Daniel Casey on the media coverage
of the
Montebello summit and demonstrations!!!
The Citizen pulls off a trifecta of dismissal: a story about how boring the talks are, how so little of any consequence will be discussed there, accompanied by an interview with Canadian Chamber of Commerce head Perrin Beatty smugly opining that “protesters believe in a zero-sum game” in defiance of the iron-clad law of comparative advantage, and followed by a dry account of the protest itself. To cap it all off, there’s a piece from US ambassador David Wilkins on the editorial page, advising us to leave our leaders to their folksy tête-á-têtes, because “that’s what diplomacy is all about.” A conservative estimate would put the ratio of opinion to news content addressing the summit in today’s Citizen at five to one, which oversells the point to the extent that the paper loses credibility. When put together, Harper’s penchant for secrecy, the security bubble around a widely unpopular US president, and the divided Mexican electorate that voted in Felipe Calderon in a questionable poll last year, are all combining with the visible unpopularity of the continental-integration agenda to create a vacuum of information about the “Security and Prosperity Partnership.” When Harper came into power and changed press briefing rules, the media were up in arms for weeks. Now they see a vacuum about a much more consequential policy issue and fill it with reassurance; were it that the media was as concerned with our collective access to information as they are with their own.
PUBLIC TRUST ABHORS A VACUUM
by Daniel Casey
August 20, 2007
The Citizen pulls off a trifecta of dismissal: a story about how boring the talks are, how so little of any consequence will be discussed there, accompanied by an interview with Canadian Chamber of Commerce head Perrin Beatty smugly opining that “protesters believe in a zero-sum game” in defiance of the iron-clad law of comparative advantage, and followed by a dry account of the protest itself. To cap it all off, there’s a piece from US ambassador David Wilkins on the editorial page, advising us to leave our leaders to their folksy tête-á-têtes, because “that’s what diplomacy is all about.” A conservative estimate would put the ratio of opinion to news content addressing the summit in today’s Citizen at five to one, which oversells the point to the extent that the paper loses credibility. When put together, Harper’s penchant for secrecy, the security bubble around a widely unpopular US president, and the divided Mexican electorate that voted in Felipe Calderon in a questionable poll last year, are all combining with the visible unpopularity of the continental-integration agenda to create a vacuum of information about the “Security and Prosperity Partnership.” When Harper came into power and changed press briefing rules, the media were up in arms for weeks. Now they see a vacuum about a much more consequential policy issue and fill it with reassurance; were it that the media was as concerned with our collective access to information as they are with their own.
Comment: These liar$ (overt and covert) in the press are going to be right sorry about their actions surrounding this in days to come.
This is going to prove to be the most riveting chapter in the fight for Canadian democracy yet!! You can mark my wordz on this.
There has been a very tenuous thread holding the social contract together in Kanada for a very long time. NO ONE I know trusts any politician.
No one I know here LIKES increasingly globalization; no one I know very well would ever shop at Walmart!! even if it's become the (high priced and nutritionally valueless) grocery store in their neighborhood. Staying away from transantional entities are a regular POLITICAL pasttime here - even if going to vote is not. So far that is.
And few I know want Canada increasingly militarized for any reason at all. Thus far the Canadian media is only REALLY talking about this "antiwar, anti-Afghanistan" sentiment in relation to the SPP protests; there is FAR more going forward than THAT.
My prediction is that with the NDP and the Greens (the latter being the only political entity saw getting TV coverage over the weekend) on side, we are going to come to a national referendum on the SPP/ North American 'issue" befor this is all over and people are going to V O T E against it in the biggest numbers ever shown at the polls.
People like me are going to bang away and bang away at what is at stake here; the press be DAMNED. I think we may see, finally, the start of some viable alternative media; I could not get press credentials for the event . this says something as hundreds of people read me on this topic.
For every reactionary (and it is) step taken by the media the reaction to social control will rachet up ever further.
We are going from deafening silence to Alfred E. Newman "what me, worry?" on the part of the mainstream media, that is ALL. They had better start paying attention themselves before total censorship sets in as it did every time a war or "national emergency" sets in, as people are going to only read a handful of journalists at that junction.
Over the weekend, I was shocked to find that I could only use the Globe&Mail of ALL Canadian information sources for reference to the financial meltdown situation. Not relevant to make that comment? you think. No, that IS the point - only there can one from information on finance and business in Canada TODAY to figure out what is going on. This is a travesty .. and the information THEY gave out on the SPP so bad, I wrote them a letter which of course never got published.
The item in The Star appeared on Page 19, no commentary whatsoever in the editorial pages. CTV made sure any protester quoted (with the exception of the head of the Greens) mad no sense to the viewer - the signs and banners selected for viewers CAREFULLY censored to mislead and misrepresent. (unfortunately there were any number of them to choose from) The Globe and Mail and the Sun have been taunting dissents for nearly two weeks now. Writing editors and TV stations can be a full time job.
I took a gander over to Garth Turner's site hoping to find some commentary. While the posters THERE are very knowledgable in the main and there is some very good discussion, the SPP is being IGNORED. His site is, afterall, the site for those concerned with middle income Canadians flocks; one would expect more. The North American Union (camoflagued for the time being as the SPP) is of strategic interest to them as they plan for their futures ...
As a general observation, I think the MSM (mainstream media) is going to make the battle over the NAU, and the SPP, more difficult, but their very silence and contortions are only going to make people more radicalized rather than less in the days ahead.
And the politicians who cover up are in more trouble than ever, too.
Time for a clean sweep!! of the lot of corporate apologizers.
This is going to prove to be the most riveting chapter in the fight for Canadian democracy yet!! You can mark my wordz on this.
There has been a very tenuous thread holding the social contract together in Kanada for a very long time. NO ONE I know trusts any politician.
No one I know here LIKES increasingly globalization; no one I know very well would ever shop at Walmart!! even if it's become the (high priced and nutritionally valueless) grocery store in their neighborhood. Staying away from transantional entities are a regular POLITICAL pasttime here - even if going to vote is not. So far that is.
And few I know want Canada increasingly militarized for any reason at all. Thus far the Canadian media is only REALLY talking about this "antiwar, anti-Afghanistan" sentiment in relation to the SPP protests; there is FAR more going forward than THAT.
My prediction is that with the NDP and the Greens (the latter being the only political entity saw getting TV coverage over the weekend) on side, we are going to come to a national referendum on the SPP/ North American 'issue" befor this is all over and people are going to V O T E against it in the biggest numbers ever shown at the polls.
People like me are going to bang away and bang away at what is at stake here; the press be DAMNED. I think we may see, finally, the start of some viable alternative media; I could not get press credentials for the event . this says something as hundreds of people read me on this topic.
For every reactionary (and it is) step taken by the media the reaction to social control will rachet up ever further.
We are going from deafening silence to Alfred E. Newman "what me, worry?" on the part of the mainstream media, that is ALL. They had better start paying attention themselves before total censorship sets in as it did every time a war or "national emergency" sets in, as people are going to only read a handful of journalists at that junction.
Over the weekend, I was shocked to find that I could only use the Globe&Mail of ALL Canadian information sources for reference to the financial meltdown situation. Not relevant to make that comment? you think. No, that IS the point - only there can one from information on finance and business in Canada TODAY to figure out what is going on. This is a travesty .. and the information THEY gave out on the SPP so bad, I wrote them a letter which of course never got published.
The item in The Star appeared on Page 19, no commentary whatsoever in the editorial pages. CTV made sure any protester quoted (with the exception of the head of the Greens) mad no sense to the viewer - the signs and banners selected for viewers CAREFULLY censored to mislead and misrepresent. (unfortunately there were any number of them to choose from) The Globe and Mail and the Sun have been taunting dissents for nearly two weeks now. Writing editors and TV stations can be a full time job.
I took a gander over to Garth Turner's site hoping to find some commentary. While the posters THERE are very knowledgable in the main and there is some very good discussion, the SPP is being IGNORED. His site is, afterall, the site for those concerned with middle income Canadians flocks; one would expect more. The North American Union (camoflagued for the time being as the SPP) is of strategic interest to them as they plan for their futures ...
As a general observation, I think the MSM (mainstream media) is going to make the battle over the NAU, and the SPP, more difficult, but their very silence and contortions are only going to make people more radicalized rather than less in the days ahead.
And the politicians who cover up are in more trouble than ever, too.
Time for a clean sweep!! of the lot of corporate apologizers.
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