Perspective

In a stroke of shear genius, the Conservatives have implemented a communications plan that would circumvent the National Press Gallery. Rather than rely on the crew of jaded reporters with their hidden agendas, the government has implemented a strategy to interact with local media outlets directly. Why didn’t they think of this earlier?

For all major announcements, Ministers will conduct a series of interviews with regional media outlets across Canada. As well, they will distribute media feeds of interviews or video footage via satellite to stations for free. If a news producer needs to fill a 2 minute spot in their evening news line-up, all the material necessary to create a story is available to them gratis.

It is no wonder our blessed political reporters in Ottawa are disgruntled with the PMO Press Office. If the government continues to circumvent the national press corps, reporters in Ottawa could very well lose their job.

Stephanie Rubic, who is a Sun reporter and President of the National Press Gallery, commented on the issue to Mike Duffy on his show last evening. When Duffy asked if Canadians should care if the government uses this new media strategy, Stephanie pointed out that the public will not benefit from the “perspective” national reporters give to their stories.

So when Julie Van Dusen barks questions at the Prime Minister about his waistline at a government announcement, for instance, what sort of “perspective” is she bringing to the story?

Reporters in Ottawa are going to have to seriously clean up their act or risk being replaced by a journalist who will properly do their job. Why would any media outlet pay for a reporter to be in Ottawa who can't do their job? Perhaps if some of these longtime Ottawa journalists were posted to Calgary, Vancouver or Toronto, they may gain some valuable insight as to what Canadians actually care about.