Media Bias: Does it exist? - Part IV
For our next installment in the survey of media bias, we look again to the Globe and Mail from Wednesday, July 25, 2007. This is another example of the old ’slap and whistle’ game from grade school. Remember when the class bully was standing behind you in line and suddenly slapped your head so hard that it bounced off the nearby locker? Of course when the teacher came running, he was standing there looking at the ceiling, whistling innocently.
Such is the tactic of using a punchy lead to a story, and then softening it somewhat at the very end. Again we remind readers that most people don’t read every word, but scan the first few paragraphs to get the essence of the story. Usually the “balance” in the story is lost in space.
Read the opening of this story and make a mental note of your first impression:
Tories facing $1,000 conflict
BRIAN LAGHI AND DANIEL LEBLANC
From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail
July 25, 2007 at 12:48 AM EDTSenior political staff in the Harper government say they have been asked to donate $1,000 to the Conservative Party, a move that has sparked resentment among some of the most stalwart supporters of the Prime Minister’s Office…
The message is simple: The Tories are facing some kind of money conflict, and the big bad PMO is shaking down employees for money.
The fact that the PM’s communications director “categorically denied” the accusations was buried in the story beneath spotty quotes from unnamed sources. According to the article, those who were “approached” about the possibility of donating were “senior political staff such as chiefs of staff, communications directors, senior policy advisers and directors of parliamentary affairs.“
The fact is that these people owe their salaries (well in excess of $100,000) to political alliances with the Conservative party. These are not public servants, but part of the political apparatus that usually accompanies a Minister once he or she is elected to office. Reasonable people would likely not think it inordinate for someone earning up to $160,000 to be considered a potential donor.
In the closing paragraphs of the article we find this nugget:
“When in government, the Liberals also encouraged their chiefs of staff to join the Laurier Club, a fundraising arm of the party that costs $1,000 to join…most agreed”
In other words, this is a quiet tradition among partisans which has followed the cycle of governments for decades. The Liberals did exactly the same thing when in power, and the only thing that makes this a story at all is the potential to make the Prime Minister and the PMO look like overbearing boors. Mission accomplished: they were able to impress upon readers that the Tories were doing something inappropriate with money, and they are finally ticking off even their “most stalwart supporters.” It would be funny if so many people didn’t believe the message.
