HAVE THE MEDIA BEEN CO-OPTED?

Yesterday morning I received two comments on my posting of last Saturday regarding a chemical fire in Toronto . The commenter's name (Kim) I recognized from possibly a year or more ago as a Scarborough resident who had commented here previously. I checked the Internet to see if anything was on-line and indeed their were several brief stories about the Lakeshore East GO train line being shut down because of an early morning chemical fire. They referenced nearby locations such as Coronation Drive and Chemical Court in Scarborough. Also a chemical factory near Lawrence Avenue East and Morningside Avenue was mentioned. There was a reference to a chemical factory located at 10 Chemical Court in Scarborough. Finally there were several references to the fire just east of the Guildwood GO station.

Later during the day I again checked on-line for further details. They simply weren't there. Odd, a chemical fire in a heavily populated area considered serious enough to shut down public transit during the morning rush hour, yet few details even many hours later. Again this morning I checked and still no more than I saw yesterday. Now I have no idea what local radio and television are broadcasting in Toronto nor have I seen this morning's Waterloo Region Record. Maybe it's all there in black and white.

While I rcognized the address (10 Chemical Court) I kept expecting to see the company name in the on-line articles. Nada. I doublechecked and indeed as Saturday's commenter advised it is our very own Chemtura Canada. This I believe is also known as the West Hill Chemtura plant. This is also not the only fire or environmental issue they've had. In 2010 they made the news for chemical emissions into the neighbourhood. I eagerly await today's newspaper as well as any other media reports and if there is no mention of Chemtura Canada by name then I will be seriously impressed with their power and influence. Has it really come to this? Are the media really that scared and intimidated that they won't tell the public the names of polluters anymore?