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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... matter, but, of course, that is not what the serum is about,” he wrote in his controversial memoirs. “The purpose of the scrum is to provide a fifteen~ or thirty-second clip to be fed into the next news report. There are not many ...
... matters worse. TV simplifies politics both by making it more personal and by turning the reporters who deliver the news into major Canadian stars with expert opinions on everything. The political analysis offered on television, media ...
... matter how small an amount, did make a difference to a struggling newspaper proprietor.12 Realistic politicians like Sir John A. understood that in the newspaper business meagre government patronage was no substitute for a sound ...
... matters, the debate began in earnest. John A. Macdonald, then in exile as the leader of the opposition but spry as ever at age sixty-three, rose to make a statement regarding some inappropriate comments made at an earlier date about Sir ...
The Prime Ministers and the Media Allan Gerald Levine. discussion on economic matters was about to resume. What followed first, however, was a bizarre and lengthy diatribe by Quebec Conservative Joseph Mousseau on the history of Canada ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |