It’s been more than two decades since I first started along the path to becoming a journalist.

That’s 21 years since my first class as a part of Centennial College’s three-year print program, and 18 years since accepting the job as Staff Writer with Interrobang as my first full-time writing gig.

And it’s been 13 years since I left the profession.

In that time Canadians have seen a lot of change, both for the better and worse. Of those changes is one that’s often overlooked, despite having and outsized impact on our everyday lives – and that’s the not-so-slow death of the Fourth Estate.

For many Canadians, the Fourth Estate isn’t a common term. They understand that The Fifth Estate is the name of a popular CBC investigative television program, but what does it mean?

The Fourth Estate builds upon the idea of the “Estates of the Realm,” a term used in the Middle Ages to refer to the clergy, nobles, and everyone else (effectively all citizens not of the upper class). The Fourth Estate is a modern term added to the hierarchy and is generally used to refer to mainstream media, with the Fifth Estate focusing more on modern independent or non-traditional media.

While the less regulated Fifth Estate continues to adapt to changing technology, morphing almost seamlessly from blogging to podcasts and into our modern TikTok/Instagram era, the Fourth has struggled to keep up.

And that should be a concern to all Canadians because journalism keeps power to account, and democracy on track. Or at least it’s supposed to.

In some form or fashion, journalists have always existed. Documenting history, telling humanities best and worst stories, keeping record of the lives of everyday people. In doing so they not only shaped how we interact with our government, but they provided us with information about the people and places well beyond our borders.

But because they’ve always just kind of been there, it becomes easier to overlook them entirely.

And a lot of us have.

The face of journalism in Canada has not just been altered over the last 30 years, it has been completely re-drawn. Our big dailies have become incestuous with most of them now majority-owned by the same conservative American hedge fund. The media landscape in Canada has morphed from a relatively balanced, cross-political spectrum industry into one where 90 per cent of the news coverage we’re provided with is driven by a foreign entity.

There are some holdouts – the last bastions of local news who are often hanging on by a thread – who are still writing based on the needs of their community, but as they continue to struggle the big losers remain the everyday Canadian.

And losing The Interrobang after 50 years of publication in the London community is yet another loss.

A small, local paper that covered everything from Trivia Night at The Out Back Shack to elections at all levels of government. Heck, it was with the Interrobang that I was given the opportunity to interview NHL stars, scientists at the Canadian Space Agency, and even a researcher in Germany who was developing a spray-on condom (which I don’t think I’ve seen hit the market…).

But as the Fourth Estate continues to lose power – continues to lose respect – I think it’s important for Fanshawe College’s students to take the time to mourn what losing The Interrobang really means.

How it shows what we as Canadians are choosing to prioritize, and the power we’re willingly giving up, in a time of increasing uncertainty.

Mourn this loss, but make it count by stepping forward to support and protect the remaining true members of the Fourth Estate before they no longer have the power to protect us.