Friday, May 26, 2006
Doesn't Play Well With Others....
Stephen Harper and the media continue to butt heads.
One interesting fact the media has forgotten to report, is this CTV web-poll (courtesy of Dust My Broom)indicating that 55% of Canadians agree that the media gives Conservative Prime Ministers a tougher time than Liberal ones, whereas 31% disagree.
So here we have a situation where the public, and the PMO sees the media as biased. Yet, for the last four days, there have been stories in every national paper about how "closed-door" Harper's government is. Not very much discussion about how to resolve the bias in the media though.
As they say, the proof is in the pudding. The true test will be the next round of approval ratings. I think that the public will approve of Harper's new local-media relationships. The public is sick of hearing the media invent "controversies" that simply are not.
Make no mistake about it, this fight is just as much about the media defending their "right" to be biased, as it is Harper trying to "control" the message. As the Toronto Star points out: "By tightening control over information, the Conservatives will only invite people to question what they are up to behind closed doors". And thats the whole point. People will now be forced to think for themselves, rather than being force-fed the opinions of a few of the media's elite. Go Harper Go!
Mr. Harper, who claimed Wednesday the Ottawa press corps is biased against him, was forced to talk again yesterday about his continuing dispute with the Parliamentary Press Gallery and about how to decide who gets to ask questions at his news conferences.
One interesting fact the media has forgotten to report, is this CTV web-poll (courtesy of Dust My Broom)indicating that 55% of Canadians agree that the media gives Conservative Prime Ministers a tougher time than Liberal ones, whereas 31% disagree.
So here we have a situation where the public, and the PMO sees the media as biased. Yet, for the last four days, there have been stories in every national paper about how "closed-door" Harper's government is. Not very much discussion about how to resolve the bias in the media though.
As they say, the proof is in the pudding. The true test will be the next round of approval ratings. I think that the public will approve of Harper's new local-media relationships. The public is sick of hearing the media invent "controversies" that simply are not.
Make no mistake about it, this fight is just as much about the media defending their "right" to be biased, as it is Harper trying to "control" the message. As the Toronto Star points out: "By tightening control over information, the Conservatives will only invite people to question what they are up to behind closed doors". And thats the whole point. People will now be forced to think for themselves, rather than being force-fed the opinions of a few of the media's elite. Go Harper Go!
