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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... journalist Charles Lynch , the term itself was first used to describe the chaos in the hallways of Parliament during the early Trudeau years . Since Trudeau often spoke in a hushed voice , journalists were forced to encircle him ...
... journalists cowering below him , to figure out who had the upper hand . Still , it can go the other way . In January 1992 I was in Calgary , invited as an " ordinary Canadian " to participate in the constitutional confer- ence on ...
... journalists were much more respect- ful of the politicians they covered than they are today . Partisanship ran very deep in the parliamentary press gallery for decades , and even in 1958 Tory prime minister John Diefenbaker knew which ...
... journalists bother- ing 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 ...
... journalistic life takes on even more significance during an election campaign , when reporters travel , live , and ... journalists – as well as circumstances beyond human control - often shaped this liaison . For the chapters dealing ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |