XPost: can.politics, ont.politics, bc.politics   
   XPost: ab.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Incredible.  He's still using control tactics to muzzle those factions   
   who may not portray him in a favourable light.  These days, that's a   
   whole lot of factions.   
   But the media has its own ways to respond . . . .   
   _____________________________________________________   
      
     October 16, 2013   
   Tories decry 'new low' for media after standoff over reporters' access   
   to Harper speech   
   By JOSH WINGROVE   
   In e-mail to party supporters, director of political operations Fred   
   DeLorey sought to explain why a speech Mr. Harper made to his caucus   
   Wednesday won't be seen 'on the evening news'   
      
   After barring reporters from covering one of Prime Minister Stephen   
   Harper's speeches, the Conservative Party is decrying a "new low for the   
   Ottawa media elite" because some TV cameras refused to film the event if   
   reporters weren't allowed inside.   
      
   In an e-mail to Conservative supporters, the Conservatives' director of   
   political operations, Fred DeLorey, sought to explain why a speech Mr.   
   Harper made to his caucus Wednesday won't be seen "on the evening news."   
      
   "You won't believe what the Press Gallery just did in Ottawa," Mr.   
   DeLorey began. "Some media decided to boycott an important speech by our   
   Prime Minister – one where he laid out his vision for our country,   
   before today's Speech from the Throne."   
      
   On Tuesday, the Prime Minister's Office announced cameras would be   
   welcome inside Wednesday morning's speech, but not reporters. In the   
   past, both had. And the PMO has clashed recently with people trying to   
   ask questions. One CTV cameraman was reportedly nearly banned from an   
   overseas trip after shouting an impromptu question during one Harper   
   event, while during the summer the RCMP whisked away a reporter who   
   tried to seize a microphone during Mr. Harper's Northern trip to ask a   
   question.   
      
   On Wednesday, some TV stations refused to send in cameras without   
   reporters. Most other media, including newspapers, were never offered   
   the chance to come in at all – and therefore never given any opportunity   
   to cover the speech live, much less boycott it.   
      
   The PMO refused to budge and allow in reporters, and most TV stations –   
   all but Sun News – ultimately refused to send in cameras without   
   reporters. So the speech went on without most of the media there. Soon   
   after, the NDP meeting across the hall opened its doors briefly to the   
   press, some of whom covered a speech inside. Mr. DeLorey cited this as   
   an apparent example of bias against the Conservatives, who refused to   
   allow reporters in, in favour of the NDP, who allowed reporters in.   
      
   "Rather than send cameras to cover the Prime Minister's speech, they   
   attended the NDP's meeting, and were welcomed with cheers and applause.   
   We knew they wouldn't give us fair coverage – but this is a new low for   
   the Ottawa media elite," Mr. DeLorey wrote.   
      
   Mr. DeLorey took over the role as political operations director from   
   Jenni Byrne, who managed the 2011 election campaign and was brought back   
   into Mr. Harper's office in August, a move widely seen to help lay the   
   groundwork for the next campaign.   
      
   Mr. Harper's office released portions of the speech live on his Twitter   
   account.  The Conservatives have uploaded a video of it.   
   ________________________________________   
      
   Too little, too late . . . . .   
      
   POLL   
      
   Is the media's boycotting of Harper's speech justifiable?   
      
   Yes                  68%        1539 votes   
      
   No                   32%          734 votes   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)