Sick North American Media

[maplesyrup]

Dyke attacks 'unquestioning' US media

Mr Dyke singled out Fox News for particular criticism over its pro-Bush stance, which helped the Rupert Murdoch-owned broadcaster to oust CNN in the US to become the most popular news network.

"Commercial pressures may tempt others to follow the Fox News formula of gung-ho patriotism, but for the BBC this would be a terrible mistake.

"If, over time, we lost the trust of our audiences, there is no point in the BBC, he said in a speech delivered at Goldsmiths College in London today.

Mr Dyke revealed there had been a huge increase in demand for BBC news in the US since September 11, saying this reflected "concerns about the US broadcasting news media".

"Many US networks wrapped themselves in the American flag and swapped impartiality for patriotism. What's becoming clear is that those networks may have misjudged some of their audience.

"Far from wanting a narrow, pro-American agenda, there is a real appetite in the US for the BBC's balanced, objective approach."

Mr Dyke also mounted a rigorous defence of the BBC's coverage of the war in Iraq after ministers publicly accused the corporation of bias towards the Baghdad regime.

He refuted accusations that the BBC had been "soft" on Saddam Hussein, insisting the corporation's commitment to "independence and impartiality" was "absolute."

Mr Dyke added the BBC had made "subtle daily changes" to the way it covered the war so it could "believe in and defend the integrity of our reporting".

Citing the history of war reporting from Suez through Vietnam to Kosovo, Mr Dyke said British governments of every persuasion had sought to use the media to manage public opinion.

I remember reading this article, or something similiar to it during the US led War on Iraq and getting this profound sense of sadness for our journalist community in North America.

Our media is truly sick and it is time we begin to repair it. One very significant initiative would be to break up all these large media conglomerates so that no one group exercises too much power.

[Guest eureka]

How true it is. I know of one US Embassy that watched BBC World News during the coverage of the WTC and after during the invasion of Iraq in preference to CNN or Fox. They candidly admitted that it was necessary inorder to get accurate and unbiased coverage.

I won't name the Embassy since that would be the kiss of death for the staff but, my son is a frequent visitor to it. The whole issue of the media os cause for concern throughout North America. It is critical to democracy itself and it is controlled and manipulated in the US and, to a lesser extent in Canada. This due to concentration of ownership and also to sponsorship demands.

The CBC and the BBC may be the most important bulwarks against totalitarianism we have. They cannot do it alone, though.

Concerning Fox, particularly, did anyone se the documentary about Monsanto and BGH? There has never been a more blatant example of media manipulation by sponsors. This additive is banned in Europe and Canada but not in the USA where it is in all milk. Whistleblowers in the US, after years of court actions, lost out to corporate power. The Supreme Court in Florida ruled that they were not protected by "Whistleblower" legislation and the product need not be withdrawn.

Fox, for whom the documentary was written, altered it and eventually cancelled it at the demand of Monsanto and its lawyers - even though the authors had a written statement from the lawyers that the demands were being made.

[maplesyrup]

I don't see any difference between Fox News in the US and Pravada in the old Soviet Union. You are correct to begin to use the term totalitarian in conjunction with the US at least, and perhaps Canada as well. The increased reduction in citizens participating in the voting process is a good example to back up your comments. The US is now rapidly bordering on a fascist society.

[Michael Hardner]

You don't blame the thermometer when you have a fever do you ?

People need to start rejecting shallow thinking, shallow values and poor health choices.

The media will improve only after the people do.

[Cartman]

What I dislike about the media, local news in particular, is the way that they rely upon the monitoring of police scanners in order to generate sensationalist news (crime). At the national level, particularly newspapers, is the recycling that goes on. Compare newspapers from different cities and it is amazing how similar they really are. Most Canadian news is really cheap with too much dependency upon US sources for international affairs.

One rarely finds serious investigative journalism anymore. CBC Disclosure was pretty good but I think it was turfed. If drab, PBS is the only decent one in my opinion.

Most significant media problem? The way that some "news programs" spend an inordinate amount of time discussing recipes or when hosts "chit chat" with one another about banal and obscure things.

Anyone else want to see Valerie Pringle and clones (shudder about here) shipped off to Siberia? Left-wing or right-wing alike can agree to this last request.

[I miss Reagan]

Ridiculous. The press by their own admission has a left leaning bias. Even the liberals propeganda machine, CBC, did a show on why the media is 90% liberal. You talk about the US media having control while the CRTC here at home decides what we can and can't watch. At least in the US there is somewhat of a balance between those who are liberal and conservative. Here we are 70% liberal. That isn't the result of a "balanced" media.

