Rapport

30/11/2022

rapport
noun
rap·​port ra-ˈpȯr rə-

: a friendly, harmonious relationship especially: a relationship characterized by agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes communication possible or easy

Mission: To deliver a quality and style of journalism and cultural analysis that returns to harder-to-find, tried-and-true journalistic ethics and introduces a set of philosophical standards. Our editorial goal is to respect point of view and voice, actively seeking out unheard perspectives. We will tell the stories others do not, and our emphasis will be on civil rapport, instead of snark and smarm, and on humility and charity, rather than arrogant certainty.

Our journalism and cultural analysis will include, but also extend past, Canadian concerns to global issues, ideas, and the arts, with the aim of becoming a preferred outlet for commentary, analysis, and reviews. Instead of producing fast commentary, our goal is to go beyond looking at the superficial content of phenomena in order to extract what these phenomena say about society.

Rapport is old-school. We believe that a journalism for the people requires autonomy from the state, corporations, and other institutions. Without this distance and autonomy from institutions and their interests, we believe that truth cannot be found because it is in the self-interest of all institutions to pick and choose which truths are permitted.

There are currently 3 levels of subscription for Rapport:

Free
$5$/month
$50/year
$150 Founding member

Rapport has been growing steadily since its launch on October 14th. She now has 131 subscribers and 23 paid subscribers.

The site will be ramping up soon and will include video and podcast content. I'd like to keep most of the content free for those who are not able to afford it, but I can only do that if enough readers support the site by becoming paid subscribers.

Please consider becoming a paid subscriber, but only if you can afford it. If not, becoming a free subscriber is also a way of showing your support for Rapport.

Thank you for listening!
Terry

30/11/2022

https://rapport.substack.com/p/welcome-to-rapport
rapport
noun
rap·​port ra-ˈpȯr rə-
: a friendly, harmonious relationship especially: a relationship characterized by agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes communication possible or easy
Mission: To deliver a quality and style of journalism and cultural analysis that returns to harder-to-find, tried-and-true journalistic ethics and introduces a set of philosophical standards. Our editorial goal is to respect point of view and voice, actively seeking out unheard perspectives. We will tell the stories others do not, and our emphasis will be on civil rapport, instead of snark and smarm, and on humility and charity, rather than arrogant certainty.
Our journalism and cultural analysis will include, but also extend past, Canadian concerns to global issues, ideas, and the arts, with the aim of becoming a preferred outlet for commentary, analysis, and reviews. Instead of producing fast commentary, our goal is to go beyond looking at the superficial content of phenomena in order to extract what these phenomena say about society.
Rapport is old-school. We believe that a journalism for the people requires autonomy from the state, corporations, and other institutions. Without this distance and autonomy from institutions and their interests, we believe that truth cannot be found because it is in the self-interest of all institutions to pick and choose which truths are permitted.
Thanks for listening.
Terry Newman

Helping to make the world more complicated

30/11/2022

Could Natalie from HR and Joe from Accounts Payable really be inciting the work team to collectively destroy another human being?

The answer is yes. The truth of the matter is, a Human Resource department’s interests have little to nothing to do with protecting the employee and everything to do with protecting the interests and objectives of the company. They almost certainly engage in behaviours with a specific purpose and goal in mind, often ousting an individual from the organization in order to send a message to the rest of the workforce.

The Case of Eric Donovan

30/11/2022

https://rapport.substack.com/p/politics-and-the-english-language

George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” explains how language - and therefore meaning - can quickly degrade if an author is writing for political reasons.

Orwell points out two ways this degradation happens: staleness of imagery and lack of precision. He gives three possible explanations for this degradation; the writer may have a meaning in mind that they cannot express for whatever reason, or the writer accidentally says something other than what they mean, or the writer could be indifferent or unconcerned about whether their words mean anything or not.

While all three reasons can be attributed to a lack of skill on the part of the writer, the last appears to be the most critical flaw. After all, if a writer does not care whether or not what they are saying actually means anything in reality, or, worse, they are intentionally obscuring reality by failing to explain a situation fully with concrete imagery or by using a word abstractly, without precision, for political purposes, we must then view this as a purposeful attempt to obscure concrete reality. The result is ugly.

Ugly political writing uses words in a dishonest way as a shorthand to deceive, rather than elaborate, and to signify that some target, some particular person or group of people, is undesirable.

Ugly political writing seems to be everywhere today, but I am going to focus on a recent CBC piece, “Scores of anti-trans candidates running in Ontario school board elections,” to illustrate how political writing is, as Orwell pointed out, abstract, in that it fails to communicate concrete images to further its arguments, and imprecise, in that it relies on the vagueness of terms in an attempt to prove the political point of the author.

Such writing can also go beyond vagueness, extending to ad hominems, the improper use of statistics, non-sequiturs, dishonest and unethical representation of interview subjects, association fallacies, red herrings, and obvious omissions of relevant information. All of these flaws can be found in this piece.

By the end of my article, I hope it will be clear to readers that Jonathan Montpetit, a Senior Investigative Reporter for CBC, was no more interested in fairly and honestly communicating why trustee candidates were concerned about Ontario K-12 school board policies than he was in how these policies might affect Ontario students. His interview correspondence with three candidates suggests Montpetit had decided, before he even reached out to them, the frame and conclusion of his investigation.

I end with a discussion about CBC’s investigative journalism policy, the potential costs to outlets and journalists who attempt to fake a consensus in a society where none exists, and whether or not this piece may have breached “responsible communication,” a very important defamation protection for journalists.

It's become clear that the words "anti-trans" and "transphobic" have become meaningless ones

30/11/2022

https://rapport.substack.com/p/getting-the-press-to-explore-the

Hopefully, this piece will provide Canadians with the necessary information to understand current dental care coverage and services for children across Canada, its challenges, and who experts say are the Canadians not visiting the dentist. It also aims to capture a bit of Canada’s overall state of oral health.

Spoiler Alert: The benefit is not Following the Science

30/11/2022

https://rapport.substack.com/p/welcome-to-rapport

rapport
noun
rap·​port ra-ˈpȯr rə-

: a friendly, harmonious relationship especially: a relationship characterized by agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes communication possible or easy

Mission: To deliver a quality and style of journalism and cultural analysis that returns to harder-to-find, tried-and-true journalistic ethics and introduces a set of philosophical standards. Our editorial goal is to respect point of view and voice, actively seeking out unheard perspectives. We will tell the stories others do not, and our emphasis will be on civil rapport, instead of snark and smarm, and on humility and charity, rather than arrogant certainty.

Our journalism and cultural analysis will include, but also extend past, Canadian concerns to global issues, ideas, and the arts, with the aim of becoming a preferred outlet for commentary, analysis, and reviews. Instead of producing fast commentary, our goal is to go beyond looking at the superficial content of phenomena in order to extract what these phenomena say about society.

Rapport is old-school. We believe that a journalism for the people requires autonomy from the state, corporations, and other institutions. Without this distance and autonomy from institutions and their interests, we believe that truth cannot be found because it is in the self-interest of all institutions to pick and choose which truths are permitted.

Thanks for listening.

Terry Newman

Helping to make the world more complicated