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Is Social Media The Key To Changing A Justice System

Anyone else see all those incredible images of the #MillionsMarchNYC rally? If not, I saw this time-lapse video which shows just how much people got together in what appeared to be a peaceful protest over the recent court decisions with cases like the Eric Garner scenario.

I am obviously not from the US, but I was reading how so many of the big news outlets such as CNN wasn’t really covering this story at all. As a result, people were praising how they have social media to show things like this nowadays. Of course the common hearsay on why a big network wouldn’t really cover topics like this is because in many ways it would potentially affect its funding. Is social media really the key?

In many ways I would say yes. It kind of reminds me of that Kony / Invisible Children story a few years back. Essentially, it was a social media campaign that got the world’s attention to actually create tangible action. I think improving the Canadian justice system is the same and that everyone is lacking the ability to take all the hard cold facts that are available and presenting it in a fashion that will touch the majority of the public.

Instead, it seems like efforts are usually focused in say trying to get a seat or voice within the already tight knitted legal system. Like with that Kony example, I highly doubt trying to get a seat or voice in their country’s political system first would have been very effective. Maybe it’s a strange train of thought, but focusing on educating the general public first with the compelling stories that are available seems to make more sense.

I have often heard that a big reason why the justice system isn’t investigated into is that the general public simply has no interest in the issue. That sounds kind of wrong doesn’t it? Almost like saying a restaurant will continue to be unsanitary as the public doesn’t care enough about it to pressure an investigation. That business should be maintaining best practices regardless of a watchdog or public pressure in my opinion.

What would it take for the issues to be presented to light in Canada? I guess only time will tell as clearly what is currently being done simply maintains the current system and in many ways.