ELECTIONS, TV SOAP OPERA COVERAGE

Gotcha! journalism might be entertaining television, but I don't believe it's sound journalism. It's hypocrisy at its best.

by Angelo Persichilli
THE HILL TIMES

TORONTO—Let's face it. We say that politicians lose their electoral campaigns when they are not able to promote their message. That's not always true and Marshall McLuhan was right: the medium is the message.

Of course there are situations when politicians, because of wrong policies or wrong timing, are at fault. For example, take the presentation of the Green Shift plan by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion at a time when the economy is faltering and the gas prices have skyrocketed.

There are examples of when politicians are on one message while the medium is on a completely different and, in most cases, less relevant matter.

Take last week. Stephan Dion had announced an ambitious plan of $70-billion to deal with the infrastructure deficit. A plan that, if it works, can create thousands of jobs and, at the same time, expand our economic capacity and social commitments. If it doesn't, it will crush our economy. In both cases, it was an important announcement to deal with.

One national network had an opportunity to deal with this important announcement, and exploit the simultaneous press conferences of Dion in Toronto and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Québec, asking questions to both about this important plan.

As McLuhan said, the "bulb," meaning the medium, was turned on, but it was aiming at the wrong target. The network had a spectacular split screen with both leaders answering questions from journalists but, instead of focusing on a $70-billion infrastructure announcement, and getting reaction from the Prime Minister, the network went back and forth asking questions about the stupid joke of the minister of Agriculture. The Liberals were screaming that he should resign, the Conservatives were sheepishly defending him, and an apology was enough.

I'm not saying that the stupid joke should be condoned; however I have two observations to make.

First, I challenge anybody to say that he or she has never made any stupid joke about anybody. Yes, most will answer that jokes were made in private, not during an official task. And that's my point: it's not what you say that defines you, it's the "gotcha!" attitude of the media. What we bring to people is not the real personality of an individual, only the stupidity of being caught in a "gotcha!" moment.

To me this is hypocrisy at its best. It might be entertaining television, but I don't believe it is sound journalism.

In Toronto an announcement was made that might solve the serious infrastructure problems developing in cities and municipalities for the last couple of decades. Its success, as Liberals are saying, might solve problems in transportation, sports, construction, and more. Or, as Conservatives charge, it would collapse the economy.

At the end of that news day last week we learned a lot about the political stupidity of Gerry Ritz and much less about the future of our country.

Last week I received a phone call from a person I cannot name, but it was someone in their middle thirties with a university or college degree, and, from what I know, was quite bright. After dealing with the matter of the call I asked their opinion about the upcoming elections. The answer shocked me: Are we having an election? Almost embarrassed, I said, "Yes, it's almost two weeks old." The second answer was more atrocious than the first: "Well, I don't know. It's because I don't live in Toronto."

I was appalled by the answer. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Unfortunately, a few minutes after, when I saw the kind of coverage the network was providing for a $70-billion Liberal announcement, I better understood the answer I had just heard.

Canadians are tuning out. If they want to see soap opera coverage of political events, we go to the source: the American networks. They are the masters.