Why journalism and jingoism shouldn’t mix
"Harper’s carefully orchestrated, self-serving pantomime in Australia reveals him as the worst kind of hypocrite: rank and bellicose. But he’s a hypocrite with a lot of help — media help"
It’s been another instructive week in Ottawa and beyond about how politics gets covered by much of the media. Despite their putative role as professional skeptics, our news outlets routinely prove that they’re anything but.
Want proof? Here’s proof.
Exhibit A: Mr. Harper in Brisbane. Talk loudly and carry a small stick.
Apparently, the news out of the G20 summit was Stephen Harper playing ‘tough guy’ with Vladimir Putin.
The architect of this transparent political construct was Harper’s PR flack, Jason MacDonald, who fed reporters with a irresistible tale of a high-level diplomatic spat — with Harper, of course, wearing the white hat.
MacDonald’s delicious, hand-delivered pitch to the press probably went something like this: Listen up, boys and girls. My boss took his belt to the Commie from the Kremlin. This is how it went down. Putin approaches my guy to shake his hand. My guy says: ‘Whoa, hold on a second there, little fella. I’ll shake your grimy hand because I have to, but you better get your ass out of Ukraine. You got that, comrade?
And, voila, the former hugger-in-the-House transformed himself into a big, bad dude with a don’t-mess-with-me attitude on the world stage. Like stenographers, the parliamentary press gallery riding shotgun with Harper jotted it all down and regurgitated the PMO version as ‘breaking news’.
READ MORE: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/11/17/why-journalism-and-jingoism-shouldnt-mix/
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