Tag Archives: Fox News North

The prospect of SunTV News still provokes wailing and gnashing of teeth from the left

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My friends at Avaaz.org keep sending emails exhorting me to sign a petition to prevent the SunTV news channel from polluting Canadian airwaves with “false news”, “poisonous propaganda” and “outright lying”:

Dear friends across Canada,

In 48 hours, public protections against false news coverage could be destroyed. The CRTC may pass a huge loophole to the “fair and balanced” rule that currently prevents media from outright lying to the public.

Canada’s broadcast journalism standards are an impediment to the new “Fox News North” (Sun TV) network being set up by Prime Minister Harper’s cronies, which promises to mimic Fox News — the poisonous US propaganda network. The CRTC rule change, which allows false news to be blasted across Canadian airwaves, comes just as SunTV is about to launch.

We can stop this — last year, we prevented Harper cronies from pressing the CRTC to fund “Fox News North” with public money. Now, we have just two days to raise another national outcry to save the standards of Canadian journalism, and our democracy.

It’s difficult to believe that anyone would fall for such tripe but – they do. To summarise:

  • The sky is falling
  • A SunTV news channel will be the end of democracy in Canada – just as Fox News brought down democracy in the US.
  • Fox News is a poisonous propaganda network. That’s why it’s so popular.
  • We have to save the standards of Canadian journalism. That’s why the CRTC permitted the usually anti-American and frequently anti-Semitic Al Jazeera news network to start broadcasting in Canada.
  • It’s a devious plot concocted by Harper cronies.
  • The sky really is falling.

That all sounds fair and balanced.

What is the real problem? The left hates competition from the right because it knows that the right makes more sense.

The prospect of Fox News North is still causing brain seizures in some Canadians

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For some reason Rick Patel at Avaaz.org keeps sending me emails asking me to sign a petition denouncing “Fox News North”:

“Fox News North” is back trying to make us pay for poisonous media — this time through backroom corporate deals that include them in cable packages with channels we actually want. Send a message to cable giants Shaw, Bell and Rogers demanding that they give Canadians a choice and offer Sun TV as a stand alone option to consumers.

I would be delighted if the CRTC would not force unwanted news content down everyone’s throat by bundling channels: I could kiss goodbye to news from CTV and CBC among others. And no more “Little Mosque on the Prairie”. That’s not how it works, though: channels are bundled together and there is no reason why Sun TV’s channel should be singled out for special treatment.

The email continues: “Canadians should not be forced to pay for right-wing agenda news”. According to Patel we should only be forced to pay for left-wing agenda news – what he calls “regular” news channels.

Fox News North

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For reasons that escape me, I received an email fron Ricken Patel, Avaaz.org saying:

We’ve got them on the run! When 80,000 of us signed a petition refusing to be forced to pay for “Fox News North” (aka SunTV) on our cable bills, the Sun media empire threw everything they had at us – smear pieces in their newspapers, threatened lawsuits, and SunTV frontman Kory Teneycke even admitted insider knowledge of a criminal sabotage of our petition!

Sorry to break it to you, Rick, but I like Fox News South and would welcome the SunTV channel in Canada. I’m about as likely to sign your wretched petition as I am to stick a corkscrew up my nose.

If I were not already convinced, this from Margaret Atwood would do the trick:

THE ACTUAL PETITION

“As concerned Canadians who deeply oppose American-style hate media on our airwaves, we applaud the CRTC’s refusal to allow a new “Fox News North” channel to be funded from our cable fees. We urge Mr. von Finckenstein to stay in his job and continue to stand up for Canada’s democratic traditions, and call on Prime Minister Harper to immediately stop all pressure on the CRTC on this matter.” THE VERBS ARE “APPLAUD,” “URGE,” AND “CALL ON;” NOT “BAN,” “SUPPRESS,” AND “CENSOR.”

The “Fox News” comparison is from the Sun’s own CRTC Application # 1. Is it “American-style hate media?” You judge.

The CRTC refused Sun TV News’ request for a special licence that forces all cable and satellite distributors to offer the station, thus generating almost automatic income. Application #2 — almost the same deal as #1, but for three years — will be considered. The Sun says it needs this special deal for its “business plan.” Should it get one? Should anyone? Can I have one too?

AM I A PROPONENT OF “CENSORSHIP”?

Nope. Read the petition again.

Now Konrad von Finckenstein has said he isn’t under pressure (unlike his fired CRTC deputy), and will judge Application # 2 on its merits. Good!

REAL CENSORSHIP INCLUDES

Book burning, murdering, jailing and exiling writers, and shutting down newspapers, publishers, and TV stations. If you are against this, support PEN International and Index on Censorship.

Calling the Avaaz petition “censorship” is beyond cheap.

Calling something censorship that is censorship isn’t cheap, it’s accurate. Rather than let the great unwashed decide for themselves whether the new channel is “American-style hate media” by being given the chance to watch it, a liberal elitist would take it upon herself to act as nanny and tell us we can’t have “Fox News North”. Instead we’ll just have to put up with the current Canada-style drivel media that meets Margaret Attwood’s approval – and is paid for by our cable fees, not to mention our taxes in CBC’s case.

Although I wouldn’t burn them, I dislike Margaret Atwood’s novels as much as she dislikes Fox News; to plagiarise a remark by Malcolm Muggeridge about Edna O’Brien, I’d rather be a minor character in a Jane Austen novel than a major one in a Margaret Atwood novel.