CBC's Heather Mallick on Palin

[jefferiah]

Is the CBC biased or is it only those who think "the media is liberal" and Fox News is "fair and balanced" who think that it is?

The CBC is biased, except to those people who think Babble is a centrist political site with tolerance for a wide range of opinion.

[Guest American Woman]

The CBC is biased........

I know that you think it's biased. Most in the right think all media is liberally biased, so I'm asking if this is just more of the same.

Don't have a clue about Babble. Is that a mainstream media site comparable to CBC and Fox News?

[jefferiah]

I know that you think it's biased. Most in the right think all media is liberally biased, so I'm asking if this is just more of the same.

Don't have a clue about Babble. Is that a mainstream media site comparable to CBC and Fox News?

It's a web forum actually. And no it's pretty left-wing.

You can not make a conservative post there without getting banned. Well, no first you get called a racist nazi bigot for..let's say...not agreeing with affirmative action policies or whatever, then you get banned.

You should check it out, just for fun.

www.rabble.ca/babble

Not because I think it's up your alley or anything. Just for the hell of it.

Edited September 12, 2008 by jefferiah

[Guest American Woman]

It's a web forum actually. And no it's pretty left-wing.

You can not make a conservative post there without getting banned. Well, no first you get called a racist nazi bigot for..let's say...not agreeing with affirmative action policies or whatever, then you get banned.

You should check it out, just for fun.

www.rabble.ca/babble

Not because I think it's up your alley or anything. Just for the hell of it.

If what you say is true, I'm sure there are conservative boards out there that operate in the same way. I'm really not interested in partisan boards at all. If I were just interested in hearing my views repeated I wouldn't learn anything, and I wouldn't be able to teach the Right anything , so why bother? Sounds boring to me.

But web forums are in no way comparable to the mainstream media. Same with blogs. Anyone can have a blog-- and I need to be able to talk back, that's why I don't like watching talk shows.

[Black Dog]

And I am not that poster.

And I wasn’t talking to you.

And how do you know you would not be hearing any complaints from the likes of me?

Simple confirmation bias.

Part of the reason that I am "right-winged" is because I do not believe in government run news media. If what you were saying was true the main point of my argument would be to say that CBC should hire more right winged columnists, reporters. I do make the argument that they obviously would not hire right winged people like Ann Coulter (to show that indeed has a bias), but I do not say that they should be forced to either. I rather think it should be cut loose from the government and sent out into the free market. First on principle, that I do not believe this ought to be the role of the state. And secondly I point to the result of tax funded news media--that media cannot be unbiased and that CBC has the incentive to be left-wing. Why should government spend billions on news media which tells you to vote for one party???

Again, I have your word on this. Like I said, it’s easy to be principled when you don’t have to be accountable for them.

Once again, I don't care about Mallick's article. I am not outraged over it. She can write whatever she pleases. But I think it shows the bias in the CBC. You don't have to agree with Coulter. I don't agree with her all the time either. I don't have to agree with Mallick. But our government supports news media which only reflects one side of the political spectrum. Does that make sense?

Since everyone has bias, would it not be possible that your own personal political biases are leading you to that conclusion?

Once again, Black Dog: bad example. No one wants to censor Mallick. We are just pointing yet one more example of left-wing CBC bias. Mark Steyn does not receive tax funding for his books.

I don’t know how the suggestion from the NP columnist above (and, if you read the comments to the Mallick piece, it’s a view that’s widely shared) that Mallick should be fired and blackballed from the media can be construed as anything but censorship. If you’re going to say “nobody is saying X” you might want to make sure no one is actually saying it.

White Doors:

The assumption was the CPC broadcasting system and the LPC broadcasting system wouldn't be publicly funded, of course...

A caveat you added after the fact, I see. And to which the above applies.

[White Doors]

Nope.