[Cartman]

Ridiculous. The press by their own admission has a left leaning bias. Even the liberals propeganda machine, CBC, did a show on why the media is 90% liberal. You talk about the US media having control while the CRTC here at home decides what we can and can't watch. At least in the US there is somewhat of a balance between those who are liberal and conservative. Here we are 70% liberal. That isn't the result of a "balanced" media.

Who are you responding to here IMR? Who said the media was left-wing or right wing? Personally, I think it is just cheap even if the graphics look sweet.

I doubt anyone has a hard time finding US news to watch even if the CRTC is "big brother".

[maplesyrup]

The CRTC received over 90 complaints concerning CHOI's denegrating blacks and women, who still have a lot of trouble being treated as equals, by certain segments of our society .

One of the things I value about Canadians is that most of us realize putdowns of others, who are different than ourselves, is not an appropriate form of behaviour anymore, eh?

I am proud that the CRTC had the courage to take on CHOI, as the CRTC by its actions is helping to educate Canadian society about what is acceptable in our communities.

Is this the CBC - Don Cherry equivalent problem for private broadcasters? Maybe CHOI needs to put their commentators on a 7-second delay as well.

[maplesyrup]

Ridiculous.  The press by their own admission has a left leaning bias.

What in the world does this mean? Care to back up this statement with any substantive facts?

[caesar]

The Press and media in Canada is heavily controlled and owned by Can West which leans right. This company owns a large proportion of our media and newspaper sources. I did get most of my information from British sources during the lead up to the Iraq fiasco. That is why so many stories contain the same slant.

[kimmy]

The Press and media in Canada is heavily controlled and owned by Can West which leans right.

CBC? CTV?

[caesar]

CanWest’s assets suddenly ballooned to include not only Global Television, the country’s second largest private TV network, which reaches more than 90 percent of Canadian households; but also the National Post, one of just two national newspapers; 14 metropolitan dailies in every major city except Toronto and Winnipeg (one, in Halifax, has subsequently been sold); 126 smaller papers from coast to coast; Canada.com, Canada’s third most popular internet portal; and a raft of specialty cable TV channels and production companies.

In many communities, CanWest Global is now the only media game in town.

CanWest is controlled by the Aspers, a powerful, politically connected Winnipeg family. Their personal agenda is now the shared obsession of all its media outlets: unquestioning support for Israel; forceful opposition to the Palestinian cause; mindless enthusiasm for their own television network; uncompromising opposition to the continued existence of Canada’s public broadcaster; and blatant cheerleading for globalization.

[kimmy]

wait wait, the 2nd largest private network? So there's another, larger private network? One of just 2 national newspapers? So there's another national newspaper?? Canada's 3rd largest internet portal? So there's a #1 and #2?

Where are all these places that get Global but not CTV? My dad's family comes from a pretty remote part of Alberta and they can get CBC and CTV... so I'm a little skeptical that there are all these Canadians who don't have any alternative to Global.

By the way, what was the source for the material you quoted?

-kimmy

[maplesyrup]

Canada's two national newspapers are the Globe and the Post although I have heard the Post is losing its shirt financially.

Public attitudes towards media concentration and freedom of the press in Canada

Diversity, Democracy And Access:

LOG CABIN CHRONICLES

[kimmy]

Canada's two national newspapers are the Globe and the Post although I have heard the Post is losing its shirt financially.

Yes, I'm aware that Canada has 2 national newspapers. Which is what I was getting at. If Canadians don't like the Asper-owned media outlets, then contrary to what caesar says, they have other options.

-kimmy

[maplesyrup]

Canada's two national newspapers are the Globe and the Post although I have heard the Post is losing its shirt financially.

Yes, I'm aware that Canada has 2 national newspapers. Which is what I was getting at. If Canadians don't like the Asper-owned media outlets, then contrary to what caesar says, they have other options.

-kimmy

To suggest we in North America don't have a serious problem with the concentration of the media is absurd. Look at all the bullshit that was, and still is, being spewed out in the US thoughout this entire Iraqi conflict.

Vancouver is a journalistic quality nightmare with their two local daily English speaking newspapers owned by CanWest. I remember growing up and learning about what was called yellow journalism, stuff like Allo Police, Midnight, etc. The Vancouver Sun and the Province remind me a lot of those rags putting the latest traffic fatality or murder on the front page with screaming headlines. Just pure unadulterated crap.

[maplesyrup]

Transparency Begets Trust in the Ever-Expanding Blogosphere

Perhaps part of the answer lies in the above article. Does anyone here Blog? There are even Audioblogs now as well. Ever listened to one?

I wonder if other people's experience is similiar to mine on the 'net. Initially I used to go almost exclusively to mainstream newspapers online editions for the news, but now I find I go to certain bloggers' websites that I am familiar with first, and then if I have time, I will persue the mainstream online press.

