Since 1988 I have heard over and over again about how the right is "taking-over", how we are losing the country to people who are guided by principles transplanted (like some kind of contagion) from our southern neighbour. Mulroney was the boogeyman, then Harris, then (would you believe it) Chretien, now Harper.
Yet, only five days ago, a supposedly rabidly right wing government, delivered one of the most statist budgets in recent memory.
One more time, with feeling: The. Post. Is. Not. A. Right. Wing. Newspaper. A handful of editorials do not make a right wing newspaper, especially when the rest of the paper is staffed and written by journalists with the usual political views, which is to say generally liberal, if not more markedly leftist than most of the country. A right wing paper would not have printed a long, sympathetic feature on AWOL U.S. soldiers in Toronto in their weekend magazine section. Of course, there are still people who insist that the Globe and Mail is a conservative newspaper, so...
Posted at 2007-03-23 06:06:48 [PermaLink]LIES! Rick -- all LIES!!!
(Toronto joke)
Rick: "The. Post. Is. Not. A. Right. Wing. Newspaper."
Well, maybe in comparison to the Toronto Star. ;-)
Cheers, have a nice weekend.
The Globe & Liberal has become progressively more boring and totally predictable these past few years, it's as though they really don't want anyone to buy their paper. Curious strategy.
Posted at 2007-03-23 11:46:34 [PermaLink]I wrote him and received an immediate reply
Aspers more right wing than Black? You sir, are a bloody liar.
I have never read such opinionated crap which has caused me to write to any newspaper in Canada. I am over 70 and totally digusted that the G&M would even print such a trashy piece.
His reply--
Suggest you talk to anyone who works for the National Post. They will confirm the point. Suggest also you learn how to be polite when you write notes.
I wrote him and received an immediate reply
Aspers more right wing than Black? You sir, are a bloody liar.
I have never read such opinionated crap which has caused me to write to any newspaper in Canada. I am over 70 and totally digusted that the G&M would even print such a trashy piece.
His reply--
Suggest you talk to anyone who works for the National Post. They will confirm the point. Suggest also you learn how to be polite when you write notes.
I don't think there's any question the Nat Post is, politically, a conservative leaning paper. It's another thing to say it's a true "conservative" paper, in the sense that it also leans socially conservative. Aside from Barbara Kay, Robert Fulford, Fr. De Souza, and probably Lorne Gunter, the rest of the Post's stable of columnists aren't exactly Michael Coren clones.
But politically, does the Post have anyone who could be considered left of centre? At one time, it had Mark Kingwell cast in the role of token lefty, but he was never replaced.
In the news department, it's a mixed bag. Some of the Canwest scribes, particularly the Washington correspondent, Albert, don't come across as Bush/Republican friendly.
Since the Post opted out of Canadian Press, the Post's Canadian news coverage is more balanced and if anything, is slightly tilted rightward. When the Post cut it's ties with CP, I thought it must have something to do with CP's predominately left slant (Beth Gorham, anyone?), but that theory took a hit when the paper continued to use wire service like Reuters, and AFP (the uncontested leftist, anti-Bush bias champion of the wire services), so it was probably about money as much as anything.
So, on balance, I place the Nat Post squarely in the conservative camp. How that squares with Izzy Asper's undeniable Liberal Party connections is something that has always puzzled me, and really defies explanation.
People actually take Lawrence Martin seriously?
Posted at 2007-03-25 02:31:12 [PermaLink]