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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... Ottawa journalists bothering Mulroney about his expensive Paris hotel room. Never mind the state of world trade, the environmental crisis, and the threat of nuclear proliferation, journalists were more interested in who ate what for ...
... Ottawa press, it is only because the prime ministers did. This book is by no means the final word on this subject. I make no claim to have examined every relevant newspaper report and column, but I have attempted to present a fair and ...
... Ottawa, took time from his busy schedule to talk to me about his own experiences and those of his late father, journalist Blair Fraser, and wrote thoughtful commentaries on several chapters. Though I am certain he will not agree with ...
... Ottawa correspondent, a job he enjoyed and was good at. The Liberal government's March 1878 budget was the subject ... Ottawa's finest hotel. Over in one corner were two American visitors from Vermont, Colonel Fuller, who had ...
The Prime Ministers and the Media Allan Gerald Levine. Ottawa's citizens — judges, politicians, civil servants and ... Ottawa reports. At the same time, in the editor's chair at the Herald and later with Toronto's Tory Mail in the ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |