The honor of the Media has disappeared in Canada. If in truth it ever existed.
There are plenty of ways to burn your bridges and this I know from personal experience, but it would seem that Canada is putting on a pretty good show of its own on the world stage.
You know our reputation; quiet, unassuming, excruciatingly polite, and mild mannered. We walk quietly and carry no sticks at all, mostly seen as peace keepers, until Afghanistan of course. We are never the main character but excel in supporting roles. I think this stereotypical view has been changing for some time and given the scandals of the world I figure we are still pretty mild.
We have a mayor in Toronto that made Jay Leno headlines. He has been attacked by the press for many months for alleged criminal activity and associations which went from reporting the news to ‘rabid’ attacks by the media. In my mind the guy is probably guilty but until it is so proven Canadian media has come off looking like crazed zombies out for blood, for his carcass and soul. Want to know why he appears so maligned and denigrated? Ego – One big enough to encompass the Grand Canyon, or possibly the western hemisphere. The media apparently cannot withhold its bile when faced with ego. The attacks shown on TV and in the press may actually start garnering some sympathy for Rob Ford. The guy, acting like a spoiled brat had the nerve to give digital direction to his accusers more than once, and in more than one way. Whether he just isn’t bright enough – limited by ego or intelligence – to understand the position he is in, or holds the rest of the world in such low regard doesn’t matter. The press has become the bad guy and shame on them.
We apparently have three evil senators in Ottawa who the media are out to hang prior to due course of justice. Now you have to understand that our senators are appointed and this has been viewed by many to be a reward for service to a particular Prime Minister. Nice job for life with admirable income and tax benefits. It seems Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau, and Mike Duffy have made illegal claims for expenses. This has gone from newsworthy to blood sport in a few weeks. And why? You guessed it. Ego. Wallin in particular has been disliked because she treats everyone around her as less than human. She apparently has attained self-imposed Royal status and made some mighty big enemies in doing so. The facts seem to be in and in my opinion are guilty but the conduct of the media make them look like salivating dogs of hell taking bite after bite.
Senators as a whole probably in my view see themselves above all others and certainly these are not the only three, but they are going down in a most undignified way.
We have a Prime Minister I personally have never cared for. He is also about ego but has the smarts to manipulate and control. He is coming off rather badly because he has been caught in more than one lie. Now how surprising is that? A politician that lies. Coverups. Meanwhile there are bigger more costly political sins from which this whole country will suffer.
That fact never changes. The mighty pen, the media message, brings shame to this country and its people. We have never been able to trust the slant of reporting entirely and there is no such thing as blatant truth telling, but the Canadian media has been busy burning some bridges called Ethical Reporting and they should be ashamed. The problem is, they carry the message and there is little you and I can do to affect the honesty of the message. They not only deal in mob mentality, they feed it.
EGO has become the greatest crime of all which should make humble appearing criminals feel good.
Oh my why can’t we just have a good old sex scandal in government?
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bridgesburning 
I could not agree more, the media is all about getting bums on seats and money for he advertising, all about numbers and scores and cutting with the most entertaining knife.. deeply boring actually, but unfortunately the media is actually DRIVING public opinion, and DECIDING how we feel about things, another reason why i do not have a radio or TV. The only times I listen to the radio is in the car and even then I am aghast! well written chris! c
You are right as usual Miss C. I have often wondered how much better my life would be without TV and radio and of course the press.
Who was it that said (about WWII & paraphrasing here) Bad things happen because(when?) Good Men failed to (do anything to stop it):
Truer words Deb…I think we have become a society of commenters more than doers
Even here, across the pond, five minutes of watching the news is more than i can take. It’s not about what’s happening, it’s about how we can twist it, or pump it up, or exaggerate it, to get the most viewers. And yeah, Mr Ford’s doings have even made the news here so someone told me today. ugh!
Yes Joss, things have blown up and produced a terrible stink… But wasn’t corruption, at one time, another word for putrefaction (or the smell of decay)?…
Latest CBC News Alert: http://www.cbc.ca/news/#!/content/1.2426060/pqid/7.807/
That’s true Joss. It doesn’t even matter what the truth may be – all the twisting and spinning has rendered it useless.
Dang. I don’t have a TV, so I tend to miss the media frenzies plus I am in La America so I’m not sure how much your government scandals are covered, but this sounds like a mess. Have you ever seen the show “The Newsroom” with Jeff Daniels? It talks a lot about the sensationalism and ratings-based tactics of News stations.
If only your senators went about flashing photos of their wankers on Twitter like ours do. Then they’d really have something to be upset about.
Smiling here – no matter the country always something – sex drugs and ….
Damn the media. It fuels the flame, for sure. Sorry, however, I had to laugh at your last line.
Perhaps, it would help to know that Canadian scandal has not made our news here south of the equator. Does that help?
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
Thanks for the hugs Kathy – hope you are both doing well and had a wonderful new years!
So, here we are once again, with people setting themselves up as an example to others: as a paragon of truth in politics or somehow “better” than everyone else and then falling off that self-made pedestal to fall flat on their face…
It IS awful to be so jaded, isn’t it? So tell me, what else is there that might need our attention to be diverted? The Keystone pipeline? “Saving” the Taxpayers 2 Million by closing down The Experimental Lakes Area (Laboratory) in Ontario (and who knows how many others across the country) while investing 6 Billion Dollars on a(nother) Canadian Spy Agency or the (completely unknown) cost of developing our own jets to patrol the Arctic?
This insertion of Senators who really should have known better than to fudge the books really makes me wonder… Was the impulse to gorge at the Public trough really that irresistible? Or did they actually have government clearance to use these expenses, as Mr. Duffy has stated?
From what I’ve seen, when given the choice, 95% of people in any population will do the right thing; but it’s the other 5% that get all the notoriety…
Thanks for commenting Deb. Lots of great questions, none that the truth will probably ever be known. I have a feeling that if these three had not made so many enemies within the Senate they would still be protected. A few years ago I sat on the Emergency Health Services Committee in Toronto and it annoyed the daylights out of me that what was GST at the time was completely reimbursed. I refused to do it – the public have no such perks and carry the preferred (gov employees). It stinks.
Hey Chris, not sure if you’d hear this where you are, but this hit my inbox this morning: (modified mobile link, so hope it works) http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/1.2335743
“Politicians!” When did the word become an epithet??
I think you are right – I was just thinking they might pull something out of the hat for redirection or worse thought maybe this whole thing is redirection for something much worse that we are missing! Yikes!
A couple of years ago, that’s exactly what entertained up: sex scandals. I suppose the Harper Machine might get some out in the open to redirect our current attention. 😉