BY JIM PITT Special to the VOICE
There was a guy selling cut-price men’s suits who used to advertise on late-night television. He ended his spiel with the line, “An educated consumer is our best customer.”
If only it were so.
The recent hand-wringing over the Facebook “scandal” surprised me. Facebook is an advertising company. When you sign up for Facebook, you become a consumer of the myriad of advertising that bombards you. That is the point. That’s how Mr. Zuckerberg has become a multi-billionaire.
Another, less known, consequence of joining Facebook is that you become a product. Your personal information, pictures, survey responses and friend lists are sold off to the many advertisers who analyze and tailor their ads specifically to you, the consumer. A very neat trick.
If the consumer becomes outraged by this betrayal, what that individual does will determine whether Facebook continues as it is, or changes, either on its own or through regulation. There appears to be a number of investigations into Facebook’s antics underway all around the world. It is a profit-driven company beholden to its shareholders and employees, not to you, its customer and product.
Speaking of corporations beholden to shareholders and their executive management, there has been some more hand-wringing over our major banks of late. It seems that people are upset over banks selling them products that they either don’t want or don’t need.
Products that don’t benefit the consumer, but benefit the bank.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) recently released their findings, saying, "There are insufficient controls in place to prevent sales of financial products that are misrepresented or unsuitable for consumers. The bank’s sales-focused culture elevates the risk that employees may flout consumer protection rules.” (CBC News, March 20, 2018).
Again, the key word here is consumer. As a consumer you have the right and personal duty to shop around. Banks sell financial products; they are not advisors. The products that banks sell are meant to maximize their profits and pay a commission to the salesperson; therefore they are not necessarily suitable for your needs. Banks work for their shareholders, not you. If you are in the market for investments, there are many places where you can go to shop around. Banks are not one of them.
Meanwhile, most people today rely on many sources for their news. The web, especially Facebook, and television are very popular, while radio and newspapers have been losing customers. Recently Torstar, the parent of Metroland news, swapped local newspapers with Postmedia.
Niagara This Week was once the only Torstar paper in the Niagara Region, but now the St. Catharines Standard, Welland Tribune and Niagara Falls Review are all part of the Torstar-Metroland stable of papers.
The other local Postmedia papers, such as The Pelham News and other weeklies, were closed.
All of these papers in the Niagara Region are owned by the same company and, if you check them out online or at the newsstand, you will quickly notice that they are visually almost identical. So what was the deal?
The Competition Bureau alleges in documents that the two companies conspired to divvie-up sales, territories, customers and/or markets for advertising or flyer distribution in certain regions. The agreement concluded last year saw 41 newspapers change hands—36 were closed and 300 jobs were gone.
The two companies agreed on lists of employees to terminate, and agreed to a transitional service agreement. All the employees terminated were from the closed papers. The companies also agreed not to compete in specific areas for five years.
As of this writing, no charges have been laid and the allegations have not been proven in court.
Torstar is the parent company that owns the Toronto Star, a well-established Liberal paper. Our Mayor is also alleged to be a Liberal. Is it a coincidence that the local Torstar-owned papers go out of their way to support and praise the Mayor, to the point of printing certain of his statements without fact-checking them, and, at the same time, vilify Regional Chairman Caslin and a few other Regional Councillors, alleged to be Conservative party supporters?
Newspapers have been picking sides since their inception. Politicians have also been courting newspapers for any support they can get. I don’t think you would find this information in any Torstar or Postmedia news source, but you did read it here.
As an informed consumer it is important to realize that companies like Facebook want you to have as many friends as possible, so that they can sell you and your friends to the highest bidder. Facebook is not your friend.
The banks are in the business of making money as well. They are not your friends either. The nice lady at the bank does not work for you, as mentioned above.
Speaking of manipulative practices, the Mayor and Council remind me of a lawyer on a TV drama that rises in the court and says something to the jury that raises an objection from the opposing lawyer. The judge rules that what was said should not have been said, and directs the jury to disregard what was said. But it was said and the damage has been done.
On a number of occasions, just in the past year, the Mayor and Council have used this tactic on their jury, we, the people of Pelham. To hear them explain it, Rainer Hummel was upset over the Town holding up a land transaction, that’s why he offered to pay for a third party audit of the Town. Councillor Baty is "cynical" and has an axe to grind over the Town’s position on the NPCA, so he should just shut up and go away. Marv Junkin was "garbled, confused and inaccurate,” and therefore not credible. After nearly 21 years of service to Pelham, the Voice suddenly isn’t a real newspaper, so ignore it.
Each of these accusations has been proven false, but they were said, and the Town is likely satisfied that damage has been done.
The local daily papers report these falsehoods for their own political reasons. But they omit the other side of the story and sow seeds of doubt in readers' minds.
The owners of these dailies are now under investigation for disregarding the laws around competition and for collusion to monopolize a market, like the Niagara Region. The Mayor and Council may also soon be under investigation by the Ombudsman and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for unusual financial transactions.
Now that you have been informed about the true motivations of Facebook, the banks, the local press, and our Town Hall, you can decide whether you're going to buy what they have to sell or look to shop elsewhere.
