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At a time when newsrooms are being Googled out of existence, it comes as no surprise that Justin Trudeau was recently interviewed not by 10 trained journalists, but by 10 random citizens.

Welcome to the brave new world. Had the convener of this affair been anyone other than the (soon to be even more luxuriously) taxpayer-funded CBC, one could only have applauded a struggling industry’s masochism.

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If it was low risk to the CBC, it was nervy stuff from our prime minister. Opening yourself to street queries is to invite a car crash, especially when a citizen’s concerns can reside in the more esoteric lanes of a government’s highway. I remember doing a Q&A with Stephen Harper and a selection of YouTubers and nine of the top 10 questions they wanted to ask had to do with pot. By the looks of things, the CBC’s filters managed to screen out most of the blunt talk.

Even so, full marks to Team Trudeau, who are to be congratulated for letting concerned citizens have a go live on television. It must have been a hard task for which to prepare. With journalists you know to protect your goolies; with regular folks the aim might not be as true, but the damage they can inflict is every bit as grave.