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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... recalled Dafoe years later when he was the editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. “It was enclosed by walls that rose sheer and unbroken, save for narrow entrances, for perhaps 20 feet, from the top of these walls the public galleries ...
... recalled Toronto writer and journalist Hector Charlesworth, “it secretly amused me to discern that they held a much higher opinion of their importance in the world than the business and social community with which they were surrounded ...
... recalled with some frustration. “All appointments and statements of policy were reserved for party organs.”8 Pity the proud Willison, who, in order to discover the latest government strategy or action, had to hang around the telegraph ...
... Recalled journalist E.B. Biggar: “While the points of order were being argued members hammered at desks, blew on tin trumpets, imitated the crowing of cocks, sent up toy balloons, threw sand crackers. A Controlling Interest 9.
... recalled the establishment of the Catholic League in 1871 and noted how the associauon had promoted Catholic bloc voting in exchange for favours. As it turned out, O'Donohoe was actually upset because he was passed over by Macdonald for ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |