Most media never forgave Premier McGuinty for tax-hike trickery
Spotting a newspaper photo of the premier of Ontario last week, I was reminded of the words of Canada’s greatest living poet, Raymond Souster, in his immortal work Note For An Upcoming Election: “All of us should probably use/the word ‘horseshit’/a lot more often.” Of all provincial elections this year, none is more keenly awaited […]
When in doubt leave it out, especially when it comes to editorializing news coverage
Of all complaints against media, none are taken as seriously as suspicions of editorializing in news coverage. Canadians don’t expect reportage by ciphers. “Objectivity is impossible in journalism,” veteran newsman Peter Worthington once explained. “Every reporter has to distill or compress what he or she sees into a television or radio sound bite, or a […]
Nothing like bad politics to drive a rich country to ruin
There is nothing like bad politics to drive a rich country to ruin. As Zimbabwe goes straight to hell, it is interesting to note that President Robert Mugabe was once Canada’s best friend in Africa. There was a time a Canadian prime minister publicly embraced him, and the columns of a national newspaper likened Mugabe […]
In wartime, Canadian reporters have a job to do
It is a reporter’s job to expose blunders and wrongdoing by officialdom in the belief exposure will make things better. The job is never more critical than in wartime, when lives and large sums of money are at stake. Yet the Afghan war seems to be a struggle for journalists. Freed from official censorship, some […]
Climate issues coverage delves into gibberish, becomes hypnotic
Did you hear the one about the phantom glacier? This and other tales highlight the most badly-reported story of 2007, global warming. Long a hodge-podge of half-facts and supposition, coverage of climate issues now delves so deeply into gibberish it’s become hypnotic. Bad enough the public is told we are marching to a global doomsday. […]
Is Harper’s elusive majority because of his fight with Parliament Hill media?
It looks like Stephen Harper has one more reason to despise reporters. Uh-oh. When daddy gets angry, he makes a list. The Prime Minister’s suspected displeasure was apparent in a strange and revealing incident last week. He did not call an election. Harper had bought campaign-style TV ads, opened a campaign headquarters and eyed campaign […]
Live cellphone videos, blog postings are not journalism
Is a teenager with a telephone a journalist? No more than a kid with a stick is a carpenter, yet even some media are confused on this point. The implications are interesting. I’ve worked in newsrooms since I was 17. I knew a colleague who started as a copy boy, when newspapers still used child […]
Are we newspapers dead yet?
Suppose they gave an anniversary and nobody came? A recent media milestone passed without comment, the publication of the first Canadian newspaper, the Halifax Gazette, in 1752. It was a concise summary of shipping news and foreign headlines. As print journalists we ought to celebrate 255 years of deadlines, but have our hands full with […]
Vimy Ridge observance edging into weirdness
Vimy observances are edging into weirdness. In a bid to outdo Remembrance Day, the government organized a mock blackout at the National War Memorial. Guests at nearby hotels were told to close their curtains–or else, presumably. The Ottawa Citizen told readers that Adolf Hitler had admired the “shining white walls” of the Vimy monument. A […]
Prime Minister now gets his angriest press in the West
Stephen Harper once told Edmonton-based Report magazine, “I, too am one of these angry westerners.” Now the Prime Minister gets his angriest press in the West. This will probably end badly. The West, like the elephant, never forgets. Many journalists seemingly oblivious to Harper’s contradictions last week portrayed the Quebec election result as a triumph […]
