And it is not the Liberals.
Wow, stating the obvious am I not?
The media have been doing this for years. The only problem now is they have the 24 hour news channels with which to promulgate their narrative and pollsters who are willing to design their polls on the side of art, with the price of sacrificing the science. That makes them much more effective in influencing the outcome of elections.
As well, the Liberals have not always been the victim of this. The national media skewered Stockwell Day in 2000 and they grabbed hold of every gaffe by Stephen Harper in 2004 preventing him from winning that election. An election he would have won if not for the national media.
So why do they do this?
Well, they have the power to determine what is important and what is not. The media can make up any story it likes by just emphasizing certain events or the statements of certain people. They can deny Canadians access to all sorts of news by just not reporting it. That is an awesome power and we all know power corrupts.
As well, I recall after the 2004 election some media commentators saying that they had been unfair to the Conservatives and Mr. Harper in that election. So, now they are being unfair to the Liberals and Mr. Dion in this one. In their warped little world the national media probably believes that they are being "balanced".
With regard to this election the national media just does not like the Liberals. The reason is they had the temerity to elect Mr. Dion as their leader. Before the Liberal leadership convention the whole of the national media predicted that it would be Mr. Ignatieff or Mr. Rae. Then the Liberals picked Mr. Dion making the national media look foolish. Their treatment of Mr. Dion and the Liberals before and during this election is their revenge for that and it could be the reason why they have meekly taken all of the BS that the Conservatives have thrown at them since their election. First Stephane Dion then Stephen Harper.
So what can the Liberals do to fight this?
Produce more ads like the one on Mr. Ritz. I know that many in the Liberal blogsphere are a little uncomfortable with it because they believe it is negative. To which I say, pointing out the truth is not negative. The Conservatives have made some very questionable decisions and have had some ethical problems since their election. It is fair game for the Liberals to remind Canadians of those, provided they do it in a factual manner.
As well, the Liberals should take a page out of the Conservative playbook from when they were first elected. Cultivate the regional and provincial media. Have high profile candidates blitz that media with interviews and announcements. The Liberals cannot count on the national media to be balanced in this election but I would imagine the regional and provincial media would be more so. They do not have an axe to grind and alot of these news organizations have greater difficulty getting content for their products.
The media will continue to give the Conservatives a free ride. They gave them a free ride after the Ritz fiasco became public so any event that changes that will have to be mind boggling. Like a revelation that Stephen Harper-pays-for-a-weekly-dominatrix-session kind of mind boggling.
All the Liberals can do is grin and bear it, keep plugging away at it and go over the national media's head with advertizing and under their knees by cultivating regional media.
6 comments:
I have a better idea. Blast the MSM everytime they lie, manipulate, spin and ignore the facts. Expose and broadcast their biases. For example, did anyone watch Lloyd Robertson on CTV last night introduce "a World Expert on Business and Finance" Dr. (I can't remember his name) WITHOUT EVEN REPORTING WHO HE WORKED FOR OR REPRESENTED. He assured Canadians about the fundamentals of the Canadian economy and basically quarterbacked for Harper. It was like watching a comedy routine on SNL. Who was that guy? Why didn't they want to tell us who he represents?
Remember if media loses audience they lose advertising dollars. Use your power to make them accountable.
You are right Ottlib.
I remember when Martin lost the election, they burned him at the stake. Msm was beyond brutal. When Dion won, first the media was supportive and glanced over some of his shortcomeings.
But once the national media decided Dion wasn't 'their' man, they've gone overboard with the 'anonymous sources' thing.
Those 'sources' have done more damage to Dion than Harpers 'not a leader' ads.
Are those sources from within or media opinion?
Difference is, the national media despise Conservatives where they think they own the Liberals.
What can you do?
Debra has some good ideas,
if the Libs want to go to war with the media.
The jury is still out on who's winning between Harper and the national media.
The MsM has lost its compass... the editorial honchos who fill the editorial pages with columns from their cronies and pick the people who make the headlines in their papers (oh, lets just use canwest for eg) are now very comfortable and protective of that status. They've forgotten one of the key articles of journalism, which is to "comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable."
There is also now the corporate agenda, which is to cut, whittle and reduce expenditures, things like taxes, community responsibility, and investments in compassion. The Enrons taught them all a lesson -- you can run the company into the ground but still get rich.
Lastly, our whole entertainment-based society has disengaged a large constituency from being intune with community. We feel closer to Brad-gelina than the neighbours on our street, we give less to our local charities, worry more about what we are getting.
How else to explain why the Republicans, after f**king over both the economy and world security for the past 8 years, are even competitive? Where's the outrage of the democratic fiction that they've enjoyed?
Instead, the CONs and their 'so-called Christian' leader have spent undo energy and funds blasting their rival with unprovoked attacks. So Christian of them.
The MsM still hasn't even asked questions about that.
Debra: I stopped watching the Homer Network when it came out their ND, Jana Juginovic, was dating Peter MacKay.
I also have a friend who had a job interview with Mike Duffy, and forgot to bring kneepads. A sick bunch at that network.
I just watched CBC trot out their "official" pollster for a chat after Dion's platform.
So, with "numbers" to back them, they dismiss the Ritz issue and frame the whole issue of Liberals needing to do something to gain "traction." Of course, being the "official" pollster, apparently no other polls can even be mentioned (I suspect it is contractual), so there is no mention of the fact that the most accurate pollster of 2006 shows a 5 point race.
But the most important point is why is a tracking poll even news? Or if it is news, why does it warrant a segment everyday, with equal time to candidates if not a greater amount of time.
It seems almost ludicrous that campaign coverage can be reduced to "poll reporting" over "issue reporting."
I used to admire Canada for not doing that, and now they seem to fall all over themselves in their admiration of polls.
Strangely, the US, while they still have even more polls than they once did, do seem to be doing a better job of showing the candidates in action "in their own word" although they still fail when it comes to contrasting issues between the candidates.
That's my rant, anyway. I just think the polls need to be brought down off the alter - especially after the notable collapses of polls in capturing the vote of recent elections.
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