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06-10-2006, 06:25 AM
PM, press gallery draw battle lines on the Hill
Phil Hahn, CTV.ca News Staff
Whether you call him a control freak leery of the press, or a leader unafraid of standing up to a pack of rabid national media hounds -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he really doesn't care. And, he adds, neither do "normal" people outside of that exclusive Ottawa club, the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Bad vibes have been felt between the press gallery and Harper since his time as opposition leader. The latest row was sparked earlier in the week when angry members of the national media walked out on Harper, who in turn accused reporters of being biased toward the Liberals.
"The Press Gallery at the leadership level has taken an anti-Conservative view," he said Wednesday in an interview on A-Channel TV in London, Ont.
He added: "I have trouble believing a Liberal prime minister would have this problem."
The List
At a typical news conference at the national press theatre, reporters line up behind a microphone to lob questions at the prime minister. The list of reporters is usually compiled by the press gallery chairman.
But what Harper wants is for reporters to submit their names to his deputy press officer (Dimitri Soudas), who would then call upon questioners from his own list.
The press gallery fears this gives the prime minister the power to pick favourites and block out media organizations he doesn't like.
"They want to choose who is going to ask a question, and we can't accept that," Yves Malo, interim president of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery and a reporter with Quebec's TVA network, said on CTV's Mike Duffy Life.
"It can't be the Prime Minister's Office who chooses who is going to ask the questions. Because when there's a crisis, he's going to want journalists who softball questions -- and the tougher questions will never come."
Reporters also claim the prime minister's staff has been skipping names on the list during a handful of press conferences held in the new format after the election.
Their frustration with the new ground rules spilled over Tuesday during a news conference. After they were told Harper would read a statement but would not take questions, about two dozen of them walked out of the room -- leaving Harper with only a handful of reporters to speak to about his aid plan for Darfur.
The prime minister's anger boiled over. The following day, he vowed to disregard the Ottawa press corps and take his message to local media reporters.
"We'll just get the message out on the road. There's lots of media in the country who do want to ask me questions and hear what the government is doing," the prime minister said.
Left-leaning bias?
Whether you subscribe to old right-wing suspicions of a left-wing bias in the media, Malo contends the press gallery is neither anti- nor pro-Conservative. "We are only journalists that want to do our job correctly," he told CTV's Roger Smith.
CTV's senior political correspondent Craig Oliver said there are probably reporters on the Hill who are privately small-l liberals, but he believes Harper overreacted by suggesting there's a Liberal cabal within the press gallery that's out to get him.
"There are very, very few (members), if you can find any, who are out-and-out partisans. And there are a lot of people in the gallery nowadays who are secretly small 'c' conservatives, or who would like to see (Harper) do well," Oliver said on Mike Duffy Live.
"But dealing with the National Press Gallery, this goes with the territory," he added. "Any prime minister has to learn how to do that -- or don't take the job."
If a bias does exist, says Allan Levine, a political historian and writer in Winnipeg, it doesn't have a particular political bent. "It's a bias towards power," he told CTV.ca. "It's also about how the media portrays their role. In a sense, the media are critics, but sometimes there's a distinction to be made between criticism and fairness."
And there have been plenty of cries of foul coming from Conservatives and non-Conservatives about cheap shots taken at the prime minister during photo-ops and various events before and after the election.
"I don't think that Harper's coverage has gotten more negative, or nasty, or more critical in the last couple of weeks, even though we're caught in this little spat with him," Maclean's magazine political columnist Paul Wells said on Mike Duffy Live.
"Although I do think this is payback time for the couple of weeks after he got elected -- when we had a lot of fun, in a lot of publications, making fun of his gut, the vest he wore to Mexico, the way he shook his son's hand when he dropped him off at school. We spent three months going hardy har har -- and I have a hunch that this is payback time."
Tradition of acrimony
Whether his motivation is revenge, or finding a new way to control and deliver his message, Harper believes this public spat is just "inside Ottawa stuff" that is, quite frankly, boring to the average Canadian.
He defended his new system for Hill reporters, saying, "I don't ask to control the editorial policies of newspapers, but we do set up our own press conferences," adding, "I think history would indicate that we're very open to anyone who wants to ask a question."
History also shows both Liberal and Conservative prime ministers share in common acrimonious dealings with the press.
Levine points to Brian Mulroney, Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark and John Turner -- who received "terrible press coverage, probably the worst of any prime minister" -- as prime examples. Not to mention Paul Martin and his Liberals, who many say received much harsher press treatment during the last election than Harper's Tories.
"Certainly there's precedence to be had for (Harper) to not want to give into the media," said Levine, who wrote the 1993 book Scrum Wars: The Prime Ministers and the Media.
"A prime minister who goes along with whatever the press wants, in the end, historically, does not win. And that has been the case for a lot of people."
Levine backs up Harper's assertion that the press gallery has become the Opposition -- and he adds that the media has, in fact, seen itself in that light since about 1957, when John Diefenbaker was prime minister and when the press started to become "less partisan."
"They have been the unofficial opposition since about 1957 and they have seen themselves that way. And that's why, I think, if you examine the historical record, I don't think any prime minister thinks they can really control the media. They also can't be friends with the media entirely, and in the end, the media will turn on them."
But even when embattled PMs and party leaders were suffering from historic lows in public opinion polls, they still faced the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
"We operated in accordance with established rules that have been in place for pretty much a generation. We respected those rules," Scott Reid, Martin's former director of communications, told CTV. "There was a tradition in place, we felt that it worked reasonably effectively, and we didn't need to start throwing rocks through that window. We had other issues."
Strategy
With recent polls showing Harper's public support at more than 40 per cent -- putting him on track to winning a majority -- many are wondering why the back-and-forth bitterness? Harper received mostly positive headlines for his inaugural budget, his new Accountability Act and his cultural deal with Quebec.
But he was also lambasted shortly after the election for recruiting ex-Liberal David Emerson, and the unelected Michael Fortier, to his cabinet. Recently, the Tories received poor coverage when they barred journalists from covering repatriation ceremonies for soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Levine says Harper, who's on the road toward attempting to win a majority, likely feels that the press gallery is trying to control him too much. But he says if Harper stays on an anti-press gallery track, he could run into problems when he needs the media during the next election.
"I guarantee you that media access to the prime minister in Ottawa will not be a factor in the next federal election," said Levine.
"But for most Canadians, as long as he seems to be fair, and he's talking to reporters in Vancouver and Newfoundland, I don't think people will make any distinction (between local and national media)."
For now, politicos says the danger lies in the fact that this dispute over control has gotten out of hand, and that both sides look bad.
And in the end, the success of the strategies will be determined by the public, said Barry McLoughlin, president of McLoughlin Media in Ottawa.
"The public is going to make a judgment over time, with regard to what they think of the prime minister, what they think of his character, what they think of his agenda, his performance. And you have to say that so far, regardless of this kind of back and forth conflict, that he appears to be successful in getting his message across," McLoughlin told CTV.
"I believe that he, and his government, believes that by sticking to what they promised the Canadian public, in a time of great cynicism about politics as usual, that if they can accomplish what they promise the voter to do, that they will be rewarded with a majority government. So I think, in the end, that's what he's banking on."
With a report from CTV's Roger Smith in Ottawa
Phil Hahn, CTV.ca News Staff
Whether you call him a control freak leery of the press, or a leader unafraid of standing up to a pack of rabid national media hounds -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he really doesn't care. And, he adds, neither do "normal" people outside of that exclusive Ottawa club, the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Bad vibes have been felt between the press gallery and Harper since his time as opposition leader. The latest row was sparked earlier in the week when angry members of the national media walked out on Harper, who in turn accused reporters of being biased toward the Liberals.
"The Press Gallery at the leadership level has taken an anti-Conservative view," he said Wednesday in an interview on A-Channel TV in London, Ont.
He added: "I have trouble believing a Liberal prime minister would have this problem."
The List
At a typical news conference at the national press theatre, reporters line up behind a microphone to lob questions at the prime minister. The list of reporters is usually compiled by the press gallery chairman.
But what Harper wants is for reporters to submit their names to his deputy press officer (Dimitri Soudas), who would then call upon questioners from his own list.
The press gallery fears this gives the prime minister the power to pick favourites and block out media organizations he doesn't like.
"They want to choose who is going to ask a question, and we can't accept that," Yves Malo, interim president of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery and a reporter with Quebec's TVA network, said on CTV's Mike Duffy Life.
"It can't be the Prime Minister's Office who chooses who is going to ask the questions. Because when there's a crisis, he's going to want journalists who softball questions -- and the tougher questions will never come."
Reporters also claim the prime minister's staff has been skipping names on the list during a handful of press conferences held in the new format after the election.
Their frustration with the new ground rules spilled over Tuesday during a news conference. After they were told Harper would read a statement but would not take questions, about two dozen of them walked out of the room -- leaving Harper with only a handful of reporters to speak to about his aid plan for Darfur.
The prime minister's anger boiled over. The following day, he vowed to disregard the Ottawa press corps and take his message to local media reporters.
"We'll just get the message out on the road. There's lots of media in the country who do want to ask me questions and hear what the government is doing," the prime minister said.
Left-leaning bias?
Whether you subscribe to old right-wing suspicions of a left-wing bias in the media, Malo contends the press gallery is neither anti- nor pro-Conservative. "We are only journalists that want to do our job correctly," he told CTV's Roger Smith.
CTV's senior political correspondent Craig Oliver said there are probably reporters on the Hill who are privately small-l liberals, but he believes Harper overreacted by suggesting there's a Liberal cabal within the press gallery that's out to get him.
"There are very, very few (members), if you can find any, who are out-and-out partisans. And there are a lot of people in the gallery nowadays who are secretly small 'c' conservatives, or who would like to see (Harper) do well," Oliver said on Mike Duffy Live.
"But dealing with the National Press Gallery, this goes with the territory," he added. "Any prime minister has to learn how to do that -- or don't take the job."
If a bias does exist, says Allan Levine, a political historian and writer in Winnipeg, it doesn't have a particular political bent. "It's a bias towards power," he told CTV.ca. "It's also about how the media portrays their role. In a sense, the media are critics, but sometimes there's a distinction to be made between criticism and fairness."
And there have been plenty of cries of foul coming from Conservatives and non-Conservatives about cheap shots taken at the prime minister during photo-ops and various events before and after the election.
"I don't think that Harper's coverage has gotten more negative, or nasty, or more critical in the last couple of weeks, even though we're caught in this little spat with him," Maclean's magazine political columnist Paul Wells said on Mike Duffy Live.
"Although I do think this is payback time for the couple of weeks after he got elected -- when we had a lot of fun, in a lot of publications, making fun of his gut, the vest he wore to Mexico, the way he shook his son's hand when he dropped him off at school. We spent three months going hardy har har -- and I have a hunch that this is payback time."
Tradition of acrimony
Whether his motivation is revenge, or finding a new way to control and deliver his message, Harper believes this public spat is just "inside Ottawa stuff" that is, quite frankly, boring to the average Canadian.
He defended his new system for Hill reporters, saying, "I don't ask to control the editorial policies of newspapers, but we do set up our own press conferences," adding, "I think history would indicate that we're very open to anyone who wants to ask a question."
History also shows both Liberal and Conservative prime ministers share in common acrimonious dealings with the press.
Levine points to Brian Mulroney, Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark and John Turner -- who received "terrible press coverage, probably the worst of any prime minister" -- as prime examples. Not to mention Paul Martin and his Liberals, who many say received much harsher press treatment during the last election than Harper's Tories.
"Certainly there's precedence to be had for (Harper) to not want to give into the media," said Levine, who wrote the 1993 book Scrum Wars: The Prime Ministers and the Media.
"A prime minister who goes along with whatever the press wants, in the end, historically, does not win. And that has been the case for a lot of people."
Levine backs up Harper's assertion that the press gallery has become the Opposition -- and he adds that the media has, in fact, seen itself in that light since about 1957, when John Diefenbaker was prime minister and when the press started to become "less partisan."
"They have been the unofficial opposition since about 1957 and they have seen themselves that way. And that's why, I think, if you examine the historical record, I don't think any prime minister thinks they can really control the media. They also can't be friends with the media entirely, and in the end, the media will turn on them."
But even when embattled PMs and party leaders were suffering from historic lows in public opinion polls, they still faced the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
"We operated in accordance with established rules that have been in place for pretty much a generation. We respected those rules," Scott Reid, Martin's former director of communications, told CTV. "There was a tradition in place, we felt that it worked reasonably effectively, and we didn't need to start throwing rocks through that window. We had other issues."
Strategy
With recent polls showing Harper's public support at more than 40 per cent -- putting him on track to winning a majority -- many are wondering why the back-and-forth bitterness? Harper received mostly positive headlines for his inaugural budget, his new Accountability Act and his cultural deal with Quebec.
But he was also lambasted shortly after the election for recruiting ex-Liberal David Emerson, and the unelected Michael Fortier, to his cabinet. Recently, the Tories received poor coverage when they barred journalists from covering repatriation ceremonies for soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Levine says Harper, who's on the road toward attempting to win a majority, likely feels that the press gallery is trying to control him too much. But he says if Harper stays on an anti-press gallery track, he could run into problems when he needs the media during the next election.
"I guarantee you that media access to the prime minister in Ottawa will not be a factor in the next federal election," said Levine.
"But for most Canadians, as long as he seems to be fair, and he's talking to reporters in Vancouver and Newfoundland, I don't think people will make any distinction (between local and national media)."
For now, politicos says the danger lies in the fact that this dispute over control has gotten out of hand, and that both sides look bad.
And in the end, the success of the strategies will be determined by the public, said Barry McLoughlin, president of McLoughlin Media in Ottawa.
"The public is going to make a judgment over time, with regard to what they think of the prime minister, what they think of his character, what they think of his agenda, his performance. And you have to say that so far, regardless of this kind of back and forth conflict, that he appears to be successful in getting his message across," McLoughlin told CTV.
"I believe that he, and his government, believes that by sticking to what they promised the Canadian public, in a time of great cynicism about politics as usual, that if they can accomplish what they promise the voter to do, that they will be rewarded with a majority government. So I think, in the end, that's what he's banking on."
With a report from CTV's Roger Smith in Ottawa
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