The Globe and Mail's Lawrence Martin says Ottawa insiders are suggesting there will be a CRTC house cleaning to clear obstacles to Sun Media's bid for a Fox News North TV network.
His column today is required reading for Canadians intrigued by government/media bedfellows.
The CRTC has told Sun Media it would be Oct. 1, 2011, at the earliest before its application would be considered. Sun Media wants a Jan. 1, 2011, launching.
Would Prime Minister Stephen Harper play a role in clearing roadblocks to a far right network being orchestrated by his former PMO chief?
Scary stuff, Lawrence.
Political meddling aside, we were wondering when the carnage in Sun Media's Parliamentary bureau would warrant mention in mainstream media.
The body count was high, but there has been little mention of the obvious purge to accommodate more Fox News North-oriented bodies.
Well, Martin raises the issue of the ousting of Greg Weston, a 10-year Sun Media political writer.
Weston was fired, along with Elizabeth Thompson, Christina Spencer, Peter Zimonjic and Kathleen Harris, who is still writing for the Sun but as a national reporter from outside the bureau. Op-ed columnist Eric Margolis has also been turfed after 27 years.
Martin writes:
"Mr. Harper is benefiting very nicely from the Péladeau connection. When Mr. (Kory) Teneycke took over Sun Media’s political coverage, one of his first moves was to unload columnist Greg Weston. Mr. Weston, one of the most straight-shooting and incisive columnists around, broke the fake-lake story before the G20 summit. His reward? The noose.
"Mr. Harper must have been pleasantly surprised that the developments at the Sun chain caused barely a ripple of opposition from other Canadian media. It may embolden him to crush any CRTC opposition to the granting of Sun TV’s licence."
His column today is required reading for Canadians intrigued by government/media bedfellows.
The CRTC has told Sun Media it would be Oct. 1, 2011, at the earliest before its application would be considered. Sun Media wants a Jan. 1, 2011, launching.
Would Prime Minister Stephen Harper play a role in clearing roadblocks to a far right network being orchestrated by his former PMO chief?
Scary stuff, Lawrence.
Political meddling aside, we were wondering when the carnage in Sun Media's Parliamentary bureau would warrant mention in mainstream media.
The body count was high, but there has been little mention of the obvious purge to accommodate more Fox News North-oriented bodies.
Well, Martin raises the issue of the ousting of Greg Weston, a 10-year Sun Media political writer.
Weston was fired, along with Elizabeth Thompson, Christina Spencer, Peter Zimonjic and Kathleen Harris, who is still writing for the Sun but as a national reporter from outside the bureau. Op-ed columnist Eric Margolis has also been turfed after 27 years.
Martin writes:
"Mr. Harper is benefiting very nicely from the Péladeau connection. When Mr. (Kory) Teneycke took over Sun Media’s political coverage, one of his first moves was to unload columnist Greg Weston. Mr. Weston, one of the most straight-shooting and incisive columnists around, broke the fake-lake story before the G20 summit. His reward? The noose.
"Mr. Harper must have been pleasantly surprised that the developments at the Sun chain caused barely a ripple of opposition from other Canadian media. It may embolden him to crush any CRTC opposition to the granting of Sun TV’s licence."
All we can say is if Sun Media's Fox News North gets a Jan. 1, 2011, Category 1 launch date as requested, that odour throughout the land won't be Danish cheese.
Can Harper and PKP meddle with cable companies? I'd like to see this on channel 666 ... available only to the most premium digital subscriber ...
ReplyDeleteI find it highly unlikely that the Prime Minister spends 5 seconds even thinking about Sun Media. Well, that is unless he's looking for car ads.
ReplyDelete