British monarchy puts up with us, we put up with them
Canadians only keep the monarchy for the pure joy we derive from knowing it irritates Quebec separatists. If not for this spectacle we’d have long ago declared a republic. “It is archaic!” Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe once sputtered to reporters. “An affront;” “hare-brained;” “no business here.” Don’t like the Queen, eh? Hmm, you don’t say. […]
Korski’s best summertime political reads
Ten thousand books a year are published in Canada. Few endure. Each year brings new political titles that are quite literally worthless. Recently a friend gave me Sheeple, by ex-MP Garth Turner. One Globe and Mail reviewer called it “self-aggrandizing,” “overstated,” “gratuitously profane,” “redundant” and “windy.” Sheeple is so sloppily written, part of the text […]
Ottawa elite clears schedule to watch Japanese royals walk into room, then walk out
Well it’s summertime on Parliament Hill, and with the MPs scattered across the country eating untold amounts of charred processed meat, it’s slim pickins for parties. Hence why Party Central ended up squeezed into a cordoned-off area of the National Gallery’s Great Hall Tuesday evening for a so-called “reception” for their Imperial Highnesses the Emperor […]
Climate change media coverage hits rock bottom
So it’s come to this: The Mystery of the Vanishing Rink. Climate coverage has hit bottom. It appears journalists are cool to global warming. In the month of June last year I counted 853 stories on climate change in papers, periodicals, and newscasts. This past June the count fell to 331, a decline of 61 […]
One enduring media myth on joblessness and lawlessness
Government data, soon to be released, will expose one of the most enduring media myths on public safety. The facts have already been misreported. Myths die hard. “During Recession We Need More Police,” announced The Windsor Star. The headline illustrated a mistaken assumption that joblessness correlates to lawlessness. It doesn’t. Statistics prove it. In overlooking […]
Dominion Institute’s wailing over public ignorance seems to strike a newsroom chord
Each Canada Day brings another frown from the Dominion Institute, the federally-funded agency that hectors the public for its inability to answer questions on historical facts. This year I decided to put the questions to them for a change. “Who was Canada’s first Roman Catholic Prime Minister?” I asked Marc Chalifoux, the Institute’s 29-year old […]
Advice for hungry job-hunting journalism students: don’t do it
It is job-hunting season for journalism students. They number in the thousands. Most will struggle for work that pays the $1,000 a week bus drivers earn. Entry-level media salaries have always been dreadful. Ex-CTV anchorman Harvey Kirck, in his 1985 memoirs Nobody Calls Me Mr. Kirck, recalled recording radio spots at 60-cents a pop. “If […]
When media garble government data on recession statistics
The mechanics of news reporting are alphabetically precise: (a) Know your subject; (b) depict reality; (c) keep opinions to yourself. It isn’t every day media strike out on all three. But it happened last week as several newsrooms garbled government data showing just how deep the recession has hit. The effect was to misinform Canadians […]
Hunt underway for human sacrifices to be laid at altar of deficit gods, eh?
OTTAWA—A hunt is underway for human sacrifices to be laid at the altar of the deficit gods. Seasoned politicians can smell it. Danger lurks for the witless. Public spending deemed hum-drum in surplus times becomes a career-ending catastrophe when the federal deficit hits $50-billion. This is as it should be. Deficits are awful; the last […]
A good day as any to mark failure of Canada’s national child care
Today is International Children’s Day, a celebration most keenly observed in countries where boys and girls march with armbands. Still, it’s as good a day as any to mark the failure of national child care, the two decade-long campaign to build an all-Canadian daycare program. Its lack of success is often blamed on sinister forces—a […]
