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My biography on my Twitter page says

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I am a skeptic and an optimist.

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I believe in science,
and infinite possibilities

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and that kind of sums up what I am going
to be talking about today.

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What a world we could live in

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if we were a truly informed society.

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A society that, by and large,
understood every facet

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of the social, political, environmental,
economic realities that we face everyday.

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Well, a news culture often indicates

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its potential for being truly informed.

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Hi, my name is Coleen Christie.

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I am a news anchor,
a broadcast journalist, if you will,

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and I am a little hesitant to say that
because I recently found out

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that broadcast journalists rank number six
on the list of most despised professions.

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(Laughter)

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We are just above tax auditors.

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That's right,

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most people like tax auditors
better than broadcast journalists.

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(Laughter)

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It sort of feels like when Sally Field
made her Oscar acceptance speech,

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but it is the opposite; 
you hate me, you really hate me.

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(Laughter)

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Not me personally,
give me a few minutes, you might.

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(Laughter)

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But at least we are doing better
than lawyers, they are at number three.

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That gives me hope.

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(Laughter)

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I anchor for CTV Vancouver, an affiliate
of the number one network in Canada.

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I got my start in news
in a rather unusual way.

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I started in marketing and promotion
so it gives me a unique perspective,

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on the business of news;
you see, I have always understood

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that news is a product
that needs to be sold.

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But it is a really important product.

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I grew up in a home
where news was important.

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My mother would pour
over the morning newspaper

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on the days that she was not working.

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She knew all of the issues,
all of the players,

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and she had a grade-8 education.

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As a family, we would watch
the nightly newscast together,

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and we actually paid attention.

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I think that because my parents
came from poverty,

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they were very aware of the importance
of informing us and educating us.

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Conversations over the dinner table
were often political, often heated.

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"Please pass the gravy, I cannot believe
you are such a socialist!

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Would you like more potatoes?"
That sort of thing.

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(Laughter)

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Yeah, back then, our choices
for news sources

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were a little more limited
than they are now, that is for sure,

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but wherever we got our news,

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we pretty much trusted that it would be
trustworthy and dependable.

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Boy! Things have changed, haven't they?

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In this modern news-age,
information is power,

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and never has our ability to leverage
that power been more at risk.

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In the last ten years, there has been
a remarkable change

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in our news consumption habits.

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Due, in large part,
to the explosion of digital media.

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That explosion has created
more competition,

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and it has changed our legacy platforms,
being newspapers and televisions,

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and it has actually changed
what we consider "newsworthy" to be.

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In a recent survey

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- you might find this interesting -

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nearly 90% of North Americans said
they were "hungry for their daily news",

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but get this;

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nearly 50% of them said
they could not trust it.

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Trust is an issue,

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and I think part of that trust issue is
wrapped up in our sense of bias in news.

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Yes. of course, with polarized news
organizations like Fox News on the right,

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and MSNBC on the left, 
it is absolutely clear that bias exists,

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but as a journalist on the inside,

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I think it is an oversimplification
to say that all media is biased.

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In fact, I propose to you today

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that the problem
with media is not bias at all.

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The problem with news today is you.

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The question I put to you
is not which news you can trust,

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but can you trust yourself
to consume it wisely?

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News, in essence, is factual storytelling.

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Everyday, journalists attempt
to share information through stories.

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But let's make something
very clear from the get-go.

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There are essentially
two kinds of sources for news.

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There is mainstream credible news,
and then there is everything else,

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and based on your lack of trust,

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the line between the two must seem
pretty blurry to you.

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Now of course there are exceptions.
There are always exceptions.

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The simplest definition of "credible news"

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is: information reported after
a rigorous series of checks and balances

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to ensure accuracy and fairness.

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Most people consume their news everyday


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without knowing that,
or even thinking about it

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and I think it is important
we understand the process.

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So for example, in television, news ideas
come from anywhere and everywhere.

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It is our assignment editors job
to assemble those ideas

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and create a potential list
of the stories that we will cover.

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The next step in the process
might surprise you.

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We actually debate and discuss
each one of those stories' ideas.

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A group of highly experienced, trained,

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knowledgeable, diverse individuals,

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practically anybody in our news room
who wants to participate,

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weighs the news value merits
of each story.