Wrong again, sorry

I would have no problem with this if it were called the Liberal party broadcasting system, but it is not. It is the cbc. (and if I wasn't forced to financially support it)

Edited September 12, 2008 by White Doors

[Black Dog]

WD:

I would have no problem with this if it were called the Liberal party broadcasting system, but it is not. It is the cbc. (and if I wasn't forced to financially support it)

Italicized portion added subsequent to original post.

[White Doors]

WD:

Italicized portion added subsequent to original post.

You always have a hard to admitting to being wrong?

Check the date and time of the edit.

[Black Dog]

You always have a hard to admitting to being wrong?

Check the date and time of the edit.

Check the time and date of my initial reply and the quote of yours I used. The caveat ain't there and I'm not about to go back and read what you wrote after replying to it once already.

[White Doors]

Check the time and date of my initial reply and the quote of yours I used. The caveat ain't there and I'm not about to go back and read what you wrote after replying to it once already.

you mean this?

Post 47: This post has been edited by White Doors: Yesterday, 01:40 PM

Post 48: This post has been edited by Black Dog: Yesterday, 01:45 PM

???

me thinks a dose of humility would make yours a happier life.

[Black Dog]

you mean this?

Post 47: This post has been edited by White Doors: Yesterday, 01:40 PM

Post 48: This post has been edited by Black Dog: Yesterday, 01:45 PM

???

me thinks a dose of humility would make yours a happier life.

Sorry how does my editing of my post indicate I went back to read yours?

I know you're trying really hard for this "gotcha" so if you want it, it's yours. Let me be the first to congratulate you on this stunning rhetorical victory in which you showed you added some words to your post that preempted the point in the post I made prior to your edit. Bask away!

[jefferiah]

If what you say is true, I'm sure there are conservative boards out there that operate in the same way. I'm really not interested in partisan boards at all. If I were just interested in hearing my views repeated I wouldn't learn anything, and I wouldn't be able to teach the Right anything , so why bother? Sounds boring to me.

But web forums are in no way comparable to the mainstream media. Same with blogs. Anyone can have a blog-- and I need to be able to talk back, that's why I don't like watching talk shows.

I was not referring to Babble as mainstream media. I used it to say that CBC is biased, except to people who think Babble is centrist.

[Guest American Woman]

I was not referring to Babble as mainstream media. I used it to say that CBC is biased, except to people who think Babble is centrist.

Then here's my question. If CBC is government funded and you have a conservative government, why would your conservative government be funding a "liberally biased" station?

[HisSelf]

I don't see Mallick as a columnist. She generally reports news. I definitely do not see her as a Coulter type. The CBC does have columnists. Rex Murphy, for one. But it is most trusted for its balance - Don Newman in particular is a national treasure. Not to say the CBC has a lock on this. Amanda Lang at BNN gets it too.

On the other hand we have the also rans. The right leaners, the left leaners...

There are some safe havens in our press. The CBC does not have a lock on them, but you have to invest some time to find them.

[jefferiah]

Then here's my question. If CBC is government funded and you have a conservative government, why would your conservative government be funding a "liberally biased" station?

That, American Woman, is an excellent question. It's a hard one to answer in great detail, and I am probably not qualified to do so.

I will try to offer a very general explanation.

First, I would say (as I have before) that the CBC always has the incentive to be left-wing, since it's very existence is left-wing. If a person were to campaign on the right-wing (and the capitalist sense of the word) platform of selling off the CBC you can be sure that the CBC would do it's best to sell him off as a nutcase.

Secondly, I would say that I am not certain where all conservatives stand on the issue of selling it off. And I think at this point in time, even though I favor the idea, the idea would have to become more popularized among the Canadian people, but I think it could be done. However, it may not be a realistic short-term goal.

And finally, I'll leave it to Ronald Reagan to explain:

"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!" --Ronald Reagan

Edited September 13, 2008 by jefferiah

[Smallc]

Don Newman in particular is a national treasure.

Agreed 100%. The best there is.

[Guest American Woman]

QUOTE=American Woman: Then here's my question. If CBC is government funded and you have a conservative government, why would your conservative government be funding a "liberally biased" station?

That, American Woman, is an excellent question. It's a hard one to answer in great detail, and I am probably not qualified to do so.

