Harper says he's finished with Ottawa press corps

[CHIMO]

Harper says he's finished with Ottawa press corps
Last Updated Wed, 24 May 2006 18:12:22 EDT
CBC News

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he'll no longer give news conferences for the national media, after a dispute led a number of journalists to walk away from an event when he refused to take their questions.

Speaking to A-Channel in London, Ont., Harper said "unfortunately the press gallery has taken the view they are going to be the opposition to the government."

"They don't ask questions at my press conferences now. We'll just take the message out on the road. There's lots of media who do want to ask questions and hear what the government is doing."

Since becoming prime minister in January, Harper has had a testy relationship with the national media in Ottawa. His staff has tried to manage news conferences by saying they will decide which reporters get to ask questions.



http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/05/24/harper05242006.html


http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Page&cid=972514081251

[tuvor]

1. What a whiney, spoiled brat!

That was one area I didn't think he would echo bush.

[Hand]

2. Couldn't help noticing...

Aieeee! I'm getting flashbacks! :scared: And not the :hippie: fun kind, either...




:

[Canuckistanian]

3. (insert crying baby audio here)

You guys won't play by my rules!

[HEyHEY]

4. HA! I knew this was going to happen!

And for the record, Stephen, when you come to Vancouver, this reporter will give you just as hard a time as the ones in Ottawa.

The funny thing is, in Journalism school, we were TAUGHT that we were the opposition to government!

[IntravenousDemilo]

6. We were taught that at Journalism school, too.

Where did you go?

[HEyHEY]

10. NBCC and Langara

[IntravenousDemilo]

12. Me, University of Regina

So you went both in New Brunswick and British Columbia, then.

Are you at all familiar with Stargate SG-1? Langara is the planet where the Kelownans live. I think the show is shot in BC.

[HEyHEY]

13. Never heard of it

Yeah, I did one year in New Brunswick then Transfered to Langara. I grew up in Vancouver and hated small town life.
Working in the field now?

[IntravenousDemilo]

17. What, the University of Regina?

Or ? :)

No, I'm not working in the field. My last j-job was as a theatre critic for eyeWEEKLY magazine. I do other things, and the journalism training has been invaluable.

[HEyHEY]

20. No, the show.

I know the University of Regina for god's sakes! ;)

[LibertyorDeath]

15. He needs a major bitch slapping for this.

Hold his feet to the Fire HEyHEY !!!

Cheers!

[MrPrax]

16. Please Don't

I actually don't want him elected...

"this reporter will give you just as hard a time as the ones in Ottawa." -- so as an objective journalist, you already decided this ;-)
Um...don't sentiments like that ONLY strengthen Harper's position that the Media is bias...

So who was the bozo that asked Harper "Do you love this country?" How many points in the poll did you think Harper got from that one, huh?

I won't bother with the rank hypocrisy of the Media (and it's employees) complaining about what Harper is doing to the Press Gallery is basically what the Media does to the public and any Progressive that has ever written an letter to the editor only to have it re-edited for 'length' or has been stupid enough to phone an openline talk show only to be left online with a quick brushoff by a producer, KNOWS exactly what I am talking about.

Anyhow as Progressives here seem to have forgotten their Chomsky (but appear to understand media bias, integrations, marketing when it comes to the US media quite clearly), I applaud their efforts to get Harper to do what the media doesn't.

I am sure it will pay big dividends for a public that easily hates the handful of media companies more than they do the Tories...in other words ANYTHING the media is likely to report on the Tories will make the public support them, not hate them.

Hell what did the Ottawa Press Gallery think would happen when they spent the last 10 years calling them 'nazis' basically...I guess they should have thought about doing their jobs, instead of soft-pitching one of the most corrupt governments ever.

(Oh I am not hassling you in particular, I realize that since it's your bread and butter you got no choice but go with 'the programme', but shit if ONLY the NDP provincial gov'ts now or in the past did this press smackdown, they might have gotten their message out and been more popular)

[HEyHEY]

21. Uh

"Um...don't sentiments like that ONLY strengthen Harper's position that the Media is bias..."

Of course they don't. See, this is the problem with the general public, you can never make them happy. If I had said, "I will ease up on Harper," everyone would be screaming I'm some kind of Con puppet. It gets so old, man.
The job of the media is to be as big of a bastard as you can be to whoever is elected.
As well, I always laugh at this accusation of bias against the left in the media. Do you know how many reporters are left wing? I know WAY more left wing reporters than right wing.
Just because things aren't reported from your point of view, doesn't mean they are skewed.
But, at the end of the day, when both sides are bitching at you, you're doing something right.
What's sad is how many Canadians agree with what Harper is doing. He's trying to censor the press and they're all for it. Morons, they have no understanding of what is important in a democracy.

For the record, Chomsky can kiss my grits.

[MrPrax]

26. Boy I hit a nerve...

and you responded with the sweat of desperation and cliche.

Yes yes we know--it's the public; there stupid and undemocratic and will never be happy and so people employed by media companies are obliged to treat them with hostility, cynicism and ignore their demands that the public role of media should be more clearly defined.

Once upon a time press freedom was a corollary to free speech and a necessary adjunct to it. Today 'freedom of the press' is more of a call against 'restraint of trade' in the good old fashioned Liberal sense of word.

