It takes a while to get your mind around it. It seems the government party can use copyright material as they wish but the news media are not allowed to censor. That seems to be the gist of what federal Heritage Minister Shelly Glover said the other day. Since the Conservatives routinely steal from the media and the media are always censoring material, people want to know what the argument is really about.
The sticking point seems to be that the news media are in high dudgeon over the Conservative attack ads using news clips from the television networks. For example, last week Justin Trudeau ended a serious discussion on a television interview with a weak and slightly off-colour jest about the size of Canada’s F-18s. By itself, it was a silly comment; in context it was quite understandable. Trudeau was simply making fun of Mr. Harper’s sabre rattling. And if Harper wants to use that in an attack ad, he does so at his own risk.
What has been obvious for some time is that the Conservatives have been shooting blanks at Justin Trudeau. He is certainly not Teflon but the Tory attack ads are too much, too soon and too unbelievable. When the Tories learn something about subtlety and how certain voters react to different stimuli, they might be able to get back to attack ads. Until then, they should concentrate on fixing what they are doing wrong. There is lots of that.
And besides, political parties are not defeated by attack ads. They never have been. While some attack ads inadvertently pick up the reason a party will lose in the long run, it is usually after the fact and the public are already moving in that direction anyway. At best, attack ads are supportive.
But the current confrontation between the media and the Tories is a specious argument. It comes as just another shovel full of dirt for the Conservative grave. It makes the point once again about the arrogance of this government. Even if the argument is taken to the Supreme Court, the Tories will have lost the election long before the Court can rule.
And as for the news media, their argument is just as confused as the government’s. How can you complain about something you have already aired being aired again? What they really want is credit for the original clip. That we can all agree on. Henceforth, stupid politician, if it is copyrighted material, you will give proper credit to the cameraman who recorded the clip, the crew and the media enterprise they work for. If you do not, it is known as plagiarism and more simply: stealing.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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