Lynne Russell may well be the Emma Peel of integrity and discipline when it comes to electronic news gathering.
But that doesn’t mean we will always agree with her.
The example Lynne gives here is not a clear indication that the CBC is “Leftist”.
The decision that was made which she complains about, could easily be attributed to a different motive than simply because the CBC is “leftist”.
Is NPR leftist?
Is PBS?
TV Ontario?
What specifically qualifies a broadcasting enterprise to be a “leftist” organization?
It seems more likely that someone was simply covering their patriotic ass, far more than this being a symptom of left-leaning politics.
Management probably envisioned a backlash in Parliament, and it’s easy to picture.
After all, if it’s a silly, pointless argument that no one cares about, it’s probably the #1 issue in Canadian politics.
“How dare the CBC use an American to talk about Canadian war deaths? We might as well be pretending we’re CNN! We need a Canadian perspective. It’s why we have the CBC in the first place.” etc etc etc.
And there would be some merit to the upset.
It’s an understandable sensitivity, coming from a country that has good reason to be proud of itself, yet will always be a little insecure by virtue of living next door to the undisputed winner, the champion of the world, ladies and gentleman … The United States of America!
So it’s easy to imagine that someone within CBC news management made the call to use Lynne for other new items, and instead have a Canadian report this, a tragic and important story.
Sorry, Lynne.
But we’d love to hear more of why you think the CBC is a leftist organization.
Because if Lynne Russell believes there’s evidence of that, then it may well be the case.
Some members of the Conservative Party certainly believe it to be true.
This video is part of a longer piece that can be seen here.
The discussion is focused on the issue of objectivity in reporting the news.
6 Comments
I like her style. Lynn could boost the CBC’s ratings and generate new ad revenues.
Lynn is good for business.
Some people will do anything for a six-pack of Botox.
For Bill-O, “left-wing” just means “things I don’t like.”
She seems to be saying what she thinks they expect her to say. She didn’t think the CBC was left wing, but after a while… then comes up with some “proof.”
I admit, I lost a lot of respect for her here.
How does her anecdote show that the CBC favours progressivism and a more egalitarian distribution of wealth? These people don’t know their left from their right.
Lynne is just telling Bill what he wants to hear. She’s a whore, offering Canada up as a straw man.
To hell with all of them, their rhetoric is increasingly empty and irrelevant. If Ronald Reagan were campaigning today, Billo would consider him “left wing”.
“Very, very left wing …”
Blah blah blah …