The official notice from the PMO that Prime Minister Harper would be available to speak to the media about Benazir Bhutto’s assassination went out at 1346 Ottawa time this afternoon, giving reporters 29 minutes to get to the Calgary airport. The PMO was curious why not many reporters were able to show up.
Luckily, as we’d been calling the PMO all day, we had an early heads-up and our camera crew was already on the way to the airport. Here’s some of his comments, made just before he got on the government jet to return to Ottawa:
On behalf of the people of Canada, I want to express my sincere condolences to the family of Mrs. Bhutto as well as to those of the other innocent victims today and to the people of Pakistan.
We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. This was an abhorrent act of terror. We hope that the government of Pakistan will act to bring the perpetrators to justice. This cannot be allowed to permit any delay in the return of Pakistan to full democracy, something the people of Pakistan have been waiting for for far too long.
… it is our role to continue to press the government of Pakistan to continue on the path to restoring full democracy, something that we think is long overdue.
… we’ve been concerned for several months now about this whole series of events in Pakistan that undermines the stability there [in Afghanistan, where our troops are] and we are concerned about regional stability and obviously about the valiant efforts that our people in Afghanistan are making.
Ah, the poor press only a half hour heads up to cover a story. I thought there was a skeleton crew who follow the PM around, just in case their is a breaking news story??
Next time Harper should give 24 Hrs notice before a terrorist commits a crime so the press has time to brush their teeth and comb their hair and oh, yeah…….. has time to think of an angle to the story that would somehow be able blame Harpers
Well even if we wanted to assume the nearly prohibitive cost of having someone trail the PM, it wouldn't be that easy. As someone who has in fact tried to follow him around, I can tell you first hand that when he doesn't want to be followed, there's not much you can do. He'll slip out back doors of buildings, use the RCMP to get in our way — and to top it off, he's got a private Canadian Forces jet as the ultimate getaway vehicle.
And it's not just Harper — that's the way it's been for lots of other Prime Ministers …
And, as I mentioned in previous posts, other world leaders managed to give their press corps an appropriate amount of time to properly set up recording gear and so on presumably so that their message could be seen by as many people as possible.
Saw Harpers statement. Looked like at least 3 cameras and three mics. In this age of the blackberry, cellphones, etc. its still lame to whine about lack of “time to get ready”.
I appreciate the measured “non panic” response. Yeah, the LIBs, Dippers etc are only to quick to get in front of a mic and appeal to their base. I prefer a Government that has a measured response and not a “knee jerk” response.
Can you explain, what exactly was lost by not “rushing to the cameras” to issue a statement on the assassination??
Note to media, the days are gone when the Government (i.e. Liberals) will write your story for you, give you preferential parking passes for events, give you advanced notice, give you backgrounders for your stories. Its time you realized, you have to “work” at your chosen careers, do your own research, make phone calls, attend pressers (with short notice) and generally do your job all by yourself.
To summarize, quit whining and do your job.
I forgot one thing in my “Note to Media” section, That section does NOT apply to the Liberals, who still will receive help writing their questions for QP and committee work through the CBC.
(p.s. big story… CBC writing questions for L.O. but nothing in the MSM??
Nothing in the MSM? Brother Bobo — you gots to pay more attention:
The Canadian Press
The Toronto Star
CBC itself, carrying the CP story
The National Post
All the Canwest papers in Canada — like the Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen, and the Montreal Gazette
I mean how much more MS can you get in your M?
Articles from Dec 14 to 15 oh and one from the Dec 20th
MSM covered initial story and then as usual fell asleep
Don't get me wrong David, I generally enjoy your coverage and your blog, but trying to defend your colleagues is a loosing game
“nothing in MSM” O.K. David, you claim your compatriot's are covering this story………WHO IS THE REPORTER BEING INVESTIGATED???
I imagine EVERYONE in the parliamentry press galery knows…..WHY NO NAME?????
just askin
I know this is my last post….as you will remove me…..but none the less here it goes.
DAVID what is the NAME of the reporter under internal investigation by the CBC for writing questions for the LIBS to ask Mulroney.??
You claim the MSM is covering this serious story. Where are the reporters investigating the story?? What is the name of the reporter, what are the last ….say 10 stories that the reporter filed and is there an obvious bias against the CONS??? Is the reporter suspended during the internal investigation?? etc. etc. Now if we were to get a news article answering these questions, plus many more about this situation you could claim the story is being “covered”
Like i said, i bet i get the boot from your blog as I have “highlighted” a serious problem (reporters biased toward liberals) and have asked a legitimate question WHO IS THE REPORTER, under investigation. Your refusal to even acknowledge my question or better yet ANSWER my question PROVES this bias.
Hi Dave
Give the following story a read.
I would be VERY interested in your comments
http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2008/01/national-post-misses-mark-in-erickson.html