Canadian Media: 'Churnalistic' By Choice

Today, in the refreshing and tolerable Toronto Star, columnist Susan Delacourt argued that current Canadian political reporting is suffering from 'churnalism.' For those unfamiliar with the term, 'churnalism' refers to political coverage merely spouting or 'churning' press release statements issued by the Communications department for politicians and political parties.

She begins by citing a poll from the United States suggesting that an impressive 78% of Americans have an unfavourable view of the political coverage in the media. I find this an especially interesting statistic considering that even the floundering cable-news network CNN effectively holds politicians accountable for spreading mistruth to the American public.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here is Anderson Cooper sparring with Former Speaker Newt Gingrich on a Romney ad attacking Obama on welfare. Suffice it to say, Cooper is pretty impressive here: he doesn't interrupt Newt Gingrich but still makes him look absolutely ridiculous, stumbling around, taking back what he previously said about the ad, and admitting that the ad was not, in fact, bolstered by any evidence at all. Cooper's performance is probably one of the most professional interviews I've seen on a news network as most anchors/journalists have been shouting matches between parties. As much as I like Lawrence O'Donnell, his interview with former presidential candidate Herman Cain stepped out of bounds for a couple of reasons (ie., invoking the Vietnam War, civil rights with the sole goal of humiliating Cain on national television).

But, back to Delacourt. She claims that a similar poll could be conducted here in Canada showing similar results. She hits right on the head when she argues that "the public buys the idea, frequently put forward by the Conservatives and their allies, that the media is little more than a delivery system for the “spin” the politicians like to spout."

The Harper Government's record with the media in this country is, to put it lightly, less than favourable. My favourite part of this article -- and there is much to like about it -- is when she brings up a telling quote from a Conservative MP during an interview with Delacourt herself. The MP says, "It's not like [Harper] hates the media, it's that he has no respect for them."

And clearly, no respect for the Canadian public who -- presumably -- rely on media as their envoy to the government. By being secretive and guarded to the media, Harper is obviously being secretive and guarded to the same people who elected him to a majority government. A very telling example of this secretiveness, an impressive majority of students in my Political Science course did not know that the Harper government had to bail out the banks. Political Science students were unaware of a very significant action made by the government. Of course, this has to do with Harper's tight-lip strategy, but it also has to do with a failure on the media's part to report and discuss the issue as much as possible in order to reflect the magnitude of the situation.

Of course, Harper isn't the first PM to have a distaste for the media. Pierre Trudeau wasn't fond of the media either. And Jean Chretien probably initiated the most severe cuts to the CBC in recent history, even more than Brian Mulroney and Harper.

Harper's lack of media appearance and interviews have obviously made it hard for journalists to cover him, forcing them instead to rely solely on PR statements issued by his Communications team. But, there's more to this than just 'churnalism.' There is also a complete unwillingness for Canadian media to investigate further into situations, to delve deeper into the background and connections Harper and other politicians have. Essentially, I believe that there is a sincere lack of investigative journalism in Canada, especially in print media.

Right now, the situation has been exacerbated by the lack of different voices and perspectives in today's print media. As previously mentioned, the Toronto Star is a refreshing periodical since it showcases more Left editorial and opinion pieces more than any other newspaper in Canada. Papers owned by super-conglomerates like Postmedia and CanWest produce Conservative commentary in order to appease the interests of the readers and the stock holders who are, of course, Conservative themselves. And, then there's Sun News...

All of these print publications all rely on the same churned out versions of press release statements. There has been a serious and disconcerting de-emphasis on investigative journalism in Canadian print media. I mean, thank goodness for Stephen Maher and Glen McGregor, the journalists who cracked the Robocalls Scandal, but obviously, we're in dire need of more stories like this because they are definitely out there. Despite what you may have heard, this not the most transparent government we've ever had. In fact, it's the exact opposite. If you don't believe me, then look up the 'Heritage Foundation' and the connections and alliances they've had in the past. Look up 'GEO Group Inc.' Here are two stories that are worthy of attention.

If you're interested in reading the full article by Susan Delacourt, it is available right here.