Stephen Taylor pulls together a very good post on the “all about me” performance of CBC’s Keith Boag last evening.
Boag tries to link the frustrations of his job with “government accountability”. Canadians voted for change in the way that government contracts are awarded, lobbying is conducted, and the way that whistleblowers are protected. They voted for accountability in the way government works. Canadians did not vote for the Boag’s easy access to the most sought-after video and sound bite.
Precisely.
Be sure to read the comments – CTV’s David Akin weighs in.
I believe the solution to our current problems regarding the press is quite simple.
Simply require that Boag, van Dusen and others of their ilk register as lobbiests for the LPC. Any reports under their banners should be identified as lobbying at the outset and corresponding advertising fees should be charged for their airing.
After one day of this I believe that most reporters would consult a dictionary to learn the definitions of balance, bias and personal opinion.
Problem solved
Gerry
Copps praises Prime Minister Harper.
Kinsella is ready to confess; says he is accountable. Praises Prime Minister Harper.
Mirabili dictu. +
April 11, 2006 – The Harper government should be applauded, by all parties, for its new Accountability Act.
In particular, the Prime Minister deserves a lot of credit for this section, as reported by CBC:
“Opinion surveys under Chr�tien to be scrutinized
Another section of the act hints that an inquiry might be called into the spending practices of a past Liberal government.
An independent advisor will be appointed for six months to look at public opinion surveying commissioned while former prime minister Jean Chr�tien was in charge, before November 2003, “and determine whether further action, such as a judicial inquiry, is required.”
I suspect that I, and quite a few others, intend to write to this independent advisor and offer whatever assistance and documents he or she requires. And, personally, I think a judicial inquiry is an excellent idea.
Chickens, time to come home to roost. +
kinsellamusings
“Isn’t that what also happened to Kerry in the U.S. election? All those stories about him going windsurfing, or drinking latte, or speaking French? It sounds to me more personal than ideological.”
Posted by Avenger at April 12, 2006 06:04 PM
So here you have it Kate the most humourous post of the year- or should I say the century- in fact any century.
John Kerry is a victim of bad press. Highlarious!
A history Lesson
John Kerry went to Vietnam. He served a grand total of four months. While there he was injured three times. Two of his injuries were self inflicted. Kerry knew that three purple hearts was his ticket out of Vietnam.
Kerry did an end run around his commanding officers and mangaged to get three purple hearts for his minor injuries.
He then returned to the security of the United States and launched his political career by appealing to the self-hating delusional members of his society. He proclaimed that his fellow soldiers were no different than Ghengis Khan(pronounced with a soft g just in case the leftist morons to whom he was appealing didn’t know where he was coming from.)
And so it came to pass 32 years later John Kerry presented himself to the nation as a War hero- fit to lead the nation. But out of the South there arose a lawyer- a Gold Medallist no less- who knew that not only was kerry not a war hero, he was a cynic who had gamed the system to get out of danger at the first opporunity and who was prepared to feed the insane delusions of his country’s leftists to launch his own political career.
And so in May 2004 the gold medalist and his buddies who had served with the candidate called a press conference to tell the truth about john Kerry.
The MSM, devoted as they are to their clueless left wing agenda, ignored Mr. O’Neil, despite his impeccable credentials.
For the next three months honourable boggers like Powerline and Captain’s Quarters reported on the story, which MSM ignored.
Finally in August 2004, no longer able to avoid the story,the Main Scheme Media dutifully reported that ” Official Navy Records ” supported Kerry’s version of events,
Typical of people who have no regard for the truth they omitted telling the public that the
” Official Navy Records ” were based on reports submitted by, who else, John Kerry himself (ever the politician.)
John Kerry is as much the victim of bad press as Jean Chretien or Bill Clinton.
If George Bush had received the same MSM treatment as John Kerry his approval rating would be at 80% (bearing in mind that 10 % of the public is mentally ill and 10% irredeemably leftist.)
Steve in BC,
Fox = 666
F is the 6th letter of the alphabet
O is the 15th, 1+5=6,
X is the 24th, 2+4=6
Put “NDP” and “Steve in BC” into the magic calculator – it says “complete self serving assholes” … when I do it the other way around – it says “rely on others for their quality of life”
Akin: But we believe we’re right to defend a fundamental tradition of the press in a democractic society: Where was he as the fundamental traditions of our country were being destroyed by the Liberals ?
Fox = 18: 6 + 6 + 6 = 18. No it doesn’t, Fox = 9: 1 + 8 = 9.
What the hell is it with numerologists anyway? What a silly bunch.
What we need is to get a CBC insider to break the code of silence (CBC Omerta) to expose what goes on behind the scenes
I’d love to hear a bugged conversation of Julie Van Dusen or someother hack spilling their guts about how they’re ‘going to get Harper’ on this or that issue…
It’s gotta happen…please.
I stopped watching the CBC years ago when I discovered the blogosphere. And learned that I was being lied to! If I want spin I’ll watch a political debate; if I want the news I’ll fire up my browser. I do watch the Simpsons on CBC though.
71 ~ mark of the beast
That’s perfect. I like that.
Thanks. Well done.
ET, I’m glad you did email your complaints to Global. Until Kevin Newman is gone, I don’t consider it a news source worth watching. The media is dangerous precisely because it is so ignorant. It is no longer about informing, but about driving agendas.
Boag and Van Duesen ought to hook up with David Gregory and Helen Thomas.. what a foursome THAT would make.. they all think much more of themselves than they ought and not ONE damn one of them has been elected to office!-
Nor have ANY of their colleagues… They do not have any rights beyond any ordinary citizen to ask questions and get answers. Our elected are responsible to the electorate..US… The press , on the other hand merely get in the way when they believe they have the right to take the news and skew it to suit themselves.
I simply want the truth. FROM those in whom the responsibilities of government have been assigned. IF the press can report the truth without getting in the way, then they are useful.
The way all traditional media have behaved these last few years has been nothing short of disgraceful. And, in a time of war, downright dangerous! Our politicians are NOT accountable to the press. They are accountable to us.
Where was the press when Chretien was hounding the president of the BDC into exile because he did not do what he demanded? WHERE was the press while corruption piled on corruption in government right under their very noses?
You can’t tell me they didn’t know. Of course they knew. They kept quiet so they could keep their perks and privileges, which they should not have in the first place.. They are hand in hand responsible for whistleblowers getting short shrift, for corruption and crime running rampant in our government.
For, IF they did the job they whine now they are prevented from doing, we would have known a long time ago what was happening and get something done about it.
Spare me their knashing now. Stephen Harper owes them absolutely nothing and neither do we. The only thing they deserve ( as a collective, acknowledging that there are those who actually are very good at what they do and cover issues honestly without an inflated ego marring and blurring vision) is redundancy. And that is already happening and will continue to happen with the reliance on the blogosphere and getting our news online. There are so many who do this so very welll and so very much better than the Boags , van Duesens, Gregorys and Thomases.
We have learned that the media lies, makes up stories and goes out of their way to advance their own political agenda and they don’t care who gets hurt in the process, even if it undermines national security.
They will pay for that reckless and haughty attitude with their own demise as we learn not to trust and tune them out. Not only the CBC but every news outlet on television and elsewhere.
Those who build trust will survive and thrive and those who continue to be dishonest will not.
The handwriting is already on the wall.
First, I want JVD to get a new hair style, then I want Keith B to get that silly grin off his face. He always reminds me of someone with a secret that he is dying to tell but can’t. The media complained about Mannings hair and Harpers for ages. Time to treat the cbc reporters and anchors like they treat politicians aka fashion and hair. Missed Kevin’s rant as we were travelling, but can imagine. Isn’t there a mandatory age for retirement for cbc hacks. Instead of age, maybe they should retire after x number of stories. Remember the question, do you love Canada. Who asked that and is that person still employed. We all know why the cbc is crying-no senate seat, GG post, no ambassadorship of other overseas jobs, for many years to come. All that ass kissing for nothing.
CBC pays for this hackery from Zolf?
Your tax dollars pays for this excreta from Zolf.
Sell the CBC including its real estate to the highest bidder ASAP.
Help retire Zolf. Send Zolf back to the ‘Peg. +
Harper’s Dream Opponent Could Be A Nightmare (CBC Liberal Flunkie Pushes Bob Rae Alert)
CBC News Viewpoint ^ | 04/11/06 | Larry Zolf
CBC via Freerepublic.com
Right on, maz2. Where’s Zolf been for the past ten years? ‘Talk about seeing only what you want to see.
GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND, MR. ZOLF! CHANGE GEARS IN THAT TIME MACHINE AND HIT THE ACCELERATOR! WAKE UP! SMELL THE COFFEE! GET A LIFE! GET A MOVE ON! SMARTEN UP!
The MSM is clearly sleepwalking towards its own undoing.
There eventually will be openings for real, informative media outlets to enter, expand and expel those who cannot adapt to the changing demands of the people for unspun, unfiltered, uncensored, full informational dissemination, the very sort of thing for which the MSM is NOT known.
The MSM, the left and the “Liberal” Party of Canada are all very much like a spirit trapped still on the earthly plane and in denial as to its demise.
I love how a post about CBC talking head’s stilted ego and pissy whining is turned into a partisan liberal moan fest> Tony: you have the genetic liberal partisan gene that can misdirect reality down to a science….there’s a brown envelope for you at Lib HQ. 😉
The fact is, that Boag is a marginal journalist at best and a fairly inept “political analyst” who is whining to the mother-corpse faithful using his microphone as blackmail tool.
I heard his little hissy fit and I was taken aback that anyone this mediocre would want to call attention to his inability…..and of course blame shift to Harper media policies his own inability to cope with media release changes…..any one would get the impression he expected a place at the caucus strategy meetings.
Get a grip Boag’s a drip.
I’ve never been impressed with Boag, and wonder whether, like J. Van Dusn’t, he’s got some friends/family working in Mother Corps. That seems like a pretty regular way to get on the CBC payroll, especially when there seems to be no outstanding talents.
The other thing about him that really bugs me–beside the fact of his colourless, smug, and biased reportage–is his hair colour. (Slap my wrist.) If I thought it was natural, I wouldn’t say anything; hey, none of us can help what Mother Nature has given us. But the brown/red is a little too metallic, especially against the white at his hairline and his pasty skin colour.
Given that I’m making “old” a good word in a society that seems to want to denigrate “older” people–whatever happened to honouring and listening to “Elders”?–you’d think Keith could co-operate by gracefully accepting the natural process of ageing, or at least get a better hair colourist.
When you’re a talking head it helps to try to be an attractive one. There are few other things to distract the viewer: Should we look at his tie? his shirt? whether he’s wearing a single- or double-breasted jacket?
C’mon, Keith, make it easier to like you.
Kate, You crack me up! I think Steve from BC has a thing for you or something. Either that or he is a sucker for abuse! Sometimes its fun to have a troll around to pick on…….
Thnak you to the post referring to the number of appointments from the media. The first time I found this out it just made me sick. No wonder the CBC thinks that they are above the PM. Look whats sitting in the senate. (The good old boys club)
Every chance I get I tell people how many Senator’s are from the “media”. The usual response is of disbelief.
I just had a weird thought. Tony/tony’s ramblings remind me a lot of the ramblings of the Editor in Chief of CBC’s English Services Division – CBC News, Current Affairs and Newsworld–whose name happens to be… Tony…
The raison d’etre of the ramblings, of course, is to obfuscate and to not answer the question/s being asked. Tony Burman has done this in the two recent issues I’ve brought to the attention of the CBC Ombudsman. Quick, plant a lot of trees, so the poor sucker who’s trying to get an answer to why the CBC has struck out again can’t see the forest for the deftly placed trees.
If you take a good step back, though, the forest becomes perfectly clear, and Burman’s argument bites the dust again. (‘Not that the ombudsman always recognizes it…hey, the new ombudsman used to work for the CBC before taking a job in journalism at Ryerson for a few years. CBC just invited him back; ‘anything here smack of a closed shop?)
One thing that I think the members of the press gallery are not getting in this whole thing is that you cannot expect years of “How Scary” yellow journalism and “Mr. Harper, do you love Canada?” grenade throwing from supposedly objective journalists to have no consequences.
Is Harper supposed to suddenly develop a high degree of trust for those same journalists who have spent the last several years savaging him? Rex Murphy had an excellent commentary last night, but even he called the relationship between the PM and the media needlessly strained. Well DUH!!! Ask Stephen Harper and he will probably tell you that his relationship with the media has been needlessly strained for years now due to the media’s vilifying of him. But now, because he’s in power, he just supposed to decide he trusts the same people who have launched ad hominem after ad hominem at him for years now.
Remember, he’s the cold, scary, fat, right wing extremist whose lack of love for his country is only eclipsed for his lack of love for his own children whom he won’t even hug before school.
If the members of the press gallery want to be treated like grown ups, then they should start acting like grown ups. And frankly speaking, the amount of “Woe is us, for that bad man is keeping us out of the loop” drama queen theatrics we have been seeing since the election is merely throwing the junior high school culture of much of Canada’s media into sharp relief.
There are many individual journalists that I respect. But many I do not. Some internal controls are needed. The PM cannot stop anyone from asking inane questions like “Do you love Canada”, and he cannot stop anyone from making the size of his belly into a news story. Only mature and serious journalists have the power to call their peers out on the carpet when through such things they erode people’s trust in their profession.
Karl — I caught Rex Murphy last night. I thought he could have been a little tougher. I also caught George S-alphabet last night too, but had to turn it off before I hurled.
zolf is a joke . he keeps trying to scare anybody that isn’t liberal with innuendoes and threats about all these second coming of trudeau wannabees . “harper better keep an eye on bob rae ” . ha geezuz the best bob rae could do is guarantee a harper majority . it must be killing him realising hes past the best before date for getting a senate seat. i hope he doesn’t drive any more . i’m not sure he knows what traffic signals mean.