I will try to offer a very general explanation.

First, I would say (as I have before) that the CBC always has the incentive to be left-wing, since it's very existence is left-wing. If a person were to campaign on the right-wing (and the capitalist sense of the word) platform of selling off the CBC you can be sure that the CBC would do it's best to sell him off as a nutcase.

If it's very existence is "left wing," as you say, that doesn't necessitate that it would be left wing biased. But if it's very existence would indicate that it would indeed be "left wing biased," how did it ever come to be in the first place? Do you think that was the intent? That the intent was to have a left wing government funded station?

Secondly, I would say that I am not certain where all conservatives stand on the issue of selling it off. And I think at this point in time, even though I favor the idea, the idea would have to become more popularized among the Canadian people, but I think it could be done. However, it may not be a realistic short-term goal.

If most Canadians support the public funding of the CBC, including conservatives, I find it difficult to believe that it is "left wing." I sure wouldn't be ok with my tax money supporting Fox News, and I think I'd be certain where most liberals would stand in the issue.

And finally, I'll leave it to Ronald Reagan to explain:

"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!" --Ronald Reagan

There is something to that, can't deny it. But it doesn't explain why there isn't a huge objection to it if it's so biased and Canadians are objecting to funding it. After all, governments don't remain stagnant in spite of Reagan's observation.

I do appreciate and thank you for the time and thought that went into your response to my question, as I seriously do wonder how CBC can stay in existence if it is left wing biased without at least a lot of criticism from the Conservative government.

[White Doors]

Then here's my question. If CBC is government funded and you have a conservative government, why would your conservative government be funding a "liberally biased" station?

Does the NPR in the States have a leftist agenda? Do they receive some governmnet funding?

Is George W not a republican?

Whaaa??

(answer, neither country is a dictatorship)

Edited September 14, 2008 by White Doors

[Guest American Woman]

Does the NPR in the States have a leftist agenda?

Nope. And it's not a station like CBC, it's a private broadcasting organization that is broadcast on several stations.

Do they receive some governmnet funding?

NPR supports its operations through a combination of membership dues and programming fees from over 860 independent radio stations, sponsorship from private foundations and corporations, and revenue from the sales of transcripts, books, CDs, and merchandise. A very small percentage -- between one percent to two percent of NPR's annual budget -- comes from competitive grants sought by NPR from federally funded organizations, such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. link

So between 1 and 2% of the budget comes from government grants.

The CBC receives almost two-thirds of its funding from the Canadian government via a parliamentary appropriation, with the rest of its revenue coming from a variety of other sources.

The other third of the CBC's revenue comes from various sources. link

So two thirds compared to one or two percent. In other words, it's not comparable.

[White Doors]

For the purposes of your discussion it was comparable.

For you to say the NPR does not have a leftist agenda is laughable to say the least.

[Guest American Woman]

For the purposes of your discussion it was comparable.

No, it's not comparable for any purpose.

[White Doors]

No, it's not comparable for any purpose.

ummm... Yes, yes it is?

[Guest American Woman]

ummm... Yes, yes it is?

Ummmm, no. No it's not. CBC is "a Canadian crown corporation," with your government funding two thirds of it. You're comparing it to "an independent, self-supporting media organization" that gets 1 to 2% of it's funding from federal grants sought out by the NPR.

Not the same thing at all, therefore not comparable at all.

[HisSelf]

For the purposes of your discussion it was comparable.

For you to say the NPR does not have a leftist agenda is laughable to say the least.

I've watched NPR for many years. I'd say that their reporting on many issues ressembles that of the Economist. Not as detailed - but as balanced as far as I'm able to tell. Yes, they are a little left, but the balance is comparable.

[Guest American Woman]

I've watched NPR for many years. I'd say that their reporting on many issues ressembles that of the Economist. Not as detailed - but as balanced as far as I'm able to tell. Yes, they are a little left, but the balance is comparable.

Anything to the left of Fox News "has a leftist agenda" to some.