtual reality content, as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Canadian victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Mansbridge emphasized that “journalism survives on its ability to have an impact on people,” and that technology allows journalism to have a major impact on more people.
Nelson Field, a first-year engineering student, said Mansbridge’s presentation reinforced his understanding of the importance of journalism as a fundamental freedom.
“Journalism gives us an unbiased perspective of what’s going on, how it affects us and tells us what we need to know to live our lives comfortably as citizens of a free country,” he said.
Mansbridge concluded his presentation with some personal thoughts about the CBC.
To him, the foundations of the CBC are its news and current affairs departments. Mansbridge said the importance of a public broadcaster is to reflect the country to itself, so that citizens can better understand each other.
“There’s no better way to understand a country and its citizens than by telling their stories, all their stories,” he said.
Following the presentation, Carleton journalism alumna Jennifer Ditchburn led a question and answer session. A recurring theme throughout the presentation and the question period, was what the “new” National would look like after Mansbridge retires.
When journalism professor Allan Thompson asked about how the show would represent the current demographic of Canada, Mansbridge said he could not share many details, but added the new show should represent the country through the host, producers, and stories.
“I think you will see [a true reflection of the country] when the new show starts,” he said.
– Photos by Justin Samanski-Langille
