On the Ottawa Sun

I confess, I haven't been paying as much attention to the election coverage as I'd hoped. And living in the UK means I missed last night's Canadian leadership debate, though I caught up on the highlights this morning. And then this article from the Ottawa Sun was brought to my attention. And this editorial.

This is election coverage at its worst. There is no mention of the policies discussed in the debate, just a transparent attempt to draw a link in readers' minds between Michael Ignatieff and Mao Zedong based on...what, exactly? Ignatieff did not quote Mao, but used a similar phrase. Whether he realised what he was doing or not, the Sun would have us believe that this comment is a real insight into Ignatieff's character, that lurking beneath the surface is a communist dictator waiting to seize power and kill millions of people. It's a pathetic bit of partisanship that has no place in journalism.

I wandered over to the Sun's website to check out the rest of their debate coverage. Their main story on their 'Debate' tab is 'Harper ahead in duel: Poll'. The headlines of the related stories: Iggy channels Mao, Cdns. heard message, Tories head for a majority, Harper best for battlefield, CBC compass points red, AG to investigate leaks, Tories fighting for faiths. Obvious bias?

Of course everyone knows that media outlets tend to have a political bias and often come right out and endorse one party. And Sun Media has never been shy about its Conservative leanings. But such heavily editorialised journalism, and editorials presented as news (as in the first Ignatieff article I posted above) are far over and above the kind of bias that can be detected in other media outlets; for example, the Toronto Star is often called out on its Liberal bias, but its debate coverage does not read like a list of Liberal Party talking points.

Some would say that the Sun papers are tabloids and we shouldn't expect the same standard of journalism there as in other publications. But the Ottawa Sun is a very popular daily paper, and while some people are aware of its bias or its shortcomings, many are not and read it the same way they would any paper: as a genuine source of news. Especially in an election campaign, I think it's disgustingly irresponsible to trot out opinions disguised as fact.

And yes, of course there are many journalists and media outlets guilty of this, across Canada and elsewhere. I've picked the Sun because of the horrible examples on hand, but by no means mean to say that there aren't others out there with the same problem!