Necessary resets for governments and the media

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/10/2024 (374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The hallmark of a listening government is one that pivots, reacts, and responds. It’s also one that is willing to backtrack and admit when they get something wrong.

To that end, much credit is owed to Housing Minister Bernadette Smith and her NDP government for re-instating the Canada-Manitoba Housing Benefit. This rent top-up, which had been paused since August, received a $1.2-million increase this week, along with an announcement that the intake is once again open for applications.

Housing advocates and people who are precariously housed are sighing in relief, knowing the $350 monthly benefit is secure once again.

In the lead up to this reversal, many critics were quick to point out the error of the NDP government’s ways in axing this program, including yours truly. To that end, as much noise needs to be made when there’s good news coming from government too.

Brava!

In other good news, CTV News recently announced it “parted ways” with two staff members who were found to be responsible for manipulating a clip of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for nefarious purposes.

While it’s uncommon to be celebrating someone’s firing, in this case it is warranted because so much is at stake when it comes to ensuring respectful, functioning relationships between the media and politicians. Democracy depends on it, and CTV News made the right call by unreservedly apologizing to the Conservatives after unethical edits had been made to the video, skewing Poilievre’s comments about a non-confidence motion and making it seem as though he was attacking a federal dental program when he wasn’t.

Hopefully, these actions by a media leader in the country will usher in a reset between the opposition Conservatives (which polls show are likely to form the next government) and the media. As I’ve said before, there can be no functioning democracy without a strong linkage between an unbiased media and government, and relations in that area are strained, to say the least.

Conservatives have long felt a progressive media bias against them, and this latest revelation doesn’t do much to eliminate tension. Yet it’s important to point out that it’s not just conservative politicians who lament a media bias or accuse the media of being out to get them.

One of the most repeated refrains I hear from politicians across the board is a complaint regarding the lack of “good news coverage” — as though media exists to bolster their image, which it does not — or, more predominantly, about this perceived bias.

Yes, as the case with CTV News shows, there are legitimate concerns. But not enough to claim the existence of a wholesale bias and pan news outlets altogether.

I remember a time when politicians generally lived by the motto of “not picking fights with people who buy their ink by the barrel”, meaning they tried to build good relations with the media.

Now, with the “fake news phenomenon” south of the border acting as a guiding light, it’s not uncommon to see political parties and governing leaders trying to bypass traditional media and use other methods like social media and YouTube channels to deliver “news” straight to their constituents and voters, using the perceived bias as justification. It’s understandable why politicians would rather be responsible for their own content and employ social media gurus by the dozens, yet in the end, it’s not news, it’s propaganda.

From my experience of nearly eight years in political office in Manitoba, and after participating in hundreds of media scrums, public announcements, and even being on the receiving end of a public backlash facilitated by media, I can point to very few examples of bias. Journalists rarely asked questions that the public wasn’t also seeking an honest answer to, and I can’t point to any examples of coverage that skewed my words or misrepresented my actions.

Sure, I didn’t always get the coverage I felt I deserved, but then again, it wasn’t media’s job to toot my horn. It was, however, up to them to offer unbiased coverage of government policy, and by and large, I felt they did.

As inevitable as it sometimes is to use a “spokesperson” to communicate on a politician’s behalf (rarely a day passed in my former office without several request from media, and keeping up was sometimes nearly impossible), from my experience, politicians who build relations with media generally get better coverage, while those who refuse access or try to manipulate them get less-than-favourable treatment. It’s only human nature.

Hopefully this apology will usher in a much-needed reset between politicians and the journalists that cover them.