Here is an excellent piece by Josh Wingrove of the Globe and Mail outlining the history of Dr. Ted Morton and the reasons for his push to Unite the Right and bring the Wildrose Alliance back to the PC fold. It looks like Dr. Morton has lost a lot of his base from the 2006 Leadership contest to the Alliance.
For Dr. Morton not all is lost. He should be a favourite of the fundamentalist social conservatives in Alberta and be able to woo them back to his leadership. They have all been very silent since they lost the Wildrose Alliance leadership. They have a new champion in Dr. Morton as this Globe piece reminds us. His has strong and strident social conservative beliefs and those who share those values seem to be lost right now. Will Dr. Morton be their man? Remember when he wins the PC leadership he automatically becomes Premier. He can do a lot of damage or a lot of good - depending on your values and point of view - before he has to face the Alberta electorate.
Just another part of the political culture war that is unfolding on the far right these days. These values only become mainstream when moderates and progressives let them by staying passive about the politics of our time.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Doing Politics Differently
I just read a blog post from a fellow I have met through this social media world. I look forward to working with in the Alberta Party as we are both members. Gary and I are very different based on our political history. I have been politically active since I was 14 and he is just now taking his first partisan steps. What he says in this blog post however points out to me just how much we have in common based on our shared values.
We need a more civility and a greater public servant sense from our politicians, regardless of partisan leaning. We have too many people pursing personal political power or trying to perpetuate that power once they have it. It may be good politics but it is bad governance...and that is just not good enough anymore.
We need a more civility and a greater public servant sense from our politicians, regardless of partisan leaning. We have too many people pursing personal political power or trying to perpetuate that power once they have it. It may be good politics but it is bad governance...and that is just not good enough anymore.
Raj Sherman on BNN Squeeze Play
Raj Sherman speaks his mind and outlines his short term intentions to stay as an Independent for a while. He also give insight into what is wrong with health care policy and who is to blame. Part of the fascinating times in Alberta politics.
http://watch.bnn.ca/squeezeplay/january-2011/squeezeplay-january-28-2011/#clip409154
http://watch.bnn.ca/squeezeplay/january-2011/squeezeplay-january-28-2011/#clip409154
Sue Huff Does a Great Job for the Alberta Party
Here is a clip of an interview with Sue Huff the Interim Leader of the Alberta Party on the Business News Network. Worth a watch to get a better sense of what the Alberta Party is all about.
http://watch.bnn.ca/squeezeplay/january-2011/squeezeplay-january-28-2011/#clip409154
http://watch.bnn.ca/squeezeplay/january-2011/squeezeplay-january-28-2011/#clip409154
Bloggers AND the Media or Bloggers AS the Media
Interesting editorial in the Calgary Herald today on the recent Court ordered bar of the public from a preliminary hearing. Anonymous bloggers and citizen journalists and social media sites are said to be "rife with violations of the basic laws pertaining to the courts." The editorial also notes the widespread violations of libel and slander laws on too many sites and I might add from too many Anonymous commenters.
I agree with the observations of the Calgary Herald editorial but then it gets all uppity and defensive about the superiority of the traditional media and professional journalism. I also agree that there is a great benefit to society from professional journalism but frankly that has been eroding too. Not the legal standards but the ethical standards are not always up to snuff. There has been an erosion of analysis and depth in MSM too. This is due to the money saving move for convergence of newspapers, radio and television coverage and ownership but also the competitive pressures to get it first before getting it right.
Part of this competitive pressure is brought on by the Bloggers too because they are breaking more and more news these days. John Ibbitson of the Globe and Mail said as much in a conference we were both speaking at. He noted that in the 2008 Presidential campaign that every major story was broken by a Blogger not a reporter. Part of the problem is the reporters were ensconced on the candidate campaign buses and force fed recycled spin. The news was happening elsewhere...in the communities where the Bloggers were.
Not doubt Bloggers and social media sites have to pick up their game by learning and respecting the legal requirements that relate to what they are writing about. By the same token MSM needs to elevate their coverage too and risk being really informative and start eschewing the infotainment we see all too often - especially on television and talk radio.
The public is ill served by MSM pushing superficial shallow news coverage or self-serving pap served up as authoritative analysis. The public is also ill served by silly shocking strident and uninformed commentary by Bloggers out to pick a fight instead of informing a civil conversation.
I think the courts should insist that citizen journalists, who want to cover court proceedings, actually get proper accreditation specifically as Bloggers/Citizen Journalists. Perhaps they need to pass a test to show knowledge of basic laws relating to the administration of justice and defamation. They can't be anonymous either and they must obey the laws.
