Rumors are rampant in official Ottawa. Silly season arrived weeks ago.
What must Canadians think of all this talk of mergers, coalitions, fake lakes, and bailiffs chasing political staff around town? The ruckus on Rideau has drowned out some pretty legitimate debates: spiralling costs of the war, the environmental debt we are creating on the back of Conservative inaction on climate change, and millions being wasted on PMO PR while the public service is under threat.
One debate I didn’t think we would be having is about Fox News North.
In case you live outside of Ottawa, “Fox News North” is the nickname given to a new television venture by Quebecor’s Pierre Péladeau to be developed by his new VP, former PMO Communications Director Kory Teneycke.
It’s up for its official unveiling tomorrow and recently picked up two long-time Hill journalists to add to the Sun Ottawa bureau.
A number of people seeming to declare this the end of Canadian media as we know it. One columnist said this network was being brought here by people who don’t, “like Canada as it is and [want] to make lasting changes.” Another suggests that Fox, “mainly spews out propaganda that is dangerously misleading and often factually wrong.”
Predicting it’s entry into the market would create a seismic shift in Canadian politics and declaring the people behind it to want to change the very fabric of the media landscape these columnists and big-thinkers are giving a lot of credit to a station that doesn’t even have approval yet.
It’s all a little apocalyptic. Canadians brains are about to be turned to mush by a libertarian anti-environmentalist? I think not.
I’m mostly amused by the assumptions.
The knee-jerk reaction to the word “Fox” is no worse than the 2002 knee jerk ruling by the CRTC requiring Al Jazeera to be set on a delay and monitored 24/7.
Kory is a very smart communicator. Using the political show at CBC’s Power & Politics – which as many of you know I debated him on a few times–afforded him a way to demonstrate to the Quebecor executives that this style of brash
TV works. But I think reviewing that experience points us to the understanding that any “Canadian version of Fox” would be playing in a very different market.
Overall, the picture of news in the US is bleak. CNN isn’t objective. MSNBC isn’t either. Their local news has been sliding downhill for years–was this the fault of Fox? Or is this simply an American cultural trend driven by ratings and inherent commercial needs?
It hasn’t happened here. By and large our local news is pretty good, CBC maintains a high ethical standard, as do the folks at CTV stations. This is the market the new “Fox-style” station enters.
Plus, with all of the assumptions being made about how this would strengthen conservatism in Canada, has anyone looked beyond the American context?
Look only to the UK for a real-live example of how this can work. The media outlet that ostensibly pushed New Labour into Downing Street? The Sun.
Who was it owned by? Rupert Murdoch. Not a noted lefty. Oh, he also owns Fox?
What I’m trying to say is that this is a lot more complicated than some talking heads want you to believe. Do I like or believe anything Kory and Conservatives say? No. But, do I defend his right to say it? I certainly do. I’m not saying I know what it is this station will look like or stand for; but it seems pretty clear to me declaring it against the public interest is going too far.
Freedom of speech and open access to airwaves can’t simply be an ideal to uphold when you agree with the content being broadcast.
