As virtually every woman in her family has fallen ill from breast cancer, she has wondered, not so much if she'd get sick and die, but when it would happen; whether, in fact, she has the breast cancer gene. Yet, the technology that promised a window into Karen's future and a chance, perhaps, to save her life, has brought unprecedented loneliness. Her relatives — mother, aunts, cousins — fear she is unearthing dangerous information, and perhaps black-listing the entire family from future insurance and employment. Even her doctor-husband doesn't understand why she needs to know if she carries a mutant gene that very probably will make her sick. She feels utterly alone and wonders if she tempting fate.

The launch of CBC Tandem raised numerous questions about advertiser-sponsored content, both at the public broadcaster and other Canadian news organizations. Sponsored content is increasingly hidden on news platforms such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and across the Postmedia chain, all of which established in-house content-studios over the last decade to supplement declining revenue. Sponsored content “exploits loopholes in human digital literacy,” making it almost indistinguishable from regular editorial content. Does this latest advertising strategy will harm journalism, as CBC staffers passionately claim? If so; whose responsibility it is to stand up for journalism: current or former journalists, advertisers or regulators?