If Parliament and police owed Arar a public apology, some journalists do too for their part in damaging his reputation
It has been a month since a federal commission exposed the injustice done on Maher Arar, and some are still waiting for an apology–not from the government, from media. “This case,” wrote Justice Dennis O’Connor, “is an example of how some government officials, over an extended period of time, used the media to put a […]
What made Canadian newsrooms tear a page out of the Police Gazette in coverage of Stronach?
Dirt is dirt, no matter how elegantly you shovel it. Media coverage of Liberal MP Belinda Stronach’s private life marked the first time a junior MP made national headlines for being connected in a divorce suit. The coverage was juicy, and of no news value. Most journalists took pains to pretend it wasn’t so. “It’s […]
Media’s histrionic flag-waving, quash dissent on Afghanistan
All omens are there: The bottom has dropped out of the Afghanistan mission. Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks defiantly. “The Taliban is on the run,” he recently said, but listen carefully and you detect confusion and unease. The army will not divulge the number of soldiers injured in Afghanistan. Announcements of impending victory are followed […]
Prudent federal Liberals aren’t complaining about their media coverage, but they really, really could
Prudent Liberals aren’t complaining too loudly about their media coverage, but they could. Even Liberal-friendly journalists cannot resist snide digs at the Opposition campaign to select a new leader. National Post columnist Adam Radwanski called it a “sniveling side-show” by a “laughingstock” of a party. A Globe and Mail headline read, “History Is A Wheel […]
Alberta’s weird and wonderful politics and the media who cover it
Alberta has the weirdest, most wonderful politics in the country. Like Vietnam and Kyrgzstan, it’s a one-party state that befuddles visiting journalists who arrive without a translator. Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells called it “dynamic,” but later published a retraction. Alberta is a politically-calcified land that time forgot. Conservatives have been in power so long–10 terms […]
When media resort to news-release journalism, not so fun
In the past 10 years, 1.3 million Canadians have disappeared. If you were a journalist, wouldn’t you wonder where they went and why? Figures tabulated by the Council on Welfare revealed that, nationwide, 1,391,100 people disappeared from welfare rolls from 1995 to 2005, a decline of 45 per cent. The council made no special mention […]
The loss of one soldier isn’t such big news anymore
How does war become humdrum? The morning after a memorial service for seven soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan, the Calgary Herald headlined a front-page feature on skateboarding. The day after a transport plane landed in Trenton, Ont. with the remains of an Army corporal blown up by a suicide bomber, CBC Radio’s Cross Country […]
Finally! A story that doesn’t matter: Why we hyped JonBenet
Don’t blame media for JonBenet Ramsey. It’s been a hot summer, and sometimes you have to cut the tension. Journalists, like coroners, meet people at their worst. They are paid to dissect the results of tragedy or failure, and it wears. That’s why old reporters walk with a stoop. Coroners have their limits, too. Norway […]
Why are journalists so fascinated by Cuba? Korski wants to know
I’ve never been to Cuba, but journalists who have seem awed by the place. Halifax Daily News writer Arnie Patterson marveled, “No one goes to bed hungry in Cuba.” Fidel Castro is “remarkable” and “heroic,” he wrote. Castro is “amazing,” agreed the Sault Star. The Jewish Tribune reported, “There’s no anti-Semitism there.” Cuba jailed 32 […]
A pretty good barometer of a country’s state of mind is its treatment of animals; it’s almost embarrassing, says Korski
Canada is so rich that dogs eat cake and horses get funerals. “Have we ever had it so good?” asked a Globe and Mail editorial. “It is hard not to be awed by how fortune shines on this country.” Sheila Copps, writing in the Toronto Sun, urged Canadians to “thank our lucky stars.” News from […]
