Scrum Wars: The Prime Ministers and the MediaThe image of the scrum -- a beleaguered politican surrounded by jockeying reporters -- is central to our perception of Ottawa. The modern scrum began with the arrival of television, but even in Sir John A. Macdonald's day, a century earlier, reporters in the parliamentary press gallery had waited outside the prime minister's office, pen in hand, hoping for a quote for the next edition. The scrum represents the test of wills, the contest of wits, and the battle for control that have characterized the relationship between Canadian prime ministers and journalists for more than 125 years. Scrum Wars chronicles this relationship. It is an anecdotal as well as analytical account, showing how earlier prime ministers like Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier were able to exercise control over what was written about their administrators, while more recent leaders like John Diefenbaker, Joe Clark, John Turner, and Brian Mulroney often found themselves at the mercy of intense media scrutiny and comment. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 87
... George Bain wrote in a 1985 Saturday Night article, “are rarely lumped together anywhere — except perhaps at prime ministerial press conferences in times of high excitement, and not all of them even then.”9 Nevertheless, a strong case ...
... George Brown, the legendary founder of the Globe, $60,000 a year for newsprint alone.9 Add to this a few bad debts, clients who did not pay advertising and subscriptions, equipment that broke down and had to be replaced with the latest ...
... George Brown's brother and editor of the Globe for many years, refused to be “only a speaking-tube for the political leaders.” Willison himself left the Globe in 1902 to become the editor of the independent Toronto News because he ...
... George-Etienne Cartier had been a coward during the Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837 (he hadn't been), and on why French Canadian Conservatives had refused to support bills establishing the Supreme Court in 1869 and 1875 (they were ...
... George Brown. Nova Scotia Grits had never forgiven Brown for not consulting them before he joined the “Great Coalition” with Macdonald and Cartier in 1864 that led to Confederation. The article in question, Macdonald told Morrison ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |