Striking a Blow for Media Independence

When UNIFOR took a side in the Ontario election -- telling its members not to vote for Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservative Party -- media impartiality and independence in Canada (or at least the public perception of it) was dealt a stunning blow.

All the mismanagement, scandal, and misappropriation of taxpayer funds by the Ontario Liberal Party suddenly didn't matter. All that mattered, suddenly, was UNIFOR's interests, and very clearly UNIFOR's interests are better served by a Liberal or NDP government.

So if sources complaining to the Canadaland blog are telling the truth, Globe and Mail editor in chief David Walmsley had absolutely no choice but to overrule the newspaper's editorial board in an alleged decision to obey UNIFOR's missive and endorse Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. Media workers at the Globe and Mail are organized by UNIFOR.

It's impossible to believe that when UNIFOR comes out and tells its members how to vote that this will not affect their reporting as well. This is why UNIFOR's decision to take sides in the election was so reckless, so unethical, and so utterly unacceptable. And it's also why Walmsley couldn't sit back and allow even the perception that the Globe and Mail's endorsement had been tainted by UNIFOR's don't-vote-for-Hudak directive.

Simply put, a free press must not only be free and independent, but must also be seen to be free and independent. When journalists start blatantly toeing the line openly drawn by union leaders, media brass must step in.

David Walmsley struck a blow for media independence. He did the right thing.

The Media Party Will Never Be Able to Play Victim Again

So, this happened:

"The union representing journalists and other media workers across Ontario is asking its 2,600 members not to vote for Tim Hudak and his Progressive Conservative Party in Thursday's provincial election.

In an unprecedented move, Unifor Local 87-M, historically known as the Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild, has broken its traditional silence during elections by asking members not to vote Progressive Conservative."

That's the Media Party giving up any pretense of journalistic objectivity, credibility, or political independence. Moving forward, any time a journalist represented by Unifor prints any kind of anti-Progressive Conservative (or anti-Conservative) story, anyone paying attention to such things will have no choice but to wonder if it's really them talking, or if it's the union.

There's irony in this. Just last month the Canadian Media Guild was playing the victim:

"Journalists across Canada share my dismay today to learn the Conservative party’s dismissive and mercenary attitude toward the press and CBC in particular.

A just revealed 2010 letter from the then-chair of the CBC Board of Directors to Prime Minister Harper, warns Conservatives against 'intruding' on the CBC’s independence as they seek to 'influence the content of programming.' Tim Casgrain called the Conservative party’s public attacks against the CBC 'wilfully destructive,' and further alleges the unwarranted attacks 'disparaged the CBC in order to solicit political donations for the Conservative party.' 

As if Casgrain’s 2010 letter wasn’t shocking enough, instead of apologizing for past indiscretions as one might expect from anyone with a grain of respect for the role of a free and independent media in maintaining a democracy, Conservatives have been quick to react by exposing their continued bias and painfully thin skins."

The Media Party cannot cast political independence to the wind and then play victim when their political opponents -- and it's becoming increasingly clear that's how they see conservatives -- fundraise off the back of their obvious bias.

Never again will the Media Party -- whether its journalists organized under Unifor or under the Canadian Media Guild -- be able to play the victim again. Ever.