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 all about public trust being the gold standard," said the Calgary Herald.A Vancouver Province writer complained, "An'honourable' Member of Parliament shouldn't live the life of a soap-opera queen."The National Post tried to validate its coverage-five items in four days-by citing case law under the Divorce Act.The Post's Don Martin wrote, "Stronach's sexuality has always been a big part of her mystique."Is it possible for a backbench MP to have a"mystique"? Martin thinks so; he's attempting to sell an authorized biography of Stronach that contains this titillating exchange:MARTIN: "Some of the men in your life say you ooze sexuality."STRONACH: "Oh my God! Were they good looking? How many shades of red am I?"Most media sought to legitimize the lusty story as a response to some public need. "To ignore it would be to disappoint many of our readers,"London Free Press journalist Paul Berton argued, unconvincingly.But most Canadians are squeamish about tawdry political coverage.When the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported Aug. 17 that Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald left his wife, readers expressed disgust. "Garbage gossip,"wrote a subscriber."Shame,"said another. None complained when Halifax media later reported MacDonald was seen Sunday shopping in violation of his own Lord's Day policy. Readers understood the difference between the two stories even if editors did not.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 all about public trust being the gold standard," said the Calgary Herald.A Vancouver Province writer complained, "An'honourable' Member of Parliament shouldn't live the life of a soap-opera queen."The National Post tried to validate its coverage-five items in four days-by citing case law under the Divorce Act.The Post's Don Martin wrote, "Stronach's sexuality has always been a big part of her mystique."Is it possible for a backbench MP to have a"mystique"? Martin thinks so; he's attempting to sell an authorized biography of Stronach that contains this titillating exchange:MARTIN: "Some of the men in your life say you ooze sexuality."STRONACH: "Oh my God! Were they good looking? How many shades of red am I?"Most media sought to legitimize the lusty story as a response to some public need. "To ignore it would be to disappoint many of our readers,"London Free Press journalist Paul Berton argued, unconvincingly.But most Canadians are squeamish about tawdry political coverage.When the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported Aug. 17 that Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald left his wife, readers expressed disgust. "Garbage gossip,"wrote a subscriber."Shame,"said another. None complained when Halifax media later reported MacDonald was seen Sunday shopping in violation of his own Lord's Day policy. Readers understood the difference between the two stories even if editors did not.Belinda Stronach's sex life is of no consequence. Newsrooms dwelt on it as an excuse to talk dirty. "This one has it all!" said CTV National's Lloyd Robertson. The story was broadcast that same evening on Entertainment Tonight Canada.The Canadian Press ran a 1,700-word account of allegations the MP slept with Tie Domi, complete with excerpts from a 20page divorce application by Domi's wife. The Toronto Star's Rosie DiManno called Stronach a"balls-crusher."A feature by The Globe and Mail journalist Michael Valpy read like a letter to Hustler magazine. Stronach"likes sex"and"appears able to come-hither any hunk," drooled Valpy. The MP was "tall," "erect"and"muscle-buffed"with breasts that might be cosmetically enlarged, and'likes athletes' good, hard bodies," Valpy wrote.A few journalists sought refuge in humour. Quipped Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant, "Fm going to deny rumours that I have been linked to Belinda Stronach; it is not true !"Province columnist Ed Willes marvelled that Stronach was presumably attracted to a hockey goon "who has a head the size of a weather satellite and who, during his NHL playing days, was famous for saying, 'You touch me, you go me, my name is Tie Domi.'"Yet for a crowd that loves to pose questions, few reporters asked: What made Canadian newsrooms tear a page out of the Police Gazette?"Extra-marital affairs involving high and mighty public figures in Canada have had a history of a mainstream media self-imposed 'off-limits' even if they've led to divorce," noted the Ottawa Sun's Earl McRae. Coverage of the Newmarket-Aurora MP's sex life reflected our"descent into an Americanstyle'anything goes,'"wrote McRae.U.S. media's fixation on scandal is pathological.Virginia Senator George Alien was recently asked by a TV reporter whether he deliberately concealed the fact his mother is a Jew. The Associated Press published the resulting headline, "Alien's Mother Hid Jewish Heritage."American-style war-room politics taint our political discourse. The Prime Minister once suggested his opponents were soft on child pornography; Liberals replied with an equally sleazy 2006 campaign ad that asked:"Who paid for Stephen Harper's rise to the head of the party? We don't know. He refuses to reveal his donors. What do you suppose he's hiding? We do know he's very popular with right-wingers in the U.S.They have money. Maybe they helped him. We just don't know."If reporters no longer respect MPs, it is because MPs no longer respect each other. Coverage of Stronach hit a low-water mark since we now all swim in the same pool.Stronach is no stranger to war-room innuendo. Last Jan. 13 she hinted Harper had a secret plan to restrict abortion-a claim Liberals peddled effectively in the 2004 campaignand told aTV interviewer,"Re needs to come clean because he's not telling the truth.""It's not fear-mongering,"Stronach said. "I saw an e-mail."The fact the MP who accused opponents of hiding something, is now accused of having something to hide, would be ironic only to Stronach.As the Barrie Examiner put it, "Too hot for you, Belinda?"Politicians who play the game straight get the same treatment in kind. When an inoffensive Newfoundland and Labrador Cabinet minister, Jack Byrne, was hospitalized last month for an undisclosed illness, the St. John's Telegram reported "it just isn't anyone's business"why Byrne needed surgery. Nobody disagreed.Herb Gray, retired 13-term MP, was a politician of dignity never known to make a petty gibe. Gray was Solicitor General in 1993 when his brother Leonard was jailed for fraud. Despite the story's Entertainment Tonight quality-the fact the nation's top lawman had a brother behind bars-few journalists reported it, and most Canadians remain unaware of the fact. A Windsor Star reporter who raised it with the Solicitor General actually apologized to him afterward.Herb Gray inspired that kind of respect. Belinda Stronach does not.In life, as in politics, a lot of the time we get what we deserve.news@hiUtimes.comThe Hill Times

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What made Canadian newsrooms tear a page out of the Police Gazette in coverage of Stronach?

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