The Naval Frigates: CTV News Still Insists on Getting It Wrong
(Cross-posted from The Phantom Observer.)
If there's one thing most of our politicians have finally gotten through their skulls, it's that our capital equipment needs to be taken care of. Although I still occasionally wince at the thought of still using 40-year-old ships in our fleet, I'm glad to hear, officially, that our frigates are getting a mid-life refresh:
As nice as this is, it's a bit disturbing to see how the traditional media try to work in references to other news stories that they think should be more important. The CBC, for example, works in the six Afghan casualties while CTV News tries to segue into a supposed feud between the Prime Minister and the Premier of Nova Scotia:
Now, this is still from the naval frigates story and has absolutely nothing to do with the frigates themselves. If CTV News were doing its job properly, they'd be telling us how old the frigates are, what operations they participated in, what problems have cropped up during their history and so on. And given Gordon O'Connor's problems, they might even quiz his responses to the contracting process; that's certainly a legitimate concern given O'Connor's penchant for single-sourcing.
Instead, they veer off into personality politics, As in: "yeah, yeah, that's important, sure, but what's really more interesting is this unofficial speculation of a fight between . . . "
Biased media is one thing. Incompetent media, such as what we've seen here, is something else entirely. Can't they learn to stick to the story they're supposed to cover?
If there's one thing most of our politicians have finally gotten through their skulls, it's that our capital equipment needs to be taken care of. Although I still occasionally wince at the thought of still using 40-year-old ships in our fleet, I'm glad to hear, officially, that our frigates are getting a mid-life refresh:
"The new equipment will make them stronger, safer and better able to do their job," said Harper at the Halifax Dockyard.
"They are the backbone of the Canadian navy."
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, who appeared with Harper along with Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, said the refit process would start in 2010 and likely take seven years.
"The process will make the 12 frigates relevant for decades to come," said O'Connor.
As nice as this is, it's a bit disturbing to see how the traditional media try to work in references to other news stories that they think should be more important. The CBC, for example, works in the six Afghan casualties while CTV News tries to segue into a supposed feud between the Prime Minister and the Premier of Nova Scotia:
Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald and Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert are both at odds with the federal government, claiming the March 19 budget breaks a key promise on non-renewable natural resources.
Now, this is still from the naval frigates story and has absolutely nothing to do with the frigates themselves. If CTV News were doing its job properly, they'd be telling us how old the frigates are, what operations they participated in, what problems have cropped up during their history and so on. And given Gordon O'Connor's problems, they might even quiz his responses to the contracting process; that's certainly a legitimate concern given O'Connor's penchant for single-sourcing.
Instead, they veer off into personality politics, As in: "yeah, yeah, that's important, sure, but what's really more interesting is this unofficial speculation of a fight between . . . "
Biased media is one thing. Incompetent media, such as what we've seen here, is something else entirely. Can't they learn to stick to the story they're supposed to cover?
posted by VW at 6:30 p.m.
3 Comments:
they can always screw up a DND story, but they will NEVER report what is really going on.
from Michael Yon.
If Jacko can't negotiate with the Taliban, maybe he should try Al Qaeda. They seem like reasonable fellows.
"The horror of the terrorist onslaught rarely is brought home to the American public. Indeed, it is sometimes so grisly that not even American troops in the field can even talk about it without swallowing hard. Listen to Michael Yon, in his latest update from Diyala Province. This is really something:
Speaking through an American interpreter, Lieutenant David Wallach who is a native Arabic speaker, the Iraqi official related how al Qaeda united these gangs who then became absorbed into “al Qaeda.” They recruited boys born during the years 1991, 92 and 93 who were each given weapons, including pistols, a bicycle and a phone (with phone cards paid) and a salary of $100 per month, all courtesy of al Qaeda. These boys were used for kidnapping, torturing and murdering people.
At first, he said, they would only target Shia, but over time the new al Qaeda directed attacks against Sunni, and then anyone who thought differently. The official reported that on a couple of occasions in Baqubah, al Qaeda invited to lunch families they wanted to convert to their way of thinking. In each instance, the family had a boy, he said, who was about 11 years old. As LT David Wallach interpreted the man’s words, I saw Wallach go blank and silent. He stopped interpreting for a moment. I asked Wallach, “What did he say?” Wallach said that at these luncheons, the families were sat down to eat. And then their boy was brought in with his mouth stuffed. The boy had been baked. Al Qaeda served the boy to his family."
It truly is off-key to see how the media reports stories. Whether or not Rodney MacDonald was there, and whether or not he's having a spat with Ottawa, are not relevant to the story about the Halifax class ships being re-fitted. They're all so hellbent on trying to demonstrate that Harper's bad for intergovernmental relations that they're completely missing the story about Canada's international relations, or at least muddling it so that Canadians focus on what's "really" important: Harper is bad for the provinces.
A certain Liberal blogger loves to refer to the present leadership as "the most partisan government" in Canadian history, but he neglects to mention that the present media environment is the most deliberately obfuscating in Canadian history.
"A certain Liberal blogger loves to refer to the present leadership as "the most partisan government" in Canadian history, but he neglects to mention that the present media environment is the most deliberately obfuscating in Canadian history."
Irony. Delicious, fresh, irony.
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