In case anyone missed Friday’s “Politics” broaaadcast on Newsworld, Toronto Star columnist Susan Delacourt provided a rare moment of insight into the media’s attitudes (or at least her own). Her comment starts at about 49:30:
Delacourt: This is where, I’ve been thinking about this for the last couple of days, their media strategy – I know it sounds like we’re fixed on this – but remember, that we here in the media, one of the things that we’re supposed to be is independent as well.
And for the last two years, this government has sort of shown, sort of, the back of the hand to that whole idea of independence, or sort of distance, and I think this is where it catches up with them.
The media is gonna tell this story from the experience they know which is – we don’t know what it’s like to get someone on your doorstep firing you at ten o’clock at night – but we certainly know what it feels like to be trifled with and to be played around with and bullied.
And I think that’s where, if these guys had had a little more of a farsighted media strategy, that maybe this story would be being told a different way. But I’ve been very surprised watching the way this story has been reported. And how else would we report it? It’s what we know here.
While it’s indisputable that the Harper government has imposed a strict discipline on government communications and spokespersons (an understandable policy for a conservative government), this can hardly be described as giving reporters the “back of the hand.” What it has given the back of its hand to is the old style of media relations under the Liberals.
Under that style, Hill reporters were not treated with independence or distance; they were treated as pets to be cultivated and – if deemed sympathetic – rewarded with leaks from inside government, weekly caucus meetings, and not-so-underground leadership campaigns. (Sounds like trifling and playing to me.)
Delacourt’s comments suggest that reporters have decided to take a stand on their independence – by sabotaging it (“How dare Harper treat us like we’re biased, we’ll show him – by being biased!”). Which seems rather like cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.
23 comments:
Nice catch. I wonder who will win this war?
Oh, that Susan Delacourt, she's so articulate! =P
Yes I agree. A glimpse of the National Press Gallery's " Hidden Agenda" She can't help but bragg about her power ! Scary woman!
Good post. Not only did the Liberals cultivate their pet media they slept with them, married them and live with them to this day. The journalists who "fraternized" with the Liberals to put it mildly are also the ones who seem to have gotten promoted and are the "independant and objective" commentators on pretty well all of the CBC and CTV political shows and news.
Their household incomes and their spouse's JOBS depend on the Liberals being back in positions to give "largesse".
Senators, Governor Generals, ambassadors, etc. - journalists who helped brainwash a nation.
For examples: Susan Delacourt's live in (husband) is a Liberal strategist. Gloria Galloway is married to a Liberal strategist. Scratch almost any of them and you'll find collusion and "friendships" that go far beyond professional within the media and the Liberals.
You'll find media sons and daughters and brothers and sisters who have been rewarded on your dime with jobs, appointments and contracts. You'll find nice little gestures like Bob Rae giving Mike Duffy an honorary university degree in his appointed role.
It is so deeply ingrained in Canada's government, crown corps and agencies that the guns are out to sabotage conservatives at pretty well every loevel.
And these same media want to be given carte blanche open doors claiming it for US their audience to know.
Nope. Witness Jane Tabor's personal attack on Lunn this week - mocking his height, disclosing his personal family events during the holidays...these people are scum bags. They are not needed for a government to get the message to us unfiltered. They no longer rule oour country.
And wait till you see how Greg "Mr Bitter" Weston spins this in Sun Media.
I'll never forget a CBC radio producer I met at a party who was talking about the time she was assigned to Whitehorse. The entire territorial council was Conservative, said she, so "we had to be the opposition." To which I should have replied, if I had been thinking faster "No, you didn't."
I thought we would be rid of Delacourt for a while, but guess they decided they better not go on stike. No one would miss them.
What are they going to do when we get a majority government.
Time to out all reporters ect and their relationships with the liberals. Conflict of interest would be interesting to know.
Great post! Delacourt is a typical arrogant Liberal, who thinks she deserves to get her stories fed to her by the government, she can't stand the fact that the Conservative government won't give her the time of day.
Get used to it Delacourt, 4 years of majority rule by the Conservatives is going to make your life, well miserable.