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Is it something our audience wants?
Is it something our audience needs?

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Next, we assign stories to our reporters,
our "boots on the ground".

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They go out and they find facts,
and they assemble those facts,

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and they provide context for the story.

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Yes, some stories are more complex
than others, but generally speaking,

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if, at the end of the day,

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a new story does not have 
enough news value,

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or if it does not pass the 'sniff test',
it does not make it to air.

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That is how most news rooms
throughout the world work.

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For the most part, that process works.

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The one thing we cannot escape

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is the perception of bias.

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We fight very hard to avoid it,
but we cannot, somehow,

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avoid the perception of bias
in our reporting.

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Let me give you an example.

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We are accused of two things 
whenever we cover an election campaign.

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We are accused

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of simultaneously supporting the incumbent
and supporting the challenger.

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(Laughter)

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It never fails. It never fails,
and of course, we are not doing either.

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You see, mainstream news
has no political agenda.

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"What?" you say.

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It is absolutely true.

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Mainstream news has no political agenda.

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Yes, there is right-wing
conservative news, and yes,

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there is its counter-balance on the left,

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but I am talking about mainstream media.

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For those of us who work in the middle,

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the very notion of partisan conspiracies

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is absolutely ridiculous.

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Except for that lunar landing,
that was a total fake, never happened.

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(Laughter)

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Now, of course, that is not the case

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with organizations
which use narrative journalism

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to promote a particular ideology,
a political perspective.

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No, and they are harder to spot these days

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with the proliferation 
of online news sources

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that do not use
journalistic checks and balances

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and so easily can be passed
off as legitimate.

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And mistakes that can be perceived
as bias, can be made,

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but I believe they are less intentional
than you might think.

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And when those mistakes are made,

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most credible media outlets
adhere to their own self-discipline.

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The news media has been correcting errors
along the way for more than 100 years

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and whether to our general
satisfaction or not,

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it has to be acknowledged
that it certainly does happen.

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Discipline is big part of the job,

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but it is not exactly the toughest part
of the job for me personally.

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In case you did not get this already,
when I go to work in the morning,

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I do not have to worry
about being infected,

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shot, kidnapped, tortured,
raped, or executed

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like some of my colleagues do.

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Shout-out to the colleagues in the field
who risk their lives every day.

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(Applause)

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Yeah, it is a calling, it is a calling.

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No, I got it pretty good,

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00:10:04,630 --> 00:10:07,934
considering tough day at the office
for me might be a bad hair day

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00:10:07,934 --> 00:10:09,200
(Laughter)

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but it is not tough for me, it is tough
for you because you have to look at it.

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See how that works?

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The hardest part of my job
is keeping my mouth shut.

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I am not talking about afternoon meetings

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where my colleagues would love it
if I kept my mouth shut.

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No, I am talking about
when I am presenting facts,

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I cannot telegraph my own 
personal opinions on divisive matters.

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I cannot let that through.

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I cannot risk it.

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As a communicator, it is my job
to help you understand the story,

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it is not my job
to tell you what to think.

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I cannot risk it, we cannot risk it.

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You see the truth is,

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mainstream media
cannot afford to take sides.

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I use the word "afford" on purpose.

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Bias is bad for business.

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Let me show you
how the money works on that,

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we will just follow the money.

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Our democratic society needs 


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independet news
to keep us informed and free.

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And news, the news industry,
needs consumers to survive.

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So in television, consumers are viewers.

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The more viewers, the higher the ratings,

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the higher the ratings,
the more ad revenues.

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Ad revenues maintain operating budgets,

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operating budgets pay for journalists
to gather information to keep us free.

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That is how it works.

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Any blatant bias on our part
could potentially alienate

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vast numbers of our viewers.

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That is a bad idea.

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Bias is just bad business
in the news business.

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Some recent studies have revealed
some interesting statistics

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on our consumption habits.

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I should note that most of us
still consume our news from television.

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But we are branching out.

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A majority of North Americans now say
they consume news on multiple platforms.

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Still, nearly 90% of us
are consuming that news

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from one single news organization.

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So let me tell you what that looks like,
I will paint a picture for you.

