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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... daily and forever appealing to the enlightened force of public opinion — anticijmting, if possible, the march of events. The statesman 's duty is precisely the reverse. He cautiously guards from the public eye the information by which ...
... daily newspaper, the costs of such things as paper, ink, type, and salaries proved to be the biggest financial burden. For example, in 1870 it cost George Brown, the legendary founder of the Globe, $60,000 a year for newsprint alone.9 ...
... Daily Advertiser, a Liberal daily, was more succinct: “The alleged 'pap' in the shape of official advertisements is a very small item in the large returns which such a newspaper must have if it is to continue to exist at all. The ...
... daily and weekly newspapers from across the country. He read the major Montreal and Toronto papers each day, most often at bedtime, and later his secretaries prepared clippings for him to peruse. Even on his rare holidays he voraciously ...
... daily abuse, the Brantford Courier defended Macdonald's actions against the aggressive “Yankees,” while future prime minister Mackenzie Bowell's Belleville Intelligencer argued that no opinion could be made about the treaty until ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |