Harper says national media are biased against him

[FiveParadox]

bluealberta, I would assume then, from your preceding post, that you think any Government of Canada should have the right to choose the reporters whom are given the right to ask questions, and to reject others, based on the decisions of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, as is our new practice?

 

[bluealberta]

Re: RE: Harper says national media are biased against him

bluealberta, I would assume then, from your preceding post, that you think any Government of Canada should have the right to choose the reporters whom are given the right to ask questions, and to reject others, based on the decisions of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, as is our new practice?

Maybe doing this would get more balanced and fairer coverage?

I also just rembered that the PM's press sec was also on this panel, and wondered by nobody had mentioned that at an announcement he made about two weeks ago now about immigration, I believe or gun control, that the PM took questions until there were no more. Again, all we ever hear is what the press wants us to hear, not what actually happens.

Frankly, Five, after the way the press treated the CPC in the 2004 election, I have no respect for most of them anyway. The 2006 election was better and why? Because Harper was in total control, ran an extremely disciplined election campaign, and the press had virtually nothing bad they could say.

IMO, the Vaillancourt press coverage is a further example of the bias against the CPC by the CBC, at least. I saw that interview, and there was nothing that was offensive in that at all, except to certain liberal media and judges.

 

[LittleRunningGag]

Re: RE: Harper says national media are biased against him

bluealberta, I would assume then, from your preceding post, that you think any Government of Canada should have the right to choose the reporters whom are given the right to ask questions, and to reject others, based on the decisions of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, as is our new practice?

Maybe doing this would get more balanced and fairer coverage?

:blink:

It will create a more balanced media? How exactly? If the only ones allowed to ask questions are pro government media, then the media simply becomes the propaganda arm of the party. It ceases to be one of the checks that democratic governments need.

 

[elevennevele]

RE: Harper says national

It is a strong characteristic of a leader to be able to face and weather tough questions in the media. I guess Harper doesn’t have it in him.

 

[FiveParadox]

By that same token, however, bluealberta, would you contend that every Government of Canada should have that right, or only the one run by the Conservative Party of Canada?

 

[elevennevele]

Re: RE: Harper says national

I have to shake my head every time when I hear people justify a Canadian Prime Minister insulating himself from the media to this extent, and making attempts to control the message to the level that it turns media into a propaganda arm of the government.

Why should the government bother answering any questions altogether? Issuing unchallenged public statements will provide much the same effect in the end. To pick the questions that you plan to answer becomes all show at that point. A meaningless disingenuous display of the government pretending to be accountable to public scrutiny.

I can think of societies that control the message of the media. However they are typical of dictatorships or regimes.

 

[mabudon]

RE: Harper says national

I think that that joke circulating a few months ago is maybe true- we are helping the US and Britain export so much freedom and democracy that our own supply is being threatened

Seriously tho, this whole deal is pretty funny in a spooky kind of way- the concept of telling someone who is an "investigator" (which is one facet of reporting when it's done right) what questions they can ask and thus what answers they can expect is simply ludicrous...

I thought "transparency" and "accountability" were part of this jokers platform??? How can anyone be accountable if you can't even ask for an account???

And as some here have said, this is a fine example of shooting oneself in the foot- I would hope that as an escalated form of protest, political reporters begin to actually write speculative pieces, using just the observable facts, such as "With all this secrecy,Wonder what the REAL agenda is??" or "why can't the PMO stand up to questions??"

Might as well. I know overall the MSM is just crap, but every once in a while reporting done right can get important issues into the public eye, it is too bad Harper doesn't see this...

And as a final quick point- the delicious irony of the "Nazi" charges against Iran ("they are turning into the 'new nazi germany'") and now Harper himself ACTUALLY enacts policies that would make Goebbels proud...

Too bad this is all true, too, or it would be REAL funny

 

[BitWhys]

RE: Harper says national

everyone realizes that aside from a proportion of political junkies nobody cares, right?

it IS funny, though.

 

[mabudon]

RE: Harper says national

LOL too bad what you said is true and somehow makes it even funnier in a most peculiar way... at least we won't run out of topics

 

[Jay]

He has a slim minority, and the MSM are left leaning, so he has every right to bring order to the table.

I hear in this thread that Martin did the same thing, and I've been around here long enough to know there was no uproar from Libs then, as there is now, so being a reflection of yourselves, Harper is right to limit "stupid question time".

 

[BitWhys]

RE: Harper says national

You're right, Jay. Of course its stupid to ask Harper what he thought about the bombing in Azizi before he had a chance to get his cue cards sent to him.

 

[FiveParadox]

Jay, by that same token, would you then contend that a Government of Canada led by the Liberal Party of Canada should have that same prerogative to deny the access of the press to functions of the Parliament of Canada?

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: Harper says national media are biased against him

Jay, by that same token, would you then contend that a Government of Canada led by the Liberal Party of Canada should have that same prerogative to deny the access of the press to functions of the Parliament of Canada?

I thought they already did....apparently I didn't have a problem with it then.


If the media in Canada was decisively right wing and the Libs had a slim minority, I could understand their wanting to bring order to "stupid question" time.

 

[FiveParadox]

I would suggest that to give the Government the prerogative to pick which reporters have the right to speak to them or ask questions through a submitted list, based on the directives of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, is an inappropriate degree of control over the press — whether that would be the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, or otherwise.

 

[Jay]

I think maybe I will waltz in there and ask some questions....I have some good questions you know!

 

[BitWhys]

RE: Harper says national

So exactly what HAS the press done lately to prove to Harper that its "decidedly" "left-wing", anyways?

 

[Semperfi_dani]

My own response is that it seems a tad immature. But thats just my take.

The problem i have overall with this is that if he continues to play this aloof role, and if he continues to distance himself from the media and there by a form of accountability, than the larger question will be what is he hiding?

I understand that the media is not a governed body nor is it always straight forward (plus there are biases on both sides...hello..the sun? The National Post? Global? Not exactly left wing media).

But besides all that, i find it odd how he had no problem approaching and using the media when he was opposition, and when he was campaigning..but now he dances a different toon? Will he get the coverage he would hope for by the media come next election? Probably not... And the more he doesn't speek, and the more we don't get straight forward answers and timely response, than the more that gives the other guys, namely Libs, NDP and BQ the podium to speak and espouse their veiws, and allow them to specualate out loud..which in the end can only hurt the Cons.

 

[Jay]

Gov. Gen. won't attend Press Gallery dinner: CTV

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060525/press-galler_060525/20060525?hub=Canada


The annual Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner is looking like it might be a bust this year, as the list of politicians and dignitaries who won't be attending the event continues to grow.


Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean is the latest to add her name to the list of those who won't be in attendance.

"This is the continuing saga over the press gallery dinner, which is one of the biggest nights of the year when the press gallery invites politicians and the governor general to a big soiree," said CTV's Rosemary Thompson, reporting from Ottawa.

"We already know that Mr. Harper doesn't want to go. Gilles Duceppe hasn't been in years, and CTV has found out that the governor general won't go to the dinner either," Thompson told CTV Newsnet.

Officials at Rideau Hall said Jean has a scheduling conflict that will prevent her from attending the dinner, which will be held in November at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que.

The annual gala event usually draws a host of politicians and dignitaries, and is often an opportunity for good-natured jokes and light-hearted ribbing between journalists and politicians.

Harper has attended every Press Gallery dinner since he became leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, including last year's event.

However, he has been in a spat with Ottawa media recently over the process used to determine which reporters are allowed to ask questions at press conferences.

The Prime Minister's Office wants to establish a process whereby reporters sign up, and a PMO official decides who is allowed to ask questions.

The Press Gallery feels the move would allow Harper to hand-pick questions from sympathetic reporters, and feels it should be able to self regulate the process of asking questions.

Some suggest Harper's expected absence from the Press Gallery dinner is a sign of his displeasure with the Ottawa media.

Pierre Trudeau was the last prime minister to boycott the dinner.

 

[Semperfi_dani]

Hahah..Jay, she probably is not going cuz she was a horrible unfunny drunk last year and she knows it. LOL.

Harper surprises me though...

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: Harper says national media are biased against him

Hahah..Jay, she probably is not going cuz she was a horrible unfunny drunk last year and she knows it. LOL.

:lol:


I didn't know that.


It doesn't say Harper isn't going, just that "We already know that Mr. Harper doesn't want to go"

Who knows.

If it's OK for the GG to get wasted and be an ass at the last one, maybe Harper can get drunk and tell all those reporters to F**k off.