Media Bias [Merged]

[a78jumper]

That I wanna see!!!!

 

[a_majoor]

This story can stand without comment by me:

http://www.stephentaylor.ca/archives/000919.html

CPC wants answers over alleged CBC-LPOC collusion

Official Conservative Party press release just received:

Conservatives Demand Answers from the CBC over Alleged Collusion with the Liberal Party


OTTAWA - Today, former Liberal Cabinet Minister and current TVA journalist Jean Lapierre made shocking allegations about strategic collusion between journalists at the CBC and Liberal Members of Parliament at the House of Commons Ethics Committee.

According to Lapierre Liberal Members of Parliament asked former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney questions written by journalists at the CBC regarding any involvement in the spectrum auction for cellular and wireless devices.

"I knew all about those questions. They were written by the CBC and provided to the Liberal Members of Parliament and the questions that Pablo Rodriguez asked were written by the CBC and I can't believe that but last night, influential Member of Parliament came to me and told me those are the questions that the CBC wants us to ask tomorrow." (CTV Newsnet, December 13, 2007)

If proven true these allegations would mark the third major case of orchestrated anti-Conservative bias from a broadcaster that is financed by all Canadians for the benefit of all Canadians.

In 2004 an email from Stephanie Matteis of CBC's The National exposed the CBC's search for Canadians that would not vote for the Conservatives because they were "scared, freaked out or worried about the Conservatives, the Conservative agenda or its leader." (http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/003009.html )

The CBC was also forced on August 21, 2006 to express "regret" over a story by CBC reporter Christina Lawand that misrepresented an answer given by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (http://www.stephentaylor.ca/archives/000645.html )

"This is a very serious allegation that the CBC must provide an answer

 

[tabernac]

Gotta love "un-biased" MSM, especially when it's funded by the public, and is in-bed with the Official Opposition. It'll be interesting to see the Grit's response.

 

[RangerRay]

There will be no response.  The MSM will not report it, therefore it will never have happened.  Only us junkies who get our news from the blogosphere will know.

:-X

 

[COBRA-6]

There will be no response.  The MSM will not report it, therefore it will never have happened.  Only us junkies who get our news from the blogosphere will know.

:-X

are you kidding? I bet the other, non-government funded MSM will be all over this!

watch and shoot!

 

[GAP]

Mike Duffy is covering it with Rodriguez, Co-martin, and ??. Not being subtle at all.

It was comical actually. I watched the hearings via the internet live this morning. Any commentary the CBC made was like pulling teeth that Mulroney was essentially kicking the committee's ass.

Then on "As it Happens" the questions were trying to demonize Mulroney every which way.

Bias....nah....(giggle)

 

[tabernac]

Mike Duffy is covering it with Rodriguez, Co-martin, and ??. Not being subtle at all.
...
Bias....nah....(giggle)

1.) I've always found Mike Duffy to be one of the best Canadian political analysts. That Don guy that CBC has is too old, and too uninteresting...

2.) I had to laugh at that.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Time to cut off their funding and let them try stay in business as a private corporation. The CPC should be shouting this from the rooftops, and turn this whole Mulroney thing around on the libs. It would seem that Dion and his minions can't seem to do anything above board. The whole party is corrupt and has been for years. Honesty and fair play just isn't in their rule book.

 

[COBRA-6]

Time to cut off their funding and let them try stay in business as a private corporation. The CPC should be shouting this from the rooftops, and turn this whole Mulroney thing around on the libs. It would seem that Dion and his minions can't seem to do anything above board. The whole party is corrupt and has been for years. Honesty and fair play just isn't in their rule book.

I bet there are a whole bunch of CPC staff working late tonight in Ottawa 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Then on "As it Happens" the questions were trying to demonize Mulroney every which way.

That's how AIH seems to work - if you're a guest, you're either going to be painted as the hero, or the villan.  I guess they pigeonhole Brian M. into the latter.  :

 

[RangerRay]

Hmmm...watched the evening news on Global BC...nothin'.

Possibly something on CTV's late night national broadcast?  Would the Corpse report on this in The National?  As much as I enjoy watching Duffy, I have a feeling most people (ie. voters) do not get their information from his show.

 

[Kirkhill]

I found Mike's interchange with Ian MacDonald (sorry L. Ian MacDonald) as interesting.  MacDonald started off with a grin and a boys-will-be-boys smirk and a tale of foreplay and sex. How it was OK to plant a question in an MP's ear and create a source then have the story brought into the lobby where they can "torque" the story (MacDonald's word) as they see fit.  Apparently Mike wasn't buying it off camera (or else tales were being told out of school) because MacDonald suddenly wipes the smirk off and suddenly becomes concerned that CBC MUST answer questions as this obviously is not on.

Is "smarmy basta*d" in common Canadian usage?

 

[RangerRay]

Well, I just watched CTV's national broadcast, and there was not one word of this story there.  Even though it aired on one of their programs!

Nothing to see here...move along...

 

[McG]

Sounds like Tomorrow Never Dies.

 

[Reccesoldier]

In todays world there is no one who can not get their information from a private source (ie not government funded).  Once long ago before the internet, podcasts, satellite tv and all the rest the CBC was the only game in some places.  That is no longer the case, therefore the cause and reason for the CBC's funding is gone as it should be.

 

[ModlrMike]

I find it disgusting and troubling that ANY broadcaster, let alone the CBC, would seed questions in the House of Commons. If MPs aren't smart enough to compose their own questions for the government, then it's up to the public to elect someone else in the next election. Can you imagine what the opposition would be saying if the government was so obviously in bed with the media? It's one thing for a political party to use the media to get their message out, it's quite another for things to be the other way around.

 

[Kirkhill]

Canadian Press Story carried by CBC

"...the CBC does "not accept that this is evidence of bias against any particular political party, but rather was something that occurred in the context of trying to determine the specific circumstances of an ongoing political story." "

CBC reviewing claim reporter fed questions to Liberal MP
Published: Friday, December 14, 2007 | 7:16 PM ET
Canadian Press: THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The CBC has begun an internal investigation and possible disciplinary action after one of its parliamentary reporters apparently suggested questions to a Liberal MP taking part in the high-profile Mulroney-Schreiber inquiry.

The probe follows a formal complaint by the Conservative party.

The complaint centres on claims that Liberal Pablo Rodriguez directed questions from the CBC to Brian Mulroney during a highly anticipated Commons committee hearing on Thursday.

In a letter to the CBC ombudsman on Friday, the director of the Conservative party cited Liberal questions to Mulroney about whether he had lobbied the current government concerning the spectrum auction for cellular and wireless devices.

Rodriguez's line of inquiry prompted loud complaints from Tories on the committee, who accused the Liberals of going on a "fishing expedition" unrelated to the committee's mandate.

In the aftermath, former Liberal cabinet minister Jean Lapierre told CTV that he'd been told the Rodriguez questions came from the CBC.

A Liberal party official denied there was anything untoward, saying the party gets "bombarded" daily with comments and ideas for questions from Canadians and from reporters.

"We get people suggesting questions all the time, that's just life," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The party also pointed out that Rodriguez had previously asked similar questions in the Commons about Mulroney and the wireless spectrum issue.

But the CBC acknowledged the practice was "inappropriate."

"In our view, while the reporter may have been in pursuit of a journalistically legitimate story, this was an inappropriate way of going about it and as such inconsistent with our journalistic policies and practices," said the e-mail statement from Jeff Keay, head of CBC's English media relations.

The public broadcaster did not name the reporter, but said "the particulars of this matter are currently under investigation and will be considered under the disciplinary processes outlined in our collective agreement."

The story raged across the conservative blogosphere all day Friday, where the incident was viewed as an example of Liberal bias by the CBC.

Conservative party spokesman Ryan Sparrow called the matter "a very serious allegation, and if proven true (it) begs the question: why is a public broadcaster getting involved in partisan politics?"

But Keay said the CBC does "not accept that this is evidence of bias against any particular political party, but rather was something that occurred in the context of trying to determine the specific circumstances of an ongoing political story."

Rodriguez did not return phone messages Friday.

 

[a_majoor]

Mot so fast there; the CBC is implicitly admitting there is truth to the story:

http://stevejanke.com/archives/249698.php

CBC VP says reporter colluding with Liberal Party will be disciplined
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 03:08 PM Comments: 17

Aaron Wudrick has received an email from a VP at the CBC in which it appears that a decision has been reached concerning allegations that a CBC reporter was acting in collusion with the Liberal Party to frame questions to ask of Brian Mulroney at the Commons ethics committee hearings into the Karlheinz Schreiber affair.

Brian Mulroney During Brian Mulroney's appearance in front of the Commons ethics committee hearing looking into allegations made by Karlheinz Schreiber, Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez created quite a ruckus when he posed this question:

(A video clip is in the original post at this point)

Jean Lapierre Conservative MPs were upset that Rodriguez seemed to go so far off the Schreiber story, but the real fireworks started later when former Liberal MP Jean Lapierre, now an analyst with CTV News, alleged that the question was actually written by a CBC reporter, and that Pablo Rodriguez was merely a proxy.

The question of CBC collusion with the Liberal Party has been debated a lot in the blogosphere, and the Conservative Party demanded answers from the CBC.

Aaron seems to have part of that answer in hand.  From Aaron's blog:

    Amazing what a little Bourque-driven traffic will do to stimulate interesting emails. This just showed up in my mailbox, forwarded from, if you can believe it, a vice-president of the CBC:

        I wanted to let you know that CBC news chiefs have looked at the allegations made yesterday.

        They feel that the reporter's actions in pursuing the story were inappropriate and against CBC/Radio-Canada's Journalistic Standards.

        They are continuing to investigate the particulars and will follow the disciplinary processes outlined in the CBC's collective agreement.

        I imagine that the CBC Ombudsman will be responding to complaints and investigating what happened as well.

        They want to make sure this doesn't happen in future.

Read the whole thing, but clearly there are some remarkable elements to this break in the story:

    * Despite Liberal protestations that this amounted to nothing and that everyone does it, the CBC news chiefs have decided that it indeed was inappropriate.
    * The seriousness of the situation requires disciplinary action.
    * The CBC news chiefs are not waiting for the Ombudsman to report on his investigation.
    * The CBC news chiefs want to make sure this won't happen again, which suggests the person being disciplined will be held out as an example of the consequences of getting too close to any political party.

The CBC is moving quickly to respond to this situation.  If the CBC felt that the Liberals would be forming the next government anytime soon, I doubt they would be acting so briskly.

Pablo Rodriguez. This leaves Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez in a delicate position.  He has stated that the notion that the CBC framed his questions was absurd.  If it was so absurd, why does it look like a CBC reporter is about to be disciplined over the allegation?  Expect a fair amount of not-so-good-natured ribbing aimed at Rodriguez for the next while every time he tries to ask a question.

Did Pablo Rodriguez and other Liberals offer to support the CBC in fighting off the allegation?  If so, did the CBC decide it was better to discipline the reporter rather than accept any favours from the Liberal Party?

Karlheinz Schreiber. If there is discipline levelled against a CBC reporter, and the idea that the Karlheinz Schreiber affair was manufactured by the CBC starts to take hold with Canadians, will the whole business just evapourate?

How might this affect relationships between the Liberal Party and any media outlet in the future?

How much blowback can the Liberal Party expect to suffer if it is confirmed that it has secret media allies in the fight to unseat the Conservatives?  Will Canadians appreciate shadowy cabals operating in our democracy?  Will the Liberal Party be forced to defend itself against allegations that it manufactures the news Canadians are seeing?

 

[Kirkhill]

Not wanting to jump too far ahead on this one but......wouldn't it be luvverly?

 

[Rifleman62]

Possibly because CBC has a new President and CEO. He was interviewed on Politics with Don Newman (aka Bash the Conservatives with the bias liberal media with Don, focus the discussion on conservative bashing, Newman). Newman appeared nervous during the interview, and later programs were really terribly one sided. Note Lacrioux's comments at the end of the announcement. A new beginning??
 
Minister Verner Announces New President of the CBC/Radio-Canada
OTTAWA, November 5, 2007 - The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages, today announced the appointment of Hubert T. Lacroix as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/ Radio-Canada.

"Hubert T. Lacroix possesses the necessary experience and skills to lead Canada's national public broadcaster," said Minister Verner. "I am confident CBC/Radio-Canada will be well-served by the leadership of Mr. Lacroix."

Mr. Lacroix has practiced law for 30 years with three of Montreal's most prominent firms. He acquired strong credentials in the radio broadcasting and publishing industries through his involvement with Telemedia and other companies. He is also well-known from his work as a television and radio sports analyst for Radio-Canada's summer Olympic broadcasts.

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. It is the only broadcaster offering services to all Canadians in English and French across Canada and in eight Aboriginal languages across the North.


HUBERT T. LACROIX
Hubert T. Lacroix is a senior advisor with the Montréal office of Stikeman Elliott. Amongst other duties, he contributes to the strategic direction of the law firm. He is included in the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers of Canada.

Mr. Lacroix received both his Bachelor of Civil Law and his Masters degree in Business Administration from McGill University. He is a member of the Bar since 1977.

During a career spanning 30 years, Mr. Lacroix gained significant experience in various business sectors, including media and publishing, and has recognized expertise in mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate governance.

Mr. Lacroix acted as senior advisor to Telemedia Ventures Inc. after spending the previous years as the Executive Chairman of Telemedia Corporation and of the other Boards of Directors of the various companies in the Telemedia corporate structure. Before joining Telemedia, he had been a senior partner with another major Canadian law firm where he spent more than 20 years. He is an adjunct professor with the Faculty of Law at Université de Montréal (securities, and mergers and acquisitions).

Mr. Lacroix worked for Radio-Canada as a colour commentator for basketball during the Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1996. During that time he worked for both the radio and television networks. He was also a regular weekly contributor to the Saturday evening sports show Hebdo-Sports on the radio network of Radio-Canada, reporting mainly on amateur sports.

Mr. Lacroix is the Chairman of the Board of SFK Pulp Fund (and a member of the Audit Committee and of the Strategic Planning Committee) and a trustee of the different entities in this unit trust structure. He is also a director of: (i) Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. (chairman of the Audit Committee, and a member of the Executive Committee and of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee), (ii) Transcontinental Inc. (a member of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Human Resources Committee), and (iii) ITS Investments Limited Partnership. In addition, he is a trustee of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation and a director of their private holding company, a trustee of the Martlet Foundation of McGill University, and a director of the Montréal General Hospital Foundation and of the Fonds de développement du Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf.

Over the years, Mr. Lacroix also sat on the Boards of Cambior Inc., Donohue Inc., Circo Craft Co. Inc., Adventure Electronics Inc., Michelin Canada Inc. and Secor Inc.

Mr. Lacroix was amongst the first directors in Canada to complete the ICD Corporate Governance College program designed to help corporate boards exceed governance standards and create globally competitive, higher performing companies in Canada, and holds the certified designation of ICD.D.

In an interview, Lacroix stared that:

"he believes the public broadcaster faces two significant challenges: to stay relevant to a changing population and to raise funds that will keep that audience watching and listening".
"I am going to work very hard to get as much money as we can....if we are constantly compelling and relevant, we're going to try to get revenues from every single possible source to plow it back into programming," he said.
"My job and the mandate that I have taken is clearly to try to make this company evolve in terrific changing times and to create the sense of urgency that I know everybody else around, in every other company competing with CBC/Radio Canada, has."