End government by photo-op

Re Federal parties rolling out the election pledges, June 20 Les Whittington’s description of how Stephen Harper and his “communications” staff manage the news by managing journalists is chilling in itself. But it’s all the more so because journalists, as a group, appear to have all but acquiesced in the face of the barriers Harper has erected against them.

Whittington says there have been some attempts to negotiate a relaxation of these constraints on journalistic freedom and the public’s right to know, but these have apparently been modest and yielded little. So, as a former journalist and journalism teacher, I must ask why journalists have not acted more forcefully, singly or as a group, to regain their access to important information?

Editors and reporters, I challenge you: Flood the PM’s news conferences with unprogrammed questions; venture into those roped-off, verboten regions, even at the risk of being restrained; refuse to cover unnewsworthy press conferences where the media are treated with disrespect; and don’t be a party to what Whittington calls “government by photo-op.”

Then see how the barriers crumble when their efforts to manage the news about Harper and his government result in far less of the government-approved brand and far fewer photo-ops. Marvin Schiff, Toronto The only party that mentions housing as a social issue is the Green party. With all the affordable housing issues, particularly in densely populated urban areas, you would think housing would be on the NDP and Liberal agenda. Ottawa should scrap the communism memorial project, slated to cost millions of dollars, build a communist memorial monument instead and give the rest of the money to cities that so desperately need it for affordable housing. Evelyn Muncaster, Toronto