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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... campaign, when reporters travel, live, and incestuously practise their craft together. The story that follows chronicles the changing relationship between the prime ministers of Canada and the men and women of the Canadian media. As is ...
... campaign began. If, however, he confirmed his opposition immediately, he feared that Brown would find some way to support it.9 It was a shrewd manoeuvre by an experienced politician, and it worked. As Macdonald anticipated, the Globe ...
... campaign. The Conservatives were forced to defend their record on the Washington Treaty, the Red River Rebellion, and the terms that brought British Columbia into Confederation the year before. The Globe and the Mail spent most of the ...
... campaign).24 Macdonald was lucky. Owing to Liberal leadership problems — Edward Blake was by then a tired old man — and a lack of policies that would seriously challenge Macdonald, the Conservatives were once more victorious. There was ...
... campaign contributions.* Economic and trade issues proved troublesome as well. In November the colony of Newfoundland had succeeded, without including Canada, in negotiating a trade and fisheries agreement with the United States ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |