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“I’m only twenty-five years old, and I don’t know anything about anything,” wisely chides our in-studio guest, Richard Raycraft.
That’s exactly why, as CHRW Radio’s (94.9 FM in London Ontario) News and Spoken Word Director who has a personal passion for the integrity of journalism, Richard likes to ask questions.
Having just completed a CBC radio documentary that has earned him acclaim, its subject matter is one in which Richard shares an additional passion beyond journalism: fighting against ISIS.
What would inspire someone like Richard to want to fight ISIS by joining a foreign militia? What was it that inspired two other young Canadians to do the same – and to lose their lives in the process? The answers to both questions are what merged as the theme of Richard’s documentary.
But that’s just the starting point of our own discussion with Richard, one that encompasses his views on public broadcasting, moral relativism, journalism’s current status and future, freedom of speech, attitudes of entitlement from his fellow millennials, Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, and much more.
In an era of ‘fake news‘ accusations and denials, and with increasing public distrust in the media at large, what can we expect as the media trends of the future?
We’ll leave it to you, our listeners, to judge for yourself whether or not Richard really doesn’t “know anything about anything,” and whether or not his “questioning” philosophy is indeed the key to steering journalism in a direction that’s Just Right.
One Response to “525 – Guest: Richard Raycraft – Journey into journalism”
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I live near San Diego and find your weekly podcasts very interesting and informative.
At about 51:20 into the podcast Mr. Raycraft mentioned ineffective immigration policy as a reason for voters to support candidate Trump. I believe many voters for Mr. Trump, including myself, saw the issue as not immigration good or bad, but as open borders/one world government (Clinton) VS. border security/national sovereignty (Trump). Mr. Raycraft said he could never support President Trump because of the President’s isolationist immigration and trade policies. Mr. Raycraft is promoting either fake news or ignorant news: Mr. Trump stated REPEATEDLY on the campaign trail that he favored controlled immigration with common sense border security, and trade deals that were fair to the U.S.
The left-wing cultured media here in the U.S. constantly cloud and misstate these and other issues to support their left-wing bias. Mr. Raycraft’s enthusiasm for the left-wing cultured “NPR in the states” is extremely disappointing. Maybe that attitude will change when NPR refuses to air one of his pieces because it does not fit NPR’s left-wing culture.