Once upon a time, reporters were widely viewed as unethical hacks and muckrakers.

At the height of yellow journalism in the late 1800s, the establishment felt they were troublemakers who spent too much time in local saloons and not enough time telling the truth.

Sensationalism and fake news reached a crescendo around the time of the Spanish-American War. That's when publishing tycoons Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst tried to outdo one another with hypercharged articles about sex, crime, and scandal.

In those days, newspaper writers truly deserved the term smear merchants. Those in the upper class never wanted their children growing up to work in this business.

There were no journalism schools. It was not a profession.

The public standing of reporters improved through the 1920s and 1930s. The screwball comedy His Girl Friday helped their image in the early 1940s.

But scribes were rarely portrayed as dramatic and dashing heroes in Hollywood movies. That didn't come until the 1970s.

In the postwar 1940s and 1950s, journalism could be seen as a calling or, in the best of circumstances, a craft. It certainly didn't require any formal education or degree, though some, like Pierre Berton, were well schooled.

That's changed dramatically over the past three decades.

Those who anchor television news programs or host popular radio shows have evolved into pillars of the establishment. Others are celebrities, either locally or nationally.

The first B.C. journalist to undergo this metamorphosis was Jack Webster.

The Oatmeal Savage was a hard-driving radio talk-show mouthpiece who wasn't afraid to rummage through the trash in his younger days or stay out late carousing with his pals.

His fame grew as he got older when he hosted a top-rated TV show. Prime ministers and premiers would pay homage by visiting his studio.

Eventually, Webster joined the board of that ultimate embodiment of the establishment, the Law Society of B.C.

Imagine that—the often profane Jack Webster, with his working-class Scottish brogue, sitting around a boardroom with the other benchers voting on rules that all the other lawyers had to follow. It must have amused those who knew him.

Nowadays, there are annual journalism award dinners in Webster's name that attract a Who's Who of the provincial elite. And reporters and editors usually show up dressed like they're at a wedding.

These events are attended by aspiring journalists, who know that they have to obtain college and university diplomas and degrees to enter this field.

Some journalists even collect their master's before embarking on a career in the media.

Most are far better trained and more worldly than Webster or Berton were when they started calling people and asking for interviews.

Being honoured by the state is a natural step in the process

Perhaps it's a sign of the times then that two broadcasters were granted entry yesterday into that pillar of the establishment, the Order of Canada.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet and CBC's Gloria Macarenko can add the letters O.C. after their names. They're permitted to wear little pins showing that they belong to Canada's most exclusive club.

Before yesterday, I already knew that the CBC's Peter Mansbridge was in the Order of Canada. That's because I recall him interviewing Conrad Black about this topic.

They were each wearing their pins during one of those interview shows when Black was moaning about the possibility of his honour being revoked.

This morning out of curiosity, I did some google searches to see which other journalists and sportscasters are in the Order of Canada.

It's a growing list that includes Berton, Michael Enright, Andy Barrie, Stevie Cameron, Lise Bissonnette, Peter Jennings, Matsumi Takahashi, Sally Armstrong, Brian Williams, Val Werier, Peter Bregg, Red Fisher, Don Newman, Craig Oliver, Jeffrey Simpson, Simma Holt, and Chantal Hébert.

And yes, Jack Webster was also invested into the Order of Canada in 1989. I thought he might be the first journalist living in B.C. to receive this honour but Vaughn Palmer has informed me that Bruce Hutchison was granted this honour in 1967.

Author and journalist Peter C. Newman joined the Order in 1990 while he was teaching creative writing at the University of Victoria.

But other well-known journalists with deep B.C. roots—includingPalmer, Allan Fotheringham, Jim Hume, Kim Bolan, Frances Bula, and Ian Hanomansing—have never been made members.

I don't have a problem when a kind-hearted person like Gloria Macarenko receives an honour like this.

That's because she's consistently treated her peers and the public with respect, plus she's helped raise a great deal of money for charity. It probably makes her family and her colleagues proud of her.

But I also sense a trend here, given the growing number of media people being admitted into the club. And in the coming years, I won't be surprised if a bunch of other B.C. broadcasters seek admission. It certainly adds lustre to a c.v.

Global TV's Sophie Lui, CTV's Keri Adams, Citytv's Riaz Meghji, and CBC Early Edition society columnist Fred Lee can all point to efforts they've made to raise money for charity over the years. CBC Radio's Anne Penman invented the Crown corporation's Food Bank Day, which is a lasting legacy.

They can all claim with some legitimacy that they belong, now that Macarenko has cracked the inner circle.

None of these local broadcasters could be described as a smear merchant. And if they ever decide to make the leap into politics, an Order of Canada would be of use on the campaign trail.

Besides, when media personalities receive the Order of Canada, it ensures that these awards generate more publicity.

It helps the public forget about the few scoundrels who've been kicked out of this exclusive club—and some of the others who still belong!

As for me, I'm still waiting for a true B.C.-raised muckraker—like Bob Mackin, Yves Engler, or Michael Bate—to receive the Order of Canada.

Somehow, I doubt that this will ever happen in my lifetime.

This is notwithstanding their often revelatory contributions to public discourse.