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You are at home,
you have got the TV on to CNN,

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you have the tablet open to CNN's webpage,

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00:12:51,874 --> 00:12:56,015
you are following CNN's breaking news
on your Twitter feed on your phone,

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and you have no social life.

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(Laughter)

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Myopic?

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00:13:02,502 --> 00:13:03,502
Yeah, perhaps.

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00:13:03,502 --> 00:13:06,471
Unless you have got a thing
for Wolf Blitzer. Hey, no judgment.

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00:13:06,471 --> 00:13:07,953
(Laughter)

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00:13:07,954 --> 00:13:10,254
Here is the ironic part though.

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00:13:10,255 --> 00:13:12,905
In a survey done this year,

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North Americans said they feel
more informed than ever before.

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00:13:19,425 --> 00:13:24,445
Well of course we feel more informed,
it feels like we are getting more news,

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00:13:24,446 --> 00:13:26,789
but what we are getting
is more of the same news.

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It is coming at us faster and faster
and we know statistically,

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00:13:30,116 --> 00:13:34,383
that our attention spans
are getting shorter and shorter.

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00:13:34,384 --> 00:13:39,282
That is changing the kind
of news we want to consume.

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00:13:40,442 --> 00:13:44,395
Trying to keep your attention
has never been harder.

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00:13:44,396 --> 00:13:49,246
In television the average news story
is less than two minutes long.

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00:13:49,247 --> 00:13:53,543
Sometimes as short as 20 seconds.

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00:13:53,544 --> 00:13:55,040
Think about that.

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Wow.

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Boredom is your bias,

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00:14:01,872 --> 00:14:06,104
and if we do not keep you engaged,
you are going to leave.

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00:14:06,904 --> 00:14:09,071
We do not want you to leave.

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00:14:09,072 --> 00:14:13,652
In television, we spend all day gathering
quality information that you can trust,

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00:14:13,653 --> 00:14:15,868
even though 50% of you do not trust it.

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00:14:15,869 --> 00:14:17,922
(Laughter)

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00:14:17,923 --> 00:14:22,421
Your information dinner is served,
and we throw in dessert too.

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00:14:22,422 --> 00:14:24,930
Oh yeah, trending videos.

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00:14:24,931 --> 00:14:27,092
You know, the bizarre,
the wacky, the funny.

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00:14:27,093 --> 00:14:29,849
They make it into 
most major newscasts now,

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00:14:29,850 --> 00:14:33,948
and they are among the top rated
segments of those newscasts.

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00:14:34,938 --> 00:14:38,368
It is true. It is true. Yeah.

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A caution; we are very aware
of trivializing news,

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00:14:44,388 --> 00:14:47,633
and we are very cautious not to.

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But we are competing with Jon Stewart
for goodness' sake.

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00:14:51,245 --> 00:14:52,981
(Laughter)

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00:14:52,982 --> 00:14:57,450
We are dancing as fast as we can
to keep you entertained and informed

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00:14:57,450 --> 00:14:59,321
so that you will stick around.

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00:15:00,462 --> 00:15:03,849
But you say, "Hey, digital news gives me
what I want when I want it,"

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00:15:03,850 --> 00:15:07,064
and that is absolutely true, scarily so.

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Your online habits are watched,
followed, and fed.

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00:15:11,019 --> 00:15:12,683
With each click of the mouse,

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you leave a digital breadcrumb trail
so that you can be fed more of the same.

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00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,610
And social media is contributing
to your bias, it really is.

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Since 2009,

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00:15:26,869 --> 00:15:32,386
traffic to social media news sites
has gone up by 60%.

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A full 70% of people surveyed
recently in North America

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said they used social media
as a news source.

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I got nothing bad to say
about social media, I like it.

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Hey, Twitter is a fantastic tool

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for communicating
and for delivering breaking news.

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But if you are using social media
as your primary news source,

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you have got to be cautious
- because think about it -

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It is your neighbor or the person
who works next to you,

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who likes cat videos,
they are your news director.

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00:16:07,625 --> 00:16:09,531
(Laughter)

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00:16:09,532 --> 00:16:10,702
And you know what?

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00:16:10,702 --> 00:16:12,506
Your editorial team on Facebook

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is only as good
as your friends on Facebook.

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So true.

