Wheat from the Chaff

With capitalism on its derriere, the left still gets no respect

Though it's nothing new to those who analyze Canada's media industry, the right-wing and pro-business nature of Canada's media may not be understood by the average Canadian. The following is a fairly surprising op-ed from Lawrence Martin, a stalwart with BCE's The Globe and Mail (which, as Canadian political scientist Rand Dyck has observed, "tends to set the agenda" for "top-level decision makers and media executives"). Martin's piece essentially confirms what critics of Canada's media system have been arguing for decades: there really isn't a left-wing, progressive media voice in this country, unless you make an effort and seek out under-funded sources that are well beyond the mainstream. This lack of voice is the flip-side of another reality: Canada has one of the most concentrated media industries in the western world (except maybe Italy), and Vancouver might be the most monopolized media market on the continent.

The comments regarding CBC are particularly interesting, as our federally funded broadcaster is often cited by conservatives as proof of media diversity. Apart from the fact that the CBC lacks any newspaper - the preferred choice of the 20% of Canadians who follow politics on a daily basis - CBC TV has serious ratings problems. This can be confirmed by BBM Canada, Canada's main surveyor of media viewership. And, as Martin points out, CBC TV's key news celebrities are definitely not steering us to port.

What is still unclear is the impact of progressive media voices that take advantage of new technologies. CBC's website is apparently well used, but it doesn't appear to be anymore left-wing than its television cousin, and is certainly not as strident as The National Post is on the other side of the spectrum. There are other promising progressive voices, but nothing like The Nation in the United States or the The Guardian in the United Kindom. Included on my blog are links to progressive news sources (along with some not-so-progressive sources), and I can only hope that they will effect a positive change in the future.

From Thursday's Globe and Mail
April 2, 2009 at 12:00 AM EDT

These are - or should be - heady times for the political left. It's when the big economic engines falter that bleeding-heart parties surge. It was in the 1930s when the CCF, which later became the NDP, was born. Even our Communist Party enjoyed some popularity then.

With today's economic tremors, government activism is the big deal everywhere. The New Democrats couldn't ask for a better philosophical turn.

And yet, they're stagnant. In the low teens in the polls, they have actually lost ground since last fall. It's hard to figure. They were onto the economic file early, issuing dire warnings and calls for action. And it turns out they were on the mark a good deal of the time, occasionally even prophetic.

But there are no apparent dividends in Dippersville. No groundswell of support. Few praiseworthy headlines. No heightened profile in a media wedded to the two main parties. Without a media proprietor of any size in Canada hailing from the left, there is no one to sing the NDP's song.

So even with capitalism on its derrière, even with the Liberals opening up space by moving more to the centre, the left gets no traction. Jack Layton can stand there all day and pound the blue-collar bible and get only minor mention in the next day's press.

Charlie Angus, the Northern Ontario NDPer and one of the best MPs in the Commons, wonders what the party has to do to get credit. "We stood here year after year being ridiculed when we warned of the dangers of deregulation, or when we talked of the need to have a backup plan for pensions. We pressed the government on the need to have an auto-sector strategy and that was something that was absolutely ridiculed by the Conservatives. It was the same with infrastructure spending."

On Afghanistan, Mr. Angus noted how the New Democrats were the most skeptical in Parliament. "I mean we were attacked in the newspapers for saying where's the long-term plan, for saying how are we going to win this, for saying we can't win this strictly militarily." On Iraq, Mr. Angus added, it's been much the same.

All in all, not a bad record. "Much of what we were saying is now common wisdom." But no uptick and, in a party better organized and funded than ever, a bit of bewilderment.

There are some reasons that may explain it. The NDP is still saddled with a dated image. For all his strengths, Jack Layton can't tap into any populist anger. His party's role in last fall's coalition may have taken a toll. On policy, other parties are stealing some of the left's thunder. The Liberals have a new, more popular leader. Unemployment numbers, while rapidly climbing, are not as bad as the double-digit figures of not so long ago.

There's also a lesson the left should have learned by now. To change the voting culture, you have to change the media culture. Without a bigger voice in the fourth estate, the left's chances of making a breakthrough are minimal. The Reform/Alliance party eventually hit pay dirt, becoming the dominant force on the conservative side, because big media promoted its religion.

"We should get the CLC [Canadian Labour Congress] to buy the National Post," one of Mr. Layton's officials was saying this week. It was said half jokingly, but it's the kind of thing the New Democrats need take seriously. There are fewer left-side media voices in the country than probably ever. The Toronto Star has the odd left-wing columnist but is predominantly Liberal. The CBC has a leftish reputation, but try finding anyone among its top TV commentators who trumpets NDP values. Rex Murphy leans right, Andrew Coyne is predominantly conservative, Allan Gregg has been anchored in the Tory party for decades and, among Chantal Hébert's many colours, pink is not prominent.

The NDP has a good public relations team and a media-conscious leader. But even with prevailing economic orthodoxies shamefaced, New Democrats can't break the journalistic ritual that sees Liberals and Conservatives with a stranglehold on coverage.

Until they do, until they alter the media perspective, until their supporters gain ownership of media properties - as happened on the right with Fox News and CanWest Global - not much will change.