I see that Quebecor/aka Sun newspaper chain isn't toning down its slanted "reporting" about CBC just because it's trying to get a license to compete with it in 24/7 news.
Check out this "news" story from Althia Raj , the Sun reporter who seems to be assigned the job of taking the Quebecor party line in these must-do anti-CBC pieces.
She writes: "CBC received almost 900 complaints from 2007 to 2010".
What Raj means is that 900 Access to Information requests were filed about the CBC in those three years. A big difference. Access to Information requests are routinely filed by reporters or citizens in order to get information from public corporations. They are not "grievances" which Raj also calls them.
Two paragraphs later, we learn that most of the requests were filed "on behalf of QMI Agency". That's Quebec Media Inc., Quebecor's own newsservice (Raj's employer), which Raj never points out.
In other words, this story is really about the fact that Quebecor filed hundreds of Access to Information requests about its competitor, the CBC. And it did so by abusing a process that's about making public corporations more transparent. The Access to Information process is NOT designed to be used by companies to get information to use as a competitive weapon.
You can count on more of this type of "news" on the 24/7 Sun TV News channel too. Wonder if the CRTC considers this type of "news" worthy of a must-carry cable designation?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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I wrote the Sun and asked to see examples of these outstanding questions they had about the CBC, with a view ti publishing them.
ReplyDeleteOne would think they'd be happy to have their concerns exposed to a larger audience.
Nope.
It's gamesmanship, alright.
Now when and if they finally get on the air, why not an entire show devoted to slicing and dicing the CBC, from video clips of CBC transgressions to demanding interviews with CBC representatives and on-air talent.
Why hold back.