LETTER

Issue: Duffy trial coverage shows media bias

 

When it comes to evaluating what is priority news, it would appear that the producers of our mainstream media have said, "Put almost all reporters on the Mike Duffy trial!  Ask the same questions over and over - even after they have replied the same way.  At the end of each day, the cameras/microphones need to go to the Prime Minister following each of his campaign news conferences.  Ask him the same questions about the Duffy trial - even if his news announcement is about the Economy, Jobs, World Trade, Security, etc. "

Not everyone is interested in the Mike Duffy trial and only that. Sure, we want a snippet of "Canada's Trial of the Century", but what viewers want is something new - not the inconsequential minutiae.  (It took six days of questioning Wright to establish that Harper didn't know?)   The media almost hasn't paid similar notice to the election campaign that is certainly more important than the trial.  

It is evident to even the casual observer that this trial has become a political circus.  It all began with Duffy as the defendant, but the PMO has replaced Duffy on the hot seat.  But make no mistake.  In its final form, it's really about the media trying to skewer Harper.

Is the timing an important factor?  It was the Provincial Court system's scheduling that produced the trial to run during the election campaign.   But, the mainstream media's coverage shows their true political endgame.   It's more than timing.   The media is overstepping it's responsibility of reporting the news by trying to shape the news.

 

Steve d'Eça
Aylmer