As expected, the CBC's reporting on the election has started off according to expectations from this genetically anti-conservative news outlet.
7:00 AM World Report Monday Sept. 8 reports on the start of the partys' campaigns. First the Conservatives are skewered by targeting a local conservative campaign in Brantford where the local candidate has reportedly been "muzzled by Harper", and "cannot talk to the media". Reportedly this is also true of other candidates according to the reporter. The "history" given by the news team is that in 2006, Harper was "sideswiped" by two members who talked about using the notwithstanding clause and (here it comes again) a woman's right to choose on abortion. They just can't help themselves in helping the Liberals trying to ressurect that "scary" image of what Harper might do as a "hard-right social conservative" monster.
We are told they called a news conference at their "so-called war room" (come on - it's a common term in all election campaigns), but few reproters attended, but that's OK since there was little new - in the CBC's opinion.
Then they focused on the broken Harper promise not to tax income trusts, and featured a guy who is running for the Liberals on that issue.
Predictably all of the reports had either a negative tone, or a negative theme for the Conservatives.
On the other hand, Dion has a busy day. Lots of sound bites of him attacking Layton and Harper - straight from his mouth rather than an interpretation spun by CBC staff. No mention of his leadership problems. No mention of well-read blog reports that his campaign will be far from carbon-neutral unless he claims carbon credits, and whether or not those carbon payments will come out of his allowed election expenses. A nice bite of him trying to explain how his scheme would work. No mention that in Saskatoon he reportedly didn't know what a car pool is.
Layton is in Calgary, in Harper's riding where he claims he's running to be Prime Minister - as wildly unrealistic as his economy-destroying policies, but no negative spin from CBC.
So CBC focuses on the Liberal, and NDP leaders with their direct quotes to get out their message, but for the Conservatives they put an obscure (he lost last time) rural candidate under the microscope in an attempt to create controversy, fear and mistrust ... as per the Liberal campaign plan, and ressurect years-old niche issues.
What else is new?
It will be interesting to track the spin the CBC (and others) tack on Harper and the Conservatives during the next 5 weeks, and whether or not the other partys are also similarly attacked. Dion especially needs to be put under the microscope, given the controversy dogging his leadership, and the potentially mammoth effects to our economy should his so-called Green Shift plan ever comes to fruition. Growing carbon taxes on every energy-using segment of our economy, with a very few exceptions, in exchange for a measly 1.5% & 1% income tax cut on the lowest tax brackets and no tax cut at all on the upper bracket sounds to me like a massive tax grab, and given the implications of those carbon taxes to most goods and services in Canada, like a massive finanical loss to almost every Canadian family.
Is this really what Canada needs in a sluggish economy? Are CBC, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, CTV and other activist media outlets willing to ask those hard questions, or are we in for yet another media campaign of anti-Conservative fear-mongering by the Liberals' media allies?
Monday, September 08, 2008
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Canadian Press enters the election clearly opposing the Conservatives
Excerpts of this “report” below
Far be it for Bruce Cheadle and Canadian Press (and watch for lock-step anti-Conservative activist “reporters” from CBC, CTV, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, etc., etc.) to simply report facts. They just can’t resist interpretation, excuses for their side, highlighting negatives for the Conservatives, and overlooking failures and weaknesses for their side (ie. Liberals). As reported this morning on Bourque, “CBC's Mansbridge inexplicably breaks away from hostileDion press conference to go to the marginalized Bloq/Duceppe press'er”
The Conservative Party won’t just be fighting the Liberals, NDP and Bloc in this election. They will also be fighting the combined resources of the CBC, CTV, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Canadian Press among many others, who will do everything in their power to swing the vote to prevent a Conservative win, or at the very least, a Conservative majority.
In Canada, as in the U.S., election “reporting” by the mainstream media has become little more than a thinly-disguised advocacy for the agents of big government, doctrinaire multilateralism and wealth redistribution.
Excerpts:
By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press
… Prime Minister Stephen Harper, weary of waiting for the opposition to bring down his minority government, dashed his promise of a fixed election date and pulled the plug himself …
Straight reporting – Stephen Harper went to the Governor General and asked that parliament be dissolved to call an election. Period.
… Harper said this election will be a choice between certainty and risk at a time when the world economy has entered a period of instability - a statement aimed at scaring voters away from Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's proposed overhaul of Canada's tax system. …
Straight reporting – the second part of this paragraph departs from Harper’s quote to give a negative interpretation, and misrepresenting a 1% income tax cut to the lower and middle class in return for massive tax increases on just about anything involving energy as a positive “overhaul of Canada’s tax system”.
… Harper's managerial acumen in a slowing economy will be pitted against Dion's "Green Shift" plan - designed to shift taxation off income and on to greenhouse gas-emissions. …
Straight reporting – in fact the tax increases that come with the “Green Shift” are massively in excess of the tiny 1% income tax cut only to the lower and middle classes – in fact a massive tax grab to finance Liberal pet projects, and likely at the cost of huge increases in costs of goods and services to Canadians who will thus be negatively affected by Liberal carbon taxes. The last part of this paragraph was added as an editorial pitch for the Liberal plan.
… Dion accused Harper of abandoning the poor, squandering the $12-billion surplus left by the Liberals, …
Straight reporting – by definition a surplus means the government over-taxed the taxpayers in excess of their promises and budgeted needs. So Canadian Press’s “squandered surplus” is a responsible accountant’s definition of over-taxation. The smaller the “surplus”, as long as it isn’t a deficit, the better the management. Big surpluses to be blown are only positive to big-taxing, big-spending advocates.
… Public opinion polling over the past year suggests another minority is in the offing - common wisdom that's been openly embraced by Harper, who doesn't want to scare off voters wary of what a Tory majority might do. …
Straight reporting – the last part of this paragraph is blatant campaigning against the Conservatives by a reporter who wants to resurrect the spectre of the scary “hidden agenda” of Stephen Harper. Disgusting, irresonsible – and unprofessional.
… The autumn of their first year in power, the Conservatives galvanized one angry constituency with $2 billion in spending cuts that targeted such things as the court challenges program, adult literacy and women's programs - while posting a $13 billion surplus for 2005-06. …
Straight reporting – a review of all of the negative reports of the Conservative’s mandate to reinforce the Liberal’s “scary” campaign is mandatory for the anti-Conservative media. Typical.
… They infuriated another constituency by breaking an election promise and restricting income trusts. …
Straight reporting – more reviewing and highlighting of early-mandate negatives – don’t want the voters to forget them do we!
… And their first attempt at environmental legislation was greeted with such widespread disdain that it was all but scrapped and the minister was shuffled. …
Straight reporting – yet more negatives from only one point of view – “widespread disdain” is only from the Liberal side of the spectrum.
… Harper also shocked the Commons by announcing he would recognize "the Quebecois" as a nation within a united Canada. …
Straight reporting – can you imagine Canadian Press, or any other leftist outlet, highlighting this as a negative if it had come from Dion, Chretien, or Martin?! This is designed to remind western Conservatives and weaken Harper’s base.
Completely missing from this “report” – any mention at all of Stephane Dion’s failure to connect with English Canada, his weak leadership, his unpopular “Green Shift” plan at a time of record energy prices, the questions over the revenue-neutrality of his plan, the disharmony within the Liberal Party, Dion’s inability to communicate with 75% of Canadians, disorganization and lack of funds within the Liberal Party, loss of support for the Liberals in Quebec and falling support in Ontario, – and on and on.
This will be the type of “reporting” the Harper Conservatives will have to deal with for the next 5 weeks as the mainstream leftist media in Canada does its very best to thwart his plans for a win, and especially a majority government. The usual suspects who have already made up their minds to vote Liberal – NDP – Green will not be swayed, nor will hard-core conservatives.
But those who haven’t yet decided how they will vote should read all media reports with a very critical eye, and most important of all, consider the source. Editorial interpretation and media spin should not be confused with hard facts.
There is indeed a “hidden agenda” in this election, but it isn’t from the Harper Conservatives. It is from the ranks of the committed social activists who have taken over the mainstream media in this country, and for whom the spectre of a second Harper mandate is anathema, and for whom a Harper majority would represent a repudiation of all they represent.
The rampant anti-McCaine/Palin agenda of the mainstream media in the U.S. has been exposed for what it is, and derision and well-deserved abuse is being heaped on them as a result. They are now becoming the brunt of late night talk show host jokes and monologues. With any luck at all the same hard scrutiny will be applied to our own activist media, and they will be exposed for the unapologetic advocates they really are. Any resemblance of objective reporting will be accidental, or the bare minimum needed to retain a modicum of even-handedness. I’m not holding my breath.
The above interpretation of today’s election call is but the first shot from a very hostile media corps.
Far be it for Bruce Cheadle and Canadian Press (and watch for lock-step anti-Conservative activist “reporters” from CBC, CTV, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, etc., etc.) to simply report facts. They just can’t resist interpretation, excuses for their side, highlighting negatives for the Conservatives, and overlooking failures and weaknesses for their side (ie. Liberals). As reported this morning on Bourque, “CBC's Mansbridge inexplicably breaks away from hostileDion press conference to go to the marginalized Bloq/Duceppe press'er”
The Conservative Party won’t just be fighting the Liberals, NDP and Bloc in this election. They will also be fighting the combined resources of the CBC, CTV, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and Canadian Press among many others, who will do everything in their power to swing the vote to prevent a Conservative win, or at the very least, a Conservative majority.
In Canada, as in the U.S., election “reporting” by the mainstream media has become little more than a thinly-disguised advocacy for the agents of big government, doctrinaire multilateralism and wealth redistribution.
Excerpts:
By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press
… Prime Minister Stephen Harper, weary of waiting for the opposition to bring down his minority government, dashed his promise of a fixed election date and pulled the plug himself …
Straight reporting – Stephen Harper went to the Governor General and asked that parliament be dissolved to call an election. Period.
… Harper said this election will be a choice between certainty and risk at a time when the world economy has entered a period of instability - a statement aimed at scaring voters away from Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's proposed overhaul of Canada's tax system. …
Straight reporting – the second part of this paragraph departs from Harper’s quote to give a negative interpretation, and misrepresenting a 1% income tax cut to the lower and middle class in return for massive tax increases on just about anything involving energy as a positive “overhaul of Canada’s tax system”.
… Harper's managerial acumen in a slowing economy will be pitted against Dion's "Green Shift" plan - designed to shift taxation off income and on to greenhouse gas-emissions. …
Straight reporting – in fact the tax increases that come with the “Green Shift” are massively in excess of the tiny 1% income tax cut only to the lower and middle classes – in fact a massive tax grab to finance Liberal pet projects, and likely at the cost of huge increases in costs of goods and services to Canadians who will thus be negatively affected by Liberal carbon taxes. The last part of this paragraph was added as an editorial pitch for the Liberal plan.
… Dion accused Harper of abandoning the poor, squandering the $12-billion surplus left by the Liberals, …
Straight reporting – by definition a surplus means the government over-taxed the taxpayers in excess of their promises and budgeted needs. So Canadian Press’s “squandered surplus” is a responsible accountant’s definition of over-taxation. The smaller the “surplus”, as long as it isn’t a deficit, the better the management. Big surpluses to be blown are only positive to big-taxing, big-spending advocates.
… Public opinion polling over the past year suggests another minority is in the offing - common wisdom that's been openly embraced by Harper, who doesn't want to scare off voters wary of what a Tory majority might do. …
Straight reporting – the last part of this paragraph is blatant campaigning against the Conservatives by a reporter who wants to resurrect the spectre of the scary “hidden agenda” of Stephen Harper. Disgusting, irresonsible – and unprofessional.
… The autumn of their first year in power, the Conservatives galvanized one angry constituency with $2 billion in spending cuts that targeted such things as the court challenges program, adult literacy and women's programs - while posting a $13 billion surplus for 2005-06. …
Straight reporting – a review of all of the negative reports of the Conservative’s mandate to reinforce the Liberal’s “scary” campaign is mandatory for the anti-Conservative media. Typical.
… They infuriated another constituency by breaking an election promise and restricting income trusts. …
Straight reporting – more reviewing and highlighting of early-mandate negatives – don’t want the voters to forget them do we!
… And their first attempt at environmental legislation was greeted with such widespread disdain that it was all but scrapped and the minister was shuffled. …
Straight reporting – yet more negatives from only one point of view – “widespread disdain” is only from the Liberal side of the spectrum.
… Harper also shocked the Commons by announcing he would recognize "the Quebecois" as a nation within a united Canada. …
Straight reporting – can you imagine Canadian Press, or any other leftist outlet, highlighting this as a negative if it had come from Dion, Chretien, or Martin?! This is designed to remind western Conservatives and weaken Harper’s base.
Completely missing from this “report” – any mention at all of Stephane Dion’s failure to connect with English Canada, his weak leadership, his unpopular “Green Shift” plan at a time of record energy prices, the questions over the revenue-neutrality of his plan, the disharmony within the Liberal Party, Dion’s inability to communicate with 75% of Canadians, disorganization and lack of funds within the Liberal Party, loss of support for the Liberals in Quebec and falling support in Ontario, – and on and on.
This will be the type of “reporting” the Harper Conservatives will have to deal with for the next 5 weeks as the mainstream leftist media in Canada does its very best to thwart his plans for a win, and especially a majority government. The usual suspects who have already made up their minds to vote Liberal – NDP – Green will not be swayed, nor will hard-core conservatives.
But those who haven’t yet decided how they will vote should read all media reports with a very critical eye, and most important of all, consider the source. Editorial interpretation and media spin should not be confused with hard facts.
There is indeed a “hidden agenda” in this election, but it isn’t from the Harper Conservatives. It is from the ranks of the committed social activists who have taken over the mainstream media in this country, and for whom the spectre of a second Harper mandate is anathema, and for whom a Harper majority would represent a repudiation of all they represent.
The rampant anti-McCaine/Palin agenda of the mainstream media in the U.S. has been exposed for what it is, and derision and well-deserved abuse is being heaped on them as a result. They are now becoming the brunt of late night talk show host jokes and monologues. With any luck at all the same hard scrutiny will be applied to our own activist media, and they will be exposed for the unapologetic advocates they really are. Any resemblance of objective reporting will be accidental, or the bare minimum needed to retain a modicum of even-handedness. I’m not holding my breath.
The above interpretation of today’s election call is but the first shot from a very hostile media corps.
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