Yes, one of the points that we wanted to make is that traditional journalism is not the only way to convey information; in fact, it's not just the means of distribution, but the many formats, from comedy, to short-form documentaries, to opinion pieces, all of which serve to inform people and create the locally informed citizen. We shouldn't dismiss those types of programming from our review of local news because, ultimately, it's not just about local news, but all the ways in which our communities are being informed.
If people aren't watching the news anymore and watching TV news—and certainly Statistics Canada is telling us that there has been a significant decline over the last 10 years—but we know that TV viewership is up, then they're watching other forms.
A significant part is entertainment, but I think there's also a significant part in the rise of documentaries and the rise of all kinds of other ways of getting informed.
When you look at these new technologies, like VR—and I do encourage you all to watch the TED Talks by Chris Milk—the importance of getting information and not only having facts told to us, which may or may not resonate with us as people, but also getting an emotional connection with the information and the way it's presented can ultimately lead to better outcomes.
Should we be focusing from a public policy perspective on creating programming that merely provides facts, or on the presentation of facts that may create that emotional connection that will ultimately lead to positive social change?
Ultimately what is the public policy goal of providing news? Is it to create local, informed citizens who will take their responsibilities for better communities in hand?