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. |
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... Television Was Young: Prime Time Canada 1 952—1 96 7 © 1990 by Paul Rutherford; Diqenbaker: Leadership Gained 1956-1962 © 1975 by Peter Stursberg; and Diefenbaker: Leadership Lost 1962—1967© 1976 by Peter Stursberg. Excerpts are used by ...
... television editors with film over which the parliamentary correspondent can do a voice over — that is, substitute his own words for those of the politician, with one brief spasm of the victim's words to create the impression that what ...
... Television, with its emphasis on confrontation and dramatic moments, has only made 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 ...
... television, English from French, Alberta Report from Maclean's, the Sun tabloids from the Globe and Mail, and the CBC from everyone. “The people who are lumped together as 'the gallery,”' journalist George Bain wrote in a 1985 Saturday ...
... television, this was the image of Macdonald that was conveyed to friend and foe alike. It was unlikely that many of the Herald's readers would ever lay their eyes on the Conservative chieftain; in his later years Macdonald did most of ...
Contents
No League of Gentlemen 19141956 | 83 |
Illustrations | 104 |
The Unofficial Opposition 19571992 | 207 |
Notes | 365 |
Bibliography | 380 |
Index | 383 |