Canada Free Press -- ARCHIVES

Because without America, there is no free world.

Return to Canada Free Press

Media Report

Not just another dumb jock

by Arthur Weinreb

October 21, 2002

Criticism is sometimes directed at the media for being too "elite". Although journalists claim to know a lot about so-called ordinary people, the vast majority of the press come from middle or upper class families and have been educated at liberal post secondary institutions. With the exception of foreign correspondents who report from third world countries and war zones, most journalists have no personal experience with poverty, fighting, and all the other bad news that they cover. They sympathize, but have a difficult time relating to the subjects of their newsgathering. Sometimes the elitism is so bad that they can’t even relate to ordinary Canadians.

To find elitism in Canada, one needs to look no further than the CBC. The fact that the CBC is given a mandate to reflect the views of Canadians, whatever that may be, provides an added impetus to gain a feeling of being elite.

On the October 6 edition of CBC News Sunday, Evan Solomon had interviewed Ron MacLean about his recent contract negotiations concerning his work on Hockey Night in Canada. After the interview was aired, Solomon, looking amazed and excited, told co-host Carole MacNeil that MacLean was different--he was very bright. Solomon then went on to gush about how much more respect he had for MacLean because "he’s so bright".

It appeared that the cerebral Solomon just couldn’t get over the fact that Ron Maclean, a sportscaster, was capable of having an intelligent conversation that didn’t include goals against averages. CBC, is often referred to as "the people’s network", but by people they mean John Ralston Saul and Naomi Klein.

Don’t fan those flames

In her October 13 column in the Toronto Star, Michele Landsberg wrote about a recent controversy that involved the Toronto Women’s Bookstore. At a meeting of peace groups, including both Jews and Muslims, the store sold buttons containing a women’s liberation symbol, a Palestinian flag, and the words "End the occupation now". A Toronto professor (a male, naturally) objected to the buttons and the controversy became public. About her own newspaper, Landsberg wrote: "Star readers may not be aware of the controversy, because the Star was almost alone among local newspapers in not fanning the flames of this painful incident". So now we know; the Star won’t report on controversies if by so doing, it might cause "pain".

Landsberg pointed out that the bookstore’s position was attacked by the National Post, Now and The Varsity as well as some Jewish feminists. In a world where there are very few absolutes left, you have to know that the bookstore was wrong when both the National Post and Now take the same position.

The Star didn’t want to fan any flames. The real reason the incident wasn’t covered was that the paper didn’t want to have to show that their loyal feminist followers were wrong. And the last thing they wanted to expose was Jewish and non-Jewish feminists duking it out. The good news is that other left wing media such as Now Magazine kept their journalistic integrity.

The Washington Sniper

At the time of writing, the identity of the sniper or snipers responsible for several deaths and serious injuries in the Washington D.C. area, remains a mystery. About two weeks after the killing spree started, vague descriptions of the shooter being Middle Eastern in appearance began to surface. In a refreshing report for CBC Newsworld, Henry Champ stated that the possibility of the sniper being a foreign terrorist was a scenario that the authorities had taken seriously from the beginning, and more so when the methodical killings continued. Champ added that because of political correctness, most of the media refused to report on this aspect of the investigation.

It is understandable that the media doesn’t want a repeat of the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, where Muslim extremists were blamed prior to the arrest of Timothy McVeigh. But the media is doing more than simply remaining silent. They are going overboard to portray the sniper, by the use of FBI profilers and others, as a disgruntled and psychotic white man. At a time when terrorists have attacked a French ship, U.S. troops have been shot at in Kuwait, and an explosion in Bali caused over 180 deaths, it seems that the media is taking the easy way out by concentrating solely on a non-terrorist based scenario where there is no risk of a possible backlash. It seems the public’s right to know what the authorities are thinking and doing, takes a back seat to being politically correct.

Arthur Weinreb is a lawyer and author and Associate Editor of Canadafreepress.com



Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement