Harper Equals Bush

Right out of GW's playbook: if you don't like what the media is saying, find media that will like what you say.

The Harper, 24 May 06

Harper says he'll avoid 'biased' national media
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the national media are biased, and he will work hard to avoid them.

Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, May 24, 2006

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the national media are biased against him so he will avoid them from now on.

The prime minister says the Ottawa press gallery seems to have decided to become the opposition to his Conservative government.

He told a London, Ont., TV station Wednesday that he is having problems with the media that a Liberal prime minister would never have to face.

So Harper says he will take his message out on the road and deal with the less hostile local media.

The Bush, 14 October 2003

Bush Courts Regional Media

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
Tuesday, October 14, 2003; Page A04

The Bush administration, displeased with the news coverage of the war in Iraq, has accelerated efforts to bypass the national media by telling the administration's story directly to the American public.

Yesterday, Bush granted exclusive interviews to five regional broadcasting companies -- an unprecedented effort to reach news organizations that do not regularly cover the White House.

This stinks. Wholly and completely! This from a PM who campaigned about accountability and transparency. Without a national media, where's the transparency? Where's the accountability? We'll have different takes on a story all across the country, which in and of itself is not a bad thing when combined with a national point of view. This takes us back a hundred years or so, I'm sure.

Surely, a Prime Minister does not have the right to dictate what the media can and cannot say about the leader and his government! Doing so lays a cornerstone for a fascist state. He has gone too far!

Email the PMO, NOW!

Thanks to The Galloping Beaver for the lead.

UPDATE 1: A strategic suggestion from The Hive: If the NDP war-roomer's are smart...

UPDATE 2: Conservative mouthpiece Geoff Norquay said

The reality is that every new government wants to keep a tight lid on its messages and this one in particular because it had the previous example of Mr. Martin who had so many priorities that they all turned to mush in the minds of the Canadian people. And that's why this government is tightly focused on its messages.

So, Canadian's have no minds? And the Harper isn't trying to manipulate and control those minds?