…and if you do read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.

The famous Mark Twain quote is as true now as it was back then. Yet with the invention of the television, the media has taken misinformation to an entirely new level.

Most people get their news from television. Quite frankly, what they are getting is not much.

The typical TV newscast is filled with stories that are three minutes or less. Even the longer stories are strung together with fifteen second sound bytes that can never accurately describe a complex issue. At a time where issues are more complicated than ever, TV news is irrefutably simple.

For anyone learning about an issue for the first time, a 15 second sound byte might be enough to inform their opinion. To anyone educated on an issue, the thought of this is horrendous.  It is impossible to cram a sufficient amount of information to make a judgment about any topic into 15 seconds. To make matters worse, important issues can often be misrepresented when so much information is stripped away. This is not intentional, but rather a fact of life in the news industry. This is further complicated by the 24 hour news cycle, where speed is valued over quality and accuracy.

The end result leaves many Canadians making judgments on issues without having nearly enough information to correctly make those judgments. As a society that aspires to be intelligent and educated, this is abhorrent. But what can be done differently?

Enter Sun TV News.

Attacked by its future competitors and smeared with the label “Fox News North”, Sun TV News promises to do news differently. Yesterday’s announcement by Quebecor Media and Sun Media explained that Sun TV News will be a 24 hour all-news station that combines news coverage with a variety of opinion shows that promise to debate news vigorously.

Competitors complain that the network may be spun with a conservative ideology and they worry it might corrupt the news industry. That’s not what they should be afraid of.  What other news networks need to fear is a healthy debate. A real discussion about an issue will absolutely smash the 15 second sound byte. Any illusion that people are actually learning something from the traditional TV news will fade out of existence.

Many are making predictions about whether or not Sun TV News will succeed. I will make my own bold prediction: it doesn’t matter. Whether or not Sun TV News becomes a financial success, it is going to radically change the way news in this country is done, and for the better.

It’s time for this country to have start having a real debate again. And for bringing that debate back to Canada, I welcome Sun TV News.