Munk Debates: Freedom of Speech or a Platform for Racism?
“Steve Bannon, the controversial former strategist for U.S. President Donald Trump, is set to defend the issue of populism in a debate with conservative commentator David Frum in Toronto this fall.”
“The announcement of the event – part of the Munk Debates – comes days after Bannon was dropped from the speakers list at next month’s New Yorker Festival following intense backlash and threats of a boycott by other guests.”
“’We believe we are providing a public service by allowing their ideas to be vigorously contested and letting the public draw their own conclusions from the debate,’ he said in a statement.”
“In our increasingly polarized societies we often struggle to see across ideological and moral divides. Civil and substantive public debate of the big issues of our time helps all of us better understand the challenges we face as a society and what, if anything, can be done to resolve them.”
The Globe and Mail, September 5, 2018: “Munk Debates to bring controversial former Trump strategist Steve Bannon to Toronto this fall,” by J. Scott Applewhite
The Varsity, September 17, 2018: “A debate on the Autumn Munk Debate: Two opposing student perspectives on the upcoming Toronto debate about populism, which features the controversial Steve Bannon”
Munk Debates, November 2, 2018: The Rise of Populism: Be it resolved, the future of western politics is populist not liberal...
Rudyard Griffiths, Chair of Munk Debates Twitter
“Access isn’t journalism’s holy grail—facts are.”
“Bashing the media for political gain isn’t new, and neither is manipulating the media to support or oppose a cause. These practices are at least as old as the Gutenberg press. But antipathy toward the media right now has risen to a level I’ve never personally experienced before. The closest parallel in recent American history is the hostility to reporters in the segregated South in the 1950s and ’60s.”
“Then, as now, that hatred was artificially stoked by people who found that it could deliver them some combination of fame, wealth, and power.”
“I’m not advocating for a more activist press in the political sense, but for a more aggressive one. That means having a lower tolerance for talking points, and a greater willingness to speak plain truths. It means not allowing ourselves to be spun, and not giving guests or sources a platform to spin our readers and viewers, even if that angers them. Access isn’t journalism’s holy grail—facts are.”
The Atlantic, September 3, 2018: It’s Time for the Press to Stop Complaining—And to Start Fighting Back : A nearly 50-year campaign of vilification, inspired by Fox News's Roger Ailes, has left many Americans distrustful of media outlets. Now, journalists need to speak up for their work” by Chuck Todd