It's a little hard to ignore the last two centuries and still maintain that there is some 'connection' between Tom Paine's 'press' and publicly listed companies owned by GE or Raytheon that are into everything from data mining to the hardware itself. Obviously since virtual every other institution has changed qualitatively in the last two centuries, one would think that the relationship between the public, their governments and information has also changed.

While you toil to produce one TYPE of information product for these companies, one can't ignore the other interrelated aspects of these companies' other products and then discount the fact that 'freedom of the press' has become 'ownership' of the press and the MONOPOLY of public information.

And no I don't think that many journalists are 'left-wing' when they seem to think that the public's charter rights to getting information about their government has to necessarily pass through the 'for profit' filters of privately owned companies.

But it is interesting that you can only see 'bias' in purely partisan terms and guild protectionism. Of course I think we can guess that this is a necessary illusion for employees in the media industry to continue to promote, as it relieves them of looking at the rather flimsy 'chinese walls' that their employers, advertisers and shareholders have built around them.

If they did look at their industry, then they would locate themselves, NOT in the world of the IF Stone or Phillip Knightley (flattering to say the least), but as faceless corporate drones working in a cube farm like any other member of the public, who information they are trained to process.

Anyway--my central point?
Will the media continue to take the position of Harper and pre-select questions from the public gallery? ...hmmmm?

BTW I figured quite a few leftwing 'journalists' liked Chomsky because ultimately Chomsky is really a big defender of journalism and thinks it's the corporate capital influence that is to blame for manufacturing consent and that contrains journalists in their trade to provide 'witness' to those in power...

Weird you'd think that Chomsky's considerable writings on the subject was worthy only of some obscure pop culture reference to an old 70s TV show--Did you work for Dose?

(couldn't resist ;-)

[ThsMchneKilsFascists]

5. He's following in shrubs footsteps alright.

Here's to the 30% approval ratings he's shooting for.
That idiot cowboy shite won't fly in 99.9 percent of Canada.

[northamericancitizen]

7. Poor Stephy... he will soon find out how journalists can be powerful.

[Spazito]

8. My, my, for a guy with a vulnerable minority government, he

sure moved quickly to "cut off his nose to spite his face", as the saying goes.

LOL on the cartoon, it is perfect!

[daleo]

9. He's taking his football home and nobody can play now

He did this when the opposition nixed the appointment of the Calgary conservative bagman too. He is looking very petulant, and that doesn't wear well.

[ClusterFreak]

11. Well played Steve. A masterstroke.

:popcorn:

[LibertyorDeath]

14. What an arrogant F#^%ing Prick!

Bad move Harper I hope the Canadian Media and Public eat this fucker alive for this.

[Mother Jones]

18. I hate to be a stick in the mud here....

But most of the conservatives I know, here in Ontario, couldn't care less about this kind of thing.

And guess what else? They think he's doing a bang-up job!


Very few are as embarrassed as they should be.

[Spazito]

19. I fully expected he would still be supported by his faux con voters

The good thing is there aren't enough diehards to give him a majority government, he needs some middle of the road folks even to keep his minority and he isn't making the moderates too happy.

[tuvor]

25. Evidence that a lot of people care, fwiw

The prime minister tried to play down the dispute by saying: "I don't think this story is really of much interest to most ordinary people."

The evidence on globeandmail.com suggests a different story. A story about Mr. Harper's remarks in London, Ont., was the second-most widely-read story on our site yesterday. As well, it provoked a strong reaction with more than 300 comments, pro and con, posted on globeandmail.com

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060525.wlivemedia0526/BNStory/Front

[Mother Jones]

27. that's encouraging....

I've written to my local paper about why they haven't picked up the story.....I've asked them why, in a conservative riding, they wouldn't be reporting on what their beloved PM is doing. I included the famous "let them see what they've done" line.

They haven't published my letter yet, but i'll keep hounding them about it.

(it's an online paper and they publish ALL comments.)

[MrPrax]

28. Conservatives?

I work in a union shop full of the usual leftwing fire breathers and even they think he not doing a bad job...

The left is in love with their echo chamber and some bland codewords they have chanted and since the Liberal leadership campaign has NO giant killers or even real good contenders...I can't imagine what an election campaign might look like when that 'soft' undecided voter in that booth armed with a pencil and the knowledge that 'hey at least he lowered the GST?'

We are doomed if something doesn't happen...

[hopeisaplace]

22. he irritates me something fierce (harper that is)

grates on my nerves, can't watch him.

[hopeisaplace]

23. You know, he's either really shrewd or really stupid???

I'm actually baffled over this ??

[SidDithers]

24. What's the old expression....

"Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel"

I bet Harper has never read any Mark Twain.

Sid

[Canuck55]

29. Go for it Steve-O!

He can't be this stupid can he? I mean, i understand the vast majority doesn't follow the news remotely as close as most here, but his makes no sense. They've had 6 years to watch what these tactics will do over time to a formerly 'popular' approval rating in some country down south. He has been dying to hitch his wagon to Dubya's star for 6 years, and he still goes for it now that he is in the tank?

[HuffleClaw]

30. he has simply lost it

this BushCo. 'blame the media' tactic is appalling. i'm really hoping his new US-elections idea makes his govenment fall.

[CHIMO]

31. Finished

http://www.cagle.com/politicalcartoons/PCcartoons/rice.asp