The Toronto Sun has singled out Small Dead Animals in "Best of the Blogs" today, for Kate's excellent post on the sulking Parliamentary Press Gallery (Look Who's Being Petulant Now?).
The PPG's obsession with Stephen Harper's failure to kowtow to their demands is well illustrated by Kate's quip: "My goodness. Can the country withstand a repeat of the national outpouring of disinterest that erupted during last year's CBC strike?" Brilliant. Two salvos for the price of one.
We bloggers find the whole debacle particularly entertaining, given that we generate copious columns at an equivalent rate for free, while the PPG and MSM in general still seem to be wallowing in the culture of entitlement so popular during the last regime.
Sun columnist Lorrie Goldstein also recently took an extremely hilarious swipe at the Press Gallery (Harper Bids Media a Bon Voyage).
Good to see that at least someone in MSM isn't walking around with his lower lip stuck out.
24 comments:
I think the paid columnists like to view bloggers the same way movie stars view porn stars. Not quite as legit as they are, since we have our "day jobs" as well.
But like the movie actors, they probably have a wee bit of envy since we don't have to answer to their editors, just like porn stars never have to worry about robert ebert's withering reviews...
I think the msm hates us... we force their hand in dealing with commentary, and god help the columnist who distorts something... almost insured to get raked over the coals in the blogsphere.
Joe Calgary, we are their very own Accountability Committee!
Isn’t there more than a little irony in a blogger such as yourself referencing an article in the MSM citing another blogger attacking the MSM, which you then use to affirm your contemptuous view of the MSM?
Lorrie Goldstein is Great.
RT - Poetic licence?
Bloggers and journalists eh?
They envy our freedom to write what we want and we envy thier pay cheques.
Still blogging is more a hobby. At least we don't have deadlines and editors.
Incredible, journalists walking out on a news conference. That doesn't seem like professional conduct. Canadians see Harper doing his job and the media, not so much.
And will the employers of these self important thumb suckers still be cutting their paychecks while AWOL?
I blogged a solution for them.
Let Mr. Harper have his list and then they can complain when their direst predictions come true. And they'll have evidence and maybe we'll sympathize.
And whoever gets blacklisted will have a hugely gigantic boost in their stock, as they'll become 'Canada's Most Feared Journalist'.
Harper had already announced that there would be no questions, so what was the point of the media sticking around? Seems like much ado about nothing to me.
Great post, Molar!
No questions because no one had signed the list?
Or no questions?
From what I understand, there would have been a press conference if the PPG had complied with the request of the PMO. PDQ and ASAP.
Molar -- Harper's communications team advised the PPG there would be no questions. The announcement on Darfur was just meant to be that. Period. Hard to tell who is being more petulant in this little pissing match.
jd34 - And you are mine.
What kind of help do you need JDave? Be warned, I only do one miracle a day.
jdave - Just checked out Christian Conservative. Darn good thing we right wing baby-eating Bush-worshipping Tories have you around to keep us honest!
"And I take absolutely zero pleasure in it" Ah, c'mon.. Admit it. You're gloating from ear to ear. You've got such a big smile you're face disappeared.
Vicki, that's right. Who are the reporters accountable to other than their bosses? And who are the newspaper publishers accountable to? The bottom line is whatever sells.
" And who are the newspaper publishers accountable to? The bottom line is whatever sells."
That's true Joanne, the amount of corporate convergence and control of the media has blurred the line of journalistic accountability.
Also, the convergence of information and entertainment on news broadcasts strikes me as something which limits democractic discourse by trivializing the national political arena.
Accounability in the media is something we should all be concerned about.
Zac, that's right. It's the corporate media giants that control the message.
All the major newspaper chains and television networks have some business interconnection.
Alvin Toffler said back in the 70's that the medium is the message. How prophetic that was!
----- Original Message -----
From: TangoJuliette
To: Toronto Star ; Lawrence Martin ; KW Record ; Globe And Mail
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 5:07 PM
Subject: Scrums, crumbs and Crumbums.
I'm betting that with all of Paul Martin's spoon-feeding of the media in the past, the poor P.P.G. dears just never got around to much of the investigative reporting they seem to think they're very good at.
While managing to say very little to nothing at all, Paul ran the Press Room's dog and pony show, to the unbridled delight of the sound-bite freaks. All the while, Paullie's pals & cronies were pillaging the cash-boxes and store-houses of the nation.
I think that most of the media darlings are still smarting for not having scooped the Globe on Adscam.
They are now faced with the slim joys of taking things out on P.M. Harper, cause now they've got to hustle their fat and booze-addled little fannies around town to get even the slightest hint of a story. That kind of pressure has got to take a vicious toll on the former cream-puff school of P.P.G. journalism. Paul Martin, the Master of Diversionary Dithering, ably aided and abetted by the creme de la creme of Canada's finest representatives of the Fourth and Fifth Estates.
Talk about prissy-hissy-fitting weenies.
And how about Jane (a.k.a. Gidget, The Gigglet, The Giggler, On Air Bimboid, Nearly Blonde, Merely Bland, Snarls and Chuckles) Taber. Is she really naturally this terminally dense--and rude? or is this trait some Pavlovia conditioning thing she picked up at the Bell Media/CTV School of Training for Yappy attack poodles?
cheers:
TJ
and I'm still loving this!
L.H. &. K.
"All the major newspaper chains and television networks have some business interconnection."
That's true. It's hard to address such an issue as corporate convergence without being stereotyped like I was on the streets in Seattle in 1999 throwing rocks at the Nike headquarters screaming about tearing down the borders, but I do feel that it is an important issue.
Stories get surpressed, rejected, and edited to fit the corporate interests of organizations. BCE and CanWest have huge corporate backing and being dependent on advertising dollars, they have little choice but to bow thier economic handlers.
The CBC on the other hand, is free from corporate influence but not from political influence. As long as the CBC is at "arm's length" from the government, there will always be politicians who feel that they are "owed" something from the network and will try to control it. Prime Ministers since RB Bennett have been trying to exert control over the network.
Certain political biases emerge from networks along the way. Obviously the Star is Liberal, the National Post is Tory and the handfull of underground magazines like "May Day" are NDP.
The key comes from objective audiences who take the time to dissect the information and ask crticical questions of not only those who are leading them, but also those who are questioning the leaders.
The real story won't emerge from one network or one party but rather a healthy mix of skepticism and reasoning on the viewer's part.
Harper had already announced that there would be no questions, so what was the point of the media sticking around? Seems like much ado about nothing to me.
Typical Red Tory spin- make it look like PM Harper is the evil dictator, brutally suppressing the helpless journalists. You're so predictable!
If the Press Gallery wanted to ask questions, they could have but they chose not to cooperate with the Prime Minister's rules of order designed to do away with "scrums" which are suitable for rugby games but not for politics.
By doing so, the press gallery violated the first rule of journalism by becoming the story.
Good point, Mac. Over at sda I suggested that the PPG go on strike and then maybe we'll finally hear some real news!
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