‘To work as a journalist these days is to report in a political landscape where up is down, in is out, and two plus two equals five.’
OTTAWA, DECEMBER 9, 2024 – World Press Freedom Canada is pleased to announce award-winning broadcaster and best-selling author Carol Off will join us in Ottawa on Jan. 22, 2025, for a timely discussion in what is an “all hands on deck” moment for anyone who cares about democracy and the truth.
As co-host of CBC Radio’s As It Happens, Off spent a decade and a half talking to people in the news five nights a week. On top of her stellar writing and reporting career, those 25,000 interviews have given her a unique vantage point on the crucial subject at the heart of her new book — how, in these polarizing years, words that used to define civil society and social justice are being put to work for a completely different political agenda. Often, they are also being bleached of their meaning as the values they represent are mocked and distorted.
“If our language doesn’t have a means to express an idea, then the idea itself is gone—even the range of thought is diminished,” Off writes. And, as she argues, that’s a dangerous loss.
“I’ve never experienced a time in which the notion of truth has been so mistrusted. Yet reaching a shared understanding of the truth of any situation is fundamental to our security, our politics, our trust in our neighbours,” she says. “The ravaged media landscape is a populist politician’s wet dream — there’s hardly anyone there to challenge their claims or question their announcements.”
Join us for a free event at the Rideau Club on Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m. — two days after U.S. Presidential Inauguration Day and as the Canadian House of Commons returns from winter break. WPFC President Heather Bakken will lead this important conversation with Off.
Seats are limited. Register at: https://bit.ly/WPFC-CarolOff
