What's a Speakers Corner and why do we want to bring one back?
The Original Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, Nottingham, England, 1950's
A Speakers Corner is a public soapbox — a sounding-off area where people can air their views. Wikipedia defines a Speakers Corner as “An area where open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed.” The the original Speakers Corner, which is in Hyde Park in Nottingham, England, was created in 1866. There are many Speakers Corners in the world — there is one in Bogota, Columbia, Ryerson University, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, the Netherlands and many more.
The original Citytv, headed up by Moses Znaimer and owned by the Water’s family, took this venerable institution and made it into a public soapbox on the TV airwaves — a half-hour weekly television show. The show ran for an astounding 17-year run, and became a Toronto institution.
.For those of you who watched Speakers Corner, or came down to do your thing, thank you so much. It was a lot of fun doing the show. And for those of you have never heard of such a thing, you can take a look at what Speakers Corner was like by clicking on the videos below. Or click on our “Speakers Corner Press” Tab for a look at what the news and pundits had to say about Speakers Corner in Toronto.
As to WHY we want to bring back — because it’s the right thing to do. We believe that a full, transparent dialogue on the public digital-airwaves is needed now more than everin this age of trolls, social media, fake news and ever-splintering real news sources. There is a real danger that if people get their news and info from the sources they like or the algorithms that like them — that we will end up split into tribes and more and more polarized from each other — sorta like we are now. So speak up Toronto! C’mon back, upload a video and talk face-to-face! You can talk about news, information, transit, pet peeves or whatever you like. We’re back. And wed love to hear and see you. Just press the green button to upload a video!.