[kimmy]

I can understand the argument that concentrated ownership of media isn't good for our society. I can understand the argument that privately-owned media can be guided by its dependence on advertiser dollars. These are interesting issues. I will certainly read more about them in the future!

However, what Caesar posted earlier in this thread

The Press and media in Canada is heavily controlled and owned by Can West which leans right.

...doesn't seem to stand up to the facts. Caesar's own information says Canwest is the 2nd largest broadcaster in the country. They're probably 3rd largest overall, and smaller networks like Craig Media and Chum-City provide options as well. As far as print media goes, if you don't want to read an Asper paper, proceed to the next box and buy a Globe and Mail.

The mention of Canwest-Global's internet presence is completely ridiculous, since internet users has a virtually unlimited source of media to choose from, from international sources like the BBC and Al-Jazeera, all the way to independant sources (like the links you're always posting. ) The argument about Canwest's internet presence becomes even more ridiculous when you consider that CanadaDotCom has become a subscription service, offering a bare minimum of articles to non-members.

I agree 100% that more options would be healthy for our country! However, I take issue with the claim that the Asper family controls what Canadians see and here. That's clearly not true. Caesar's objection to Canwest might have more to do with Canwest's slant than Canwest's size.

-kimmy

[maplesyrup]

Who's the biggest? Bell/Globe/CTV, etc?

[kimmy]

Who's the biggest? Bell/Globe/CTV, etc?

If Canwest is the #2 private network in Canada, then I guess CTV would have to be #1. It probably also depends on how you rank them. Total viewership? Value of assets? Annual revenue? Percentage of Canadian homes that can view each station? Number of employees? It probably depends on how you measure them. You could probably find some figure to show that any of Global, CTV, or CBC is the largest TV network in Canada.

I will mention that Canada only used to have 2 national networks. I don't see how having a 3rd is a bad thing. Somebody will point out that Global was created by buying up local stations, however new local stations have sprung up since. I think that Canadians have more choices now than they did 10 years ago.

-kimmy

[maplesyrup]

Some speciality channels seem to be doing OK or is that a myth? I am thinking of the cooking channel, the history channel, the women's network, etc.

Do we need a Canadian PBS?

How about a consumer's channel hosted by Ralph Nader after he becomes president?

Do we need a truly bilingual channel?

Is there much difference between BBC and the CBC? Which has more credibility in their respective societies?

One thing we don't need is Fox News. Just kidding, sort of. We at least don't want it as part of the basic package of 30 or so channels one receives.

There definitely is a need for a labour or worker's channel.

Maybe also a co-op channel, eh?

[Guest eureka]

What other options are there. The only major newspaper in Canada that is not in the hands of a chain and, therefore,is controlled by its own editorial board, is the Toronto Star.

That is why I put more faith in that source than others as, probably, the only major, balanced outlet of the print media. I have bones to pick with the Star, too, but they have nothing to do with any topic that may come up on this board.

[Argus]

"Far from wanting a narrow, pro-American agenda, there is a real appetite in the US for the BBC's balanced, objective approach."

Mr Dyke also mounted a rigorous defence of the BBC's coverage of the war in Iraq after ministers publicly accused the corporation of bias towards the Baghdad regime.

He refuted accusations that the BBC had been "soft" on Saddam Hussein, insisting the corporation's commitment to "independence and impartiality" was "absolute."

BBC criticised by Hutton

Analyses of BBC bias

On BBC Bias

[Guest eureka]

Is the fact that the BBC was criticized by Hutton not evidence in support of the thesis that North American media is sick. That could not happen here - to an extent it could with CBC but nowhere else on the continent. BBC also acted on the criticism and those who were guilty of the perceoved bias paid the price.

Contrast that with the USA and the last three years were media distortion has been rampant and those who will not lie are ruthlessly destroyed.

With respect to Canada, the concentration is serious and the consequences are evident beyond even sponsorsgip. The Aspers inaugerated a policy of forcing all their papers to carry a lead editorial written by their Head Office with the vetting of the Aspers. Some of their editors and columnists resgned or were fired over their protests at the interference with editorial - and Press freedom.

Without checking, I suspect that the Aspers are CanWest are the largest media comglomerate. The combination of their print and visual holdings must be considered. The other fly is Southam which has pursued a highly controlled policy. The two control what fancy themselves as Canada's National papers: the National Post and the Globe and Mail.

A little disturbing is it not, if our National Papers do not have editorial freedom.

[maplesyrup]

Argus.......everyone made mistakes in the UK over Iraq. The BBC did the honourable thing. What haven't the other parties followed suit?

Most Brits felt that the Hutton inquiry was a whitewash stage managed to exonerate Blair and his war-mongering efforts.