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00:16:18,337 --> 00:16:23,981
And on Twitter, there is no news director.
No, there really is not.

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00:16:23,982 --> 00:16:27,990
# Competitive. #Sensational.
#KimKardashian.

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00:16:27,991 --> 00:16:29,356
(Laughter)

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I am only throwing in Kim Kardashian

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because I am hoping
that when somebody googles her name,

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this TED talk comes up.

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(Laughter)

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# Shameless.

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You are the subjective news curator
of your world, and we know statistically

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that you like to get news 
from people who think like you do.

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It is a fact.

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And on top of that,
being well-informed online

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00:16:56,629 --> 00:17:00,361
requires more effort
and more discipline on your part.

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00:17:01,492 --> 00:17:05,801
You are only going to click on the things
that look appealing to you, right?

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Think about it, it is 
kind of like going to a buffet.

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00:17:09,190 --> 00:17:11,387
You are not going to get two salads.

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00:17:11,387 --> 00:17:13,396
(Laughter)

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00:17:13,396 --> 00:17:17,539
But you know, you see those desserts
sitting there, they look pretty good.

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Nobody is watching.

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00:17:19,234 --> 00:17:21,077
Take two. What the heck?

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00:17:21,078 --> 00:17:22,848
We are human.

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00:17:22,848 --> 00:17:25,828
We like pie.

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00:17:25,829 --> 00:17:30,359
Our personal preferences feed our biases,

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00:17:30,375 --> 00:17:34,190
and our personal content curation
supports them.

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00:17:35,831 --> 00:17:40,880
By definition and design, digital media
gives us more of what we already like.

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You create your own 
information playlist, if you will.

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00:17:46,792 --> 00:17:51,457
It is kind of like, I do not know,
like the Songza of news.

285
00:17:51,458 --> 00:17:55,564
The system feeds you 
more of what you want.

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00:17:55,565 --> 00:18:00,842
It feels good, but how are you ever going
to be exposed to something new?

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00:18:00,843 --> 00:18:04,439
How are you going to see
a different perspective?

288
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,277
If you keep listening to 8 on the 80s,

289
00:18:06,277 --> 00:18:08,941
how are you going to hear 
new music for goodness sake?

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00:18:08,941 --> 00:18:10,530
Come on. (Laughter)

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00:18:10,530 --> 00:18:13,290
Whether we realize it or not,

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00:18:13,290 --> 00:18:18,574
our subconscious bias is driving 
our news consumption habits,

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00:18:19,375 --> 00:18:22,397
and it is keeping us less informed
than ever before.

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00:18:24,277 --> 00:18:27,504
You know what? We know what happens.

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00:18:29,174 --> 00:18:33,403
When our trust in media 
is at an all-time low,

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00:18:33,403 --> 00:18:35,157
it means that our appetite

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00:18:35,157 --> 00:18:41,007
to seek out new and more varied
variety of news sources diminishes,

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00:18:41,007 --> 00:18:43,925
and our biases are strengthened.

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00:18:45,295 --> 00:18:46,761
We see that every day.

300
00:18:46,762 --> 00:18:50,984
You get camps over here,
you have got another camp over here.

301
00:18:51,634 --> 00:18:53,756
These guys are not listening
to these guys.

302
00:18:53,757 --> 00:18:56,893
They do not want to; there is no trust.

303
00:18:56,894 --> 00:19:00,424
It is all ego-driven, fear-based,

304
00:19:00,425 --> 00:19:04,045
heels dug-in, no progress.

305
00:19:05,915 --> 00:19:10,107
We are behaving like children except
if we were children we would be punished,

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00:19:10,108 --> 00:19:14,531
but in this sense, the people
who are behaving this way,

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00:19:14,532 --> 00:19:16,406
they get their own TV shows

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00:19:16,406 --> 00:19:18,966
or their own constituents, 
as the case may be.

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00:19:21,706 --> 00:19:25,464
As artist and activist Ruben Blades
so eloquently put it,

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00:19:25,465 --> 00:19:27,178
"We risk becoming

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00:19:27,178 --> 00:19:31,598
the best informed society
that ever died of ignorance."

