I was director of communications for a prime minister. End of reading will damage more than our schools

Andrew MacDougall/Toronto Star: To work well, the government needs good people, good information, some form of common canvas and a strong challenge function. Sadly, the attention economy has gutted the media and its challenge function, ripped apart our collective canvases, made the quality of our information a crapshoot, and, in so doing, opened up public life to people who are manifestly unfit for public office. It turns out building an information economy where lies can trade at a premium to the truth attracts the shameless and the mendacious…