Fox News has something called "Full Disclosure" when they have a commentator on. For example, the other day a opinionista journalist was commenting on the Presidential primaries. Before she gave her opinion she said "first, full disclosure, my husband is working on Hillary's campaign team".
Also, when financial analysts comment on the market they are asked - do you own any of the stocks, etc.? and they must disclose.
When "the strategists" are on the talk shows they are identified as NDP, Liberal, Conservative or whatever" when introdeuced. SOMETIMES, (especially when conservative leaning) think tank commentators are introduced as "from a rigfht wing or left wing" balh blah.
Talk show hosts are open about their own views and political leanings. CBC, CTV and some others pretend to be neutral and that is deceitful and should cost them their jobs.
Donm't you think it would be ethical for Delacourt and Galloway and some others to be introduced as the wives of Liberal strategists? Or, Andrew Coyne as the cousin of Deborah Coyne who is the mother of Pierre Trudeau's love child and a Liberal candidate?
There SHOULD be some ethical standards in the media rules in this country. If not it is so dishonest that it MUST be disclosed as pure propaganda and "unpaid" political advertising, "gifts in kind" have to be declared in an eleciton.
And I guess you have never received monies from the Harpies?
Anonymous writes:
"Fox News has something called "Full Disclosure" when they have a commentator on. For example, the other day a opinionista journalist was commenting on the Presidential primaries. Before she gave her opinion she said "first, full disclosure, my husband is working on Hillary's campaign team"."
I like that idea. It might work something like this:
The Harper government gave a contract for communications consulting on Parliament Hill, worth up to $20,000, to an outspoken Conservative Internet blogger.
Privy Council Office records show Joan Tintor, author of a popular weblog or "blog," in June received the one-year contract for "communications professional services not elsewhere specified."
Yeah ... when someone takes to the hustings to defend the Stephen Harper Party of Canada, that's just the sort of thing readers might be interested in.
This is a most excellent idea. Let's run with it.
Is that an attempt to equate me with the Hill journos? Thanks (I think), but no sale.
If you look to your left you will see the Blogging Tories blog roll, on which I have been listed for over two years. My political leanings and experience are set out in the profile at my blog.
So I fly my flag openly. And people can consider my observations -- or leave them -- with that in mind.
And if you wanted to be truly "Anonymous" (as the top of your comment suggests) -- a limp fig leaf employed by many of my equally limp detractors -- you shouldn't have linked to your Blogger profile.
Sorry, I accidentally deleted this post by CC:
Dear Joan:
Apparently, you are unaware of the protocol where one uses the phrase "Anonymous writes:" in order to refer to an earlier comment which was, indeed, written by someone going by the handle "Anonymous."
Is that the kind of literary genius that the Stephen Harper Party of Canada is getting for its $20,000? If I were them, I'd be thinking "refund." But that's just me.
Quite so. My mistake.
And wait till you see how Greg "Mr Bitter" Weston spins this in Sun Media.
Here it is. Weston can barely conceal his rage and contempt. In fact, he doesn't.
CC link @ 4:46am
It*s all win win. Watch the stats go way up. Those who can read past the first paragraph, will discover gripping interest and entertainment in newly discovered conservative opinion blogs via the Ottawa Citizen piece.
There must be some in Toronto who read at least, part way down the page.
[Oops, did I say that? Seems Toronto is a hot bed of *sound bite* reflex Liberal voters who seem so clueless and I apologize.]
Liberals who take a moment to click on links I leave on leftist blogs may quietly swing right when they discover how they have been hoodwinked.
http://scamslist.blog.com/
Seems to absorb left wingers.= TG
Busy Days in the Bloggosphere ....
With the dead tree pimps outing themselves in droves as dysfunctional
cheerleaders for their LIberal masters and the TV whores and newsreaders choking on their own spittle .... who can keep up with it all?
Personally about 1/2 hour of CTV/CBC in the morning is about all I can stand!
Good post Joan T!
Does anybody really care what the media thinks?
nope.....not me.....MSM sux!
If anyone sees Susan's Broom flying around, please grab it and get it back to her, she desperatly needs it in her business.
Canada would be a better place if she went under a bus. There's a clip here of Susan dragging an innocent woman through the muck here:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=VjU3xP1N7EA
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