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00:19:31,598 --> 00:19:33,173
(Applause)

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00:19:34,354 --> 00:19:38,490
So how do we achieve the promise
of being a truly informed society

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00:19:38,491 --> 00:19:43,538
when our own personal biases 
keep us locked in a feedback loop,

315
00:19:43,539 --> 00:19:47,070
giving us more and more of the same?

316
00:19:47,071 --> 00:19:50,509
What would happen if, for example,

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00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:56,918
we chose a second or third news source

318
00:19:56,918 --> 00:20:01,009
outside of our normal consumption habits?

319
00:20:02,979 --> 00:20:06,870
Well more news diversity
would make us better informed,

320
00:20:06,871 --> 00:20:08,756
would certainly make us sound smarter,

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00:20:08,757 --> 00:20:12,676
that comes in handy at weddings,
Bar Mitzvahs, TED conferences,

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00:20:12,676 --> 00:20:14,257
(Laughter)

323
00:20:14,258 --> 00:20:18,041
but sounding smart is not the goal.

324
00:20:18,041 --> 00:20:20,146
That is not what this is all about.

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00:20:21,296 --> 00:20:23,473
This is about freedom.

326
00:20:25,263 --> 00:20:29,683
And the news media
is the guardian of our freedom.

327
00:20:30,953 --> 00:20:35,122
We hold authority to account,
you hold us to account.

328
00:20:36,452 --> 00:20:38,933
You are free to choose
whatever news source you like,

329
00:20:38,934 --> 00:20:42,117
but if you are choosing more
of the same, is that freedom?

330
00:20:42,118 --> 00:20:47,547
Getting news that reinforces
your own beliefs feels good,

331
00:20:47,548 --> 00:20:49,428
but it is a false sense of security

332
00:20:49,428 --> 00:20:54,393
and one that does not promote
greater growth or deeper understanding.

333
00:20:54,394 --> 00:20:58,007
It certainly does not challenge
us to challenge our own views.

334
00:20:58,008 --> 00:21:01,377
So how do we know if we are getting
enough variety in our news diet?

335
00:21:01,378 --> 00:21:05,672
Well, if everything you are consuming
makes you feel great,

336
00:21:05,672 --> 00:21:08,004
chances are you need
to mix it up a little bit.

337
00:21:08,005 --> 00:21:11,609
And you know what? 
The news media needs to do its bit too.

338
00:21:11,610 --> 00:21:17,164
We need to make news more relevant,
particularly my branch of the news.

339
00:21:17,164 --> 00:21:19,084
We need to help people understand

340
00:21:19,084 --> 00:21:22,112
why a story is important,
and how it affects them.

341
00:21:22,113 --> 00:21:24,260
Anybody can collect facts.

342
00:21:25,351 --> 00:21:28,382
We need to provide context.

343
00:21:28,383 --> 00:21:32,876
The old notion of, "Eat it, it's good
for you!" just does not work anymore

344
00:21:32,877 --> 00:21:37,142
when one click away
there is something more tantalizing.

345
00:21:38,102 --> 00:21:42,702
If we lose you, we lose,

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00:21:42,702 --> 00:21:45,668
and then we all lose.

347
00:21:49,888 --> 00:21:55,534
As iconic broadcast journalist
Charlie Rose so beautifully put it,

348
00:21:56,674 --> 00:22:00,916
"We learn from each other, 
even when we disagree,

349
00:22:00,916 --> 00:22:04,006
especially when we disagree."

350
00:22:05,356 --> 00:22:06,871
The more we strengthen

351
00:22:06,871 --> 00:22:11,451
the virtues of tolerance, 
diversity, and understanding,

352
00:22:11,451 --> 00:22:15,069
we will have a [ ]
against the hatred and extremism

353
00:22:15,070 --> 00:22:18,741
that has wreaked
so much havoc in this world.

354
00:22:18,742 --> 00:22:23,102
So I implore you, battle your biases.

355
00:22:23,103 --> 00:22:27,448
Empower yourself with more diverse news.

356
00:22:27,449 --> 00:22:33,867
And maybe, just maybe,
we will have an informed society,

357
00:22:33,868 --> 00:22:39,926
a truly informed society,
and enter a new age of enlightenment.

358
00:22:40,676 --> 00:22:41,705
Thank you.

359
00:22:41,705 --> 00:22:42,788
(Applause)