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
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... journal of standing of either party looks upon its government patronage as being of importance to it. Every journal has scores of private patrons whose account is vastly greater with it than that of the Government.” Two years earlier ...
... journal earned a reputation, apparently well deserved, for being “dreary.” “Our friends, almost without exception, say to me,” Macdonald wrote to Creighton in mid-December 1890, “that while they subscribe to the paper they never read it ...
... journals. At first the Globe followed its party line and opposed disallowance. By March it had changed its editorial mind, after its circulation started to plunge. For the Empire, which had no alternative but to obey its political ...
... journal would support the party. A clause was added that gave the Mail's owners the option to buy back the stock for $30,000 after eighteen months. This was done in November 1896.54 Finally, the Empire's staff, except for the competent ...
... Journal, played third base. After only three innings the journalists were losing 33 to 7 and the “game was called for cocktails.”2 Unlike John A. Macdonald and many other politicians, Laurier tried to treat Liberal and Conservative ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |