Alberta NDP has gall to questions who is a journalist

Updates are sure to come

Quick musings on issues arising from Alberta's NDP banning The Rebel 'correspondents' (call them what you like, just NOT journalists) from government news conferences - then reversing its decision.

First, Levant's outfit is not a media organization, it's a propaganda tool created to trash the NDP and anyone else Ezra doesn't like, such as PM Justin Trudeau, Omar Khadr, and Muslims in general. 

CBC's Neil Macdonald beat me to the punch with 

• The Rebel and the NDP, why not to provoke Ezra Levant

But I'll say my views, regardless.

WHAT IS A JOURNALIST?
How do you know if someone is a journalist or just someone calling themselves a journalist? I look to standards of practice described by professional associations.

Current standards of practice for journalists are outlined in the Canadian Association of Journalists' 

• Ethics Guidelines (Please read these carefully)

Levant's minions practice none of these best practices. His work force consists of rabidly right wing propagandists, not journalists. 

WHAT IS A  PROFESSION?
Journalism likely is NOT a profession in the traditional sense. First, a profession requires special education, training, or skill. 

It often involves studying a specialized body of knowledge at an educational institution,  including on-the-job training to acquire real world experience. For example:

• Ryerson's School of Journalism
• Poynter Institute

Second, professions are self-regulating. If you fail to follow what is expected practice, you are struck off.

WHO DETERMINES WHO IS A JOURNALIST?
Main issue that concerns me for this blog is how so many mainstream media (MSM) journalists say that it's not the government's job to determine who a journalist is. 

In a former life I was a member of a health profession that was government regulated with a mandate to protect the public safety. If we screwed up, after a hearing, we'd be struck off.

For interest, Alberta's

• Regulated professions
• Designated occupations

Note: Standards in Alberta exist for bakers but not for journalists. Seems journalists are truly bottom feeders, unaccountable to no one except employers. 

As Neil Macdonald wrote, journalism is NOT a profession by any standard.

Personally, I wish it were, even though those calling themselves journalists say that's impossible. 

If any idiot can be a journalist, it degrades those who studied the craft and follow its code of ethics. 

The bit about newspapers and media in general having fewer staff to cover local news doesn't convince me that we should accept anyone as a journalist.