Accentuating the positive has no place in newsroom
OTTAWA–“Ac-cen-tchu-ate The Positive” is a catchy tune but has no place in the newsroom. Reporters are fact-finders, not motivational speakers. It is amazing, when the economy sinks, how many blur the line between the two. “We’re looking desperately for good news stories,” wrote London Free Press editor-in-chief Paul Berton. The newspaper “scours our region and […]
What’s the only level of government to raise taxes in teeth of a recession?
OTTAWA—Here’s a ratepayer quiz: What is the only level of government to raise taxes in the teeth of a recession? Any economist would rate the practice as insane. Yet city councils nationwide have hoisted taxes in the belief they can always pile more straw on a camel’s back. At the best of times city hall […]
Oh, oh: It’s time for more Barack Obama man-god coverage
OTTAWA—Obama the man-god is on TV tomorrow. His coverage is messianic. “Greatness,” said The Western Catholic Reporter. “Pray that hope triumphs,” wrote the Summerside Journal Pioneer. “A Canadian Prayer For Obama,” echoed a headline in The Toronto Star, where columnist Bob Hepburn told readers, “I pray that Barack Obama is not shot and killed.” Others […]
Patronage is as old as time itself, but we don’t have to like it
OTTAWA—Canadians seem powerless to stop patronage. We can no more abolish it than we could rid ourselves of shoplifting or Nigerian email investments. It’s no reason to stop trying. When the Prime Minister dumped another 18 cords of deadwood on the Senate floor, media were wide awake. “Another Senate Pig-Out,” read a Calgary Sun headline. […]
Worst Quote in a Crisis: ‘We’ll get back to you,’ UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon, when asked about UN’s role in easing Tibet tensions
OTTAWA—The Associated Press reported sunny “mimosa yellow” will be the fashion colour of 2009. Apparently the colour for 2008 was the foreboding purplish “blue iris.” Great, now they tell us. Here’s the year that was: Best Quote By A Pundit: “Obviously, the bloom is off my long-notorious affection for America,”—Conrad Black, inmate #18330-424, Coleman Federal […]
Dion a ‘kind of accidental leader’
OTTAWA—As the nation bids Stéphane Dion good luck in the private sector, the least we can do is acknowledge his legacy: the passing of the old-time leadership convention. Only two years ago Liberals met in Montreal and voted 318-299 against reforming the party’s constitution to permit membership-wide balloting. They won’t make that mistake twice. For […]
Fact is, deficit spending doesn’t work
Days like this I miss John Ibbitson, a Globe and Mail columnist assigned to Washington. When faced with dramatic political events Ibbitson has reliably cited some weird historical analogy, like, “For years now Ottawa has resembled Vienna, circa 1910”; or “Berlin was like that in 1945.” His columns were unwittingly hilarious. They helped break the […]
Canadian Auto Workers appear friendless in media coverage
In the fable of the grasshopper and the ant, one does not bail out the other. That is the whole point of the story. Among the ants in Parliament and the press and public at large, the Canadian Auto Workers appear friendless. If looming bankruptcy of the auto industry is a problem, it is their […]
Fung’s ordeal would have bankrupted many newsrooms
Newsrooms face a dilemma. There is too much news. We see the irony. It was illustrated by the saga of CBC reporter Melissa Fung, kidnapped for a month in Afghanistan. Amid deserving tributes to her courage one fact went unmentioned: Fung’s ordeal would have bankrupted many newsrooms. War insurance premiums alone would sink the budget. […]
Non-voters get no respect, but they never hurt anybody
OTTAWA—Non-voters get no respect in Ottawa though they’ve got the whole town on its toes. Elections Canada counted 9,568,092 registered voters who failed to cast a federal ballot. Thanks to them no party got what it wanted, and Parliamentary Press Gallery pundits were left to wonder if they were merely talking to themselves. Delightful! Yet […]
