Maurice Ali
Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 7698 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2004 5:57 am Post subject: Advertising And Newspapers |
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Advertising And Newspapers
By Maurice Ali, Journalist
As I look through a selection of newspapers; I was struck at how much advertising is seen in them. In many cases, the paper is nothing but a thick flyer with a few stories and a title to position the "flyer" to a selected market. In Canada we have a very big scandal where vast moneys were being paid to advertising firms in an underhanded bid to control the media in Quebec, it all went wrong as the money and cause (presumable to prevent another push for separation of the French Canadians from Canada) got corrupted and used for many "questionable" things. But the fact remains that if a government can have the large advertisers on their leash (by paying them large sums of money to "friends" in these firms); they can then have a say in what that newspaper decides to print..... Any print media that takes on advertising will soon see those advertisers effect some influence in what that operation presents to the world.
Being able to be "bought"; is how our constitution gets corrupted. It is selling out ideals for money and personal gain. It is private ambition over the good of the society. It is the very thing we are fighting against at our little venue. It can not happen here.
That is why The Fortress will have no outside advertising in it's first issue. It will look strange, as we are used to seeing papers with advertising as: "the way it should be"; but these papers have been "bought". We have kept our independence; it has a price, but as long as I can pay it..... I took a brief break from the paper, but I am committed to that final stretch to put our words to print. Once we get that first paper out, the next will be cheaper and easier to do.....the way will have been paved.
I am proud of everyone who has joined up and helped to get us this far. All of you have private lives and responsibilities that keep you from full-time involvement here.....but that is the point of what we are about. This will be a "humble" paper - but it will be ours.....all ours! Time to get to work!
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