Rather than ban Bloggers the courts should make them accountable and liable for what they report. I recently got access to a confidential court file as a Blogger when I did the report on the contempt finding against a Director of Children's Services in the Alberta government. I asked and undertook not to disclose the child's name nor his caregivers in anything I wrote under penalty of Contempt of Court. It was not easy and it happened mostly because I was a lawyer too and could give a professional undertaking to the courts. That is too high a standard and banning Bloggers is too low.
Seems to me there is a better way to serve the public interest here than banning Bloggers from the courts. The larger problem to me is Tweeting from the Court room by anyone with a smartphone. They can publish and mislead the public with instant and enormous reach with retweeting. Many of those who would be tweeting in a Courtroom don't even know they are publishing. It is almost guaranteed that we will see out of context and misinformed tweets coming out of courtrooms. With with only a 140 characters per "story" it is pretty hard to be contextual never mind accurate. Perhaps a ban on cellphones in courtrooms is something we have to look at. I also think we need to allow live video feeds from the courts so the whole complex context of a case is available directly to the public. I think that coverage can be supplemented with an informed or expert commentator to explain the procedure and the context of the proceedings for people. Not reality television silliness but real world information and education for the public about the courts, the administration of justice and the law.
We need professional experienced journalists and responsible informed bloggers to a have access to the courts to so show us that justice is being done and explain how the public interest is being served by the processes and outcomes of various cases. We don't need them to be the keepers of the truth and gatekeeper determinants of what is important or newsworthy. We need a more informed and media literate public with a highly developed skill at critical thinking too. This will all help to keep our democracy and its institutions focued on their real job; that of serving the public interest...not just looking for scoops and sensations.
I agree with the observations of the Calgary Herald editorial but then it gets all uppity and defensive about the superiority of the traditional media and professional journalism. I also agree that there is a great benefit to society from professional journalism but frankly that has been eroding too. Not the legal standards but the ethical standards are not always up to snuff. There has been an erosion of analysis and depth in MSM too. This is due to the money saving move for convergence of newspapers, radio and television coverage and ownership but also the competitive pressures to get it first before getting it right.
Part of this competitive pressure is brought on by the Bloggers too because they are breaking more and more news these days. John Ibbitson of the Globe and Mail said as much in a conference we were both speaking at. He noted that in the 2008 Presidential campaign that every major story was broken by a Blogger not a reporter. Part of the problem is the reporters were ensconced on the candidate campaign buses and force fed recycled spin. The news was happening elsewhere...in the communities where the Bloggers were.
Not doubt Bloggers and social media sites have to pick up their game by learning and respecting the legal requirements that relate to what they are writing about. By the same token MSM needs to elevate their coverage too and risk being really informative and start eschewing the infotainment we see all too often - especially on television and talk radio.
The public is ill served by MSM pushing superficial shallow news coverage or self-serving pap served up as authoritative analysis. The public is also ill served by silly shocking strident and uninformed commentary by Bloggers out to pick a fight instead of informing a civil conversation.
I think the courts should insist that citizen journalists, who want to cover court proceedings, actually get proper accreditation specifically as Bloggers/Citizen Journalists. Perhaps they need to pass a test to show knowledge of basic laws relating to the administration of justice and defamation. They can't be anonymous either and they must obey the laws.
Rather than ban Bloggers the courts should make them accountable and liable for what they report. I recently got access to a confidential court file as a Blogger when I did the report on the contempt finding against a Director of Children's Services in the Alberta government. I asked and undertook not to disclose the child's name nor his caregivers in anything I wrote under penalty of Contempt of Court. It was not easy and it happened mostly because I was a lawyer too and could give a professional undertaking to the courts. That is too high a standard and banning Bloggers is too low.
Seems to me there is a better way to serve the public interest here than banning Bloggers from the courts. The larger problem to me is Tweeting from the Court room by anyone with a smartphone. They can publish and mislead the public with instant and enormous reach with retweeting. Many of those who would be tweeting in a Courtroom don't even know they are publishing. It is almost guaranteed that we will see out of context and misinformed tweets coming out of courtrooms. With with only a 140 characters per "story" it is pretty hard to be contextual never mind accurate. Perhaps a ban on cellphones in courtrooms is something we have to look at. I also think we need to allow live video feeds from the courts so the whole complex context of a case is available directly to the public. I think that coverage can be supplemented with an informed or expert commentator to explain the procedure and the context of the proceedings for people. Not reality television silliness but real world information and education for the public about the courts, the administration of justice and the law.
We need professional experienced journalists and responsible informed bloggers to a have access to the courts to so show us that justice is being done and explain how the public interest is being served by the processes and outcomes of various cases. We don't need them to be the keepers of the truth and gatekeeper determinants of what is important or newsworthy. We need a more informed and media literate public with a highly developed skill at critical thinking too. This will all help to keep our democracy and its institutions focued on their real job; that of serving the public interest...not just looking for scoops and sensations.
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