Sunday, August 30, 2009

Newspapers...mon amour

The TC didn't arrive today...trucking problems apparently so we read our Sat Globe and Mail we usually save until Monday since they cut the Monday TC. We'll read today's paper tomorrow. Lots of great reading in the G & M.

This excerpt from a Michael Valpy article discussing the idea that discrepancies in recent poll result may be a symptom of increasing fragmentation in Canadian society, rather than of any fault in the methods of data collection. It's harder to find a representative sample when people actually have less and less in common.

"The thing about newspapers is that you always find things you didn't know you were looking for. You come across vies that you don't agree with or don't like, says Christopher Waddell, director of Carleton University's school of journalism. When you're searching for things on the Internet, I think it's less likely that you're searching for things that challenge you. You're much more likely to be searching for positive reinforcement. The resulting risk, he says is a polarization of attitudes. People will be less likely to expose themselves to opposing legitimate views."