Vernon, B.C. — A backbench Conservative MP, blasting the media for its testy relationship with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has suggested reporters who write distorted articles be jailed.
In a brief column sent to several newspapers in his Okanagan-Shuswap riding, Colin Mayes said that might help the public “get accurate and true information.”
Mr. Mayes seemed to suggesting in his column that the media be covered by something like the Conservative government's proposed Federal Accountability Act, which would prosecute elected officials and senior public servants who break the public trust.
aPs="boxR";var boxRAC = fnTdo('a'+'ai',300,250,ai,'j',nc);
“Maybe it is time that we hauled off in handcuffs reporters that fabricate stories, or twist information and even falsely accuse citizens,” he writes.
The column was e-mailed Thursday to nine small Okanagan papers, as well as the Vernon Daily Courier, by Wayne McGrath, Mr. Mayes's executive assistant.
The Courier recently decided not to publish the MP's regular columns.
On Wednesday, David Wylie, the paper's managing editor, published an editorial saying Mr. Harper's media policies were “mimicking the ploys of an authoritarian state ...”
Mr. Harper has restricted access to ministers after cabinet meetings and barred reporters from observing photo opportunities.
Ministers are also required to restrict their public comments to the government's five key priorities and clear contacts with the media through the Prime Minister's office.
Mr. Mayes, a businessman and former mayor of Dawson City, Yukon and Salmon Arm, B.C., easily won the solidly Tory riding in the Jan. 23 election, replacing the retiring Darryl Stinson.
In his column, he writes that he was “perturbed” by the media's reaction to Mr. Harper's attitude to reporters.
“The media has blatantly painted a picture that our government is not open and transparent,” he writes. “We were elected just two months ago to run the affairs of the country for the people, not to accommodate the media.”
Along with business people, politicians and public servants, the media also has the public trust, he writes.
While not all media are bad, the Tory backbencher says, “boy, would the public get accurate and true information if a few reporters were hauled away to jail!”
But it will never happen “because the media would cry ‘censorship' and ‘authoritarian state' ... but the truth is we need ethical leadership from the media too.”
Mr. Mayes could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
Mr. Wylie said he thought Mr. Mayes's comments were “a little over the top.
“If members of his government are trying not to paint themselves as extremists or fanatics, this is not the way to go about doing it.”
So, what do you folks think? If it can be proved that a member of the media willfully and purposely lied or distorted facts, should they be criminally charged?
03-31-2006, 18:01
InsaneApache
Re: A messy can of worms to open
Well that's it for the Sun, News of the World and the Daily Mail then.
03-31-2006, 18:42
Devastatin Dave
Re: A messy can of worms to open
Looks like censoreship to me. Very dangerous precedence. Now, i do believe that the media has a responsibility to report actual news and not make up news or try to "cause" news, so they should atleast be open to lawsuits. But jailing the media, deep down I'd love it, but even i know its wrong.
03-31-2006, 18:58
Don Corleone
Re: A messy can of worms to open
If it can be proven that the media outlet knew that a story was innaccurate and ran it anyway, I wouldn't have problems issuing penalties (fines... jail time seems a bit harsh).
But that would be a pretty damned hard thing to prove. If they just ran a story that happened to be inaccurate, not even a shread of truth to it, unless you can prove they knew it ahead of time, there shouldn't be any penalties.
Though, much like the AMA (American Medical Association), there seems to be a wall of silence in the media about criticizing each other for bad journalism. I would have REALLY liked to see Tom Brokaw come out and say "You know what, Dan Rather should have known better. He screwed up, and he made us all look bad". But nope. They all circled the wagons and said "you can't hold us to those standards anymore". Give me a freakin break.
03-31-2006, 19:07
yesdachi
Re: A messy can of worms to open
Any journalist who purposely reposts falsehoods, lies and distorts facts should definitely be criminally charges. Keyword: Purposely.
The media is very powerful and one wrong comment can have serious consequences that no “retraction” could repair. That said accidents happen and should be excused but if they lie on purpose, let them do some in-depth prison research for their next story.:wink:
Especially in light of the fact that Goofy authored one of the two threads specifically mentioned in Soly's warning! :laugh4:
Sorry Goof, you've got the same flaw I do... try too hard to be clever & funny when you're being controversial. :juggle2:
04-01-2006, 01:20
Soulforged
Re: A messy can of worms to open
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goofball
So, what do you folks think? If it can be proved that a member of the media willfully and purposely lied or distorted facts, should they be criminally charged?
There's no need for that, there's civil charges for doing such things. Eventually it might turn into an obligation to pay fines. I assume that you don't mean jail, right?
04-01-2006, 01:45
GoreBag
Re: A messy can of worms to open
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goofball
But what the heck, let's dump 'em out and roll around in them for a little while.
The linked article deals with some comments made about media accountability by one of Canada's newly elected Conservative Party members of parliament.
Vernon, B.C. — A backbench Conservative MP, blasting the media for its testy relationship with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has suggested reporters who write distorted articles be jailed.
In a brief column sent to several newspapers in his Okanagan-Shuswap riding, Colin Mayes said that might help the public “get accurate and true information.”
Mr. Mayes seemed to suggesting in his column that the media be covered by something like the Conservative government's proposed Federal Accountability Act, which would prosecute elected officials and senior public servants who break the public trust.
aPs="boxR";var boxRAC = fnTdo('a'+'ai',300,250,ai,'j',nc);
“Maybe it is time that we hauled off in handcuffs reporters that fabricate stories, or twist information and even falsely accuse citizens,” he writes.
The column was e-mailed Thursday to nine small Okanagan papers, as well as the Vernon Daily Courier, by Wayne McGrath, Mr. Mayes's executive assistant.
The Courier recently decided not to publish the MP's regular columns.
On Wednesday, David Wylie, the paper's managing editor, published an editorial saying Mr. Harper's media policies were “mimicking the ploys of an authoritarian state ...”
Mr. Harper has restricted access to ministers after cabinet meetings and barred reporters from observing photo opportunities.
Ministers are also required to restrict their public comments to the government's five key priorities and clear contacts with the media through the Prime Minister's office.
Mr. Mayes, a businessman and former mayor of Dawson City, Yukon and Salmon Arm, B.C., easily won the solidly Tory riding in the Jan. 23 election, replacing the retiring Darryl Stinson.
In his column, he writes that he was “perturbed” by the media's reaction to Mr. Harper's attitude to reporters.
“The media has blatantly painted a picture that our government is not open and transparent,” he writes. “We were elected just two months ago to run the affairs of the country for the people, not to accommodate the media.”
Along with business people, politicians and public servants, the media also has the public trust, he writes.
While not all media are bad, the Tory backbencher says, “boy, would the public get accurate and true information if a few reporters were hauled away to jail!”
But it will never happen “because the media would cry ‘censorship' and ‘authoritarian state' ... but the truth is we need ethical leadership from the media too.”
Mr. Mayes could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
Mr. Wylie said he thought Mr. Mayes's comments were “a little over the top.
“If members of his government are trying not to paint themselves as extremists or fanatics, this is not the way to go about doing it.”
So, what do you folks think? If it can be proved that a member of the media willfully and purposely lied or distorted facts, should they be criminally charged?
After watching the Rick Mercer Report this week, where I discovered that Harper banned the media from waiting outside the cabinet room, this seems kind of disconcerting.
