[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[Barrister]

So, I think we've discussed Ezra Levant before.  Former politician, former Sun News personality, now running his own right-wing news site The Rebel.

Well they've just posted a story about how reporters from The Rebel were kicked out of a press conference, and the royalty review media lock-up.  The Rebel got a lawyer to send a letter asking for an explanation.  In reply, a lawyer from Alberta Justice - Civil Branch (so yes, my employer, different branch) sends a two-line response saying "your clients are not journalists".

http://www.therebel.media/notleyisabully

Now The Rebel (and Exra in general) has always had a hard-right political edge.  But it seems to me that is not inconsistent with the role of a journalist.  News media has often had ideological point of view.  Some newspapers are famous (or infamous) for their point of view - think the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, or the Toronto Star.

So what do you guys think?

[Admiral Yi]

Why does Fung talk about "our client's position?"  Surely the provincial government is not a client of the provincial department of justice.

[crazy canuck]

Why does Fung talk about "our client's position?"  Surely the provincial government is not a client of the provincial department of justice.

Who is the client in your scenario?

[Barrister]

Why does Fung talk about "our client's position?"  Surely the provincial government is not a client of the provincial department of justice.

Note: I'm a Prosecutor and the rules are different for us, but even the civil guys have some notion of independence from government.  Like any other lawyer, you want to receive honest and unvarnished advice from government lawyers.  Also I *think* that the civil guys actually bill other departments when they work for them.

But perhaps the choice of words is deliberate?  Fung did not say "it is our opinion" after all, but put the decision back on the government.

[Jacob]

So what do you guys think?

I've only had limited exposure to Ezra Levant's the Rebel, but what little I've seen makes me think your employer has a point.

[Barrister]

So what do you guys think?

I've only had limited exposure to Ezra Levant's the Rebel, but what little I've seen makes me think your employer has a point.

What do they do that removes it from the range of "journalism"?  I've been looking around at various definitions and none of them seem to require strict neutrality and objectivity - only that they report on the news.

[Jacob]

What do they do that removes it from the range of "journalism"?  I've been looking around at various definitions and none of them seem to require strict neutrality and objectivity - only that they report on the news.

Seems to me that Levant is more in the Glen Back "entertainer" mold, rather than a journalist.

[Barrister]

What do they do that removes it from the range of "journalism"?  I've been looking around at various definitions and none of them seem to require strict neutrality and objectivity - only that they report on the news.

Seems to me that Levant is more in the Glen Back "entertainer" mold, rather than a journalist.

That raises two issues:

1. We're not talking about Levant though - we're talking about his website.   And while Levant is more of a political commentator, the Rebel does post actual news.  These reporters actually went out to cover these Alberta government events, and were going to post stories about them.

2. Even so, so what?  Is Beck not a journalist too?  Newspapers have long had columnists whose job it is to post their opinions on issues of the day.  Those people were still journalists.

[Grey Fox]

Do they have a trade association credentials?

[Admiral Yi]

Do they have a trade association credentials?

And have they been staying within their journalism production quotas?

[Barrister]

Do they have a trade association credentials?

There's no such thing.

Look, my dad is a sports writer/editor, so I know the sports side of things better than anything else, but politics is similar.  There's no centralized accreditation process.  Each event can decide who to let in and who to turn down.

So look, it's fine if a private business doesn't want to accredit rabble.ca (a Canadian leftist blog/news site) because they don't like their politics, that's fine.

But the Government of Alberta... is subject to the Charter of Rights.  They can not discriminate on the basis of political orientation.

Look, in the end I think this is just a dumb move by Notley and Co.  Why give The Rebel media attention in this way?  Picking a fight with Notley is just going to give The Rebel more page views.

[Grey Fox]

The onus is on The rebel to prove that they are infact journalists.

[viper37]

What do they do that removes it from the range of "journalism"?  I've been looking around at various definitions and none of them seem to require strict neutrality and objectivity - only that they report on the news.

Seems to me that Levant is more in the Glen Back "entertainer" mold, rather than a journalist.

Hmm. This Hour has 22 minutes, (is it still airing?), and various Quebec journalists like that aren't exactly "journalists", much more entertainers.  They don't even pretend to inform, they won't even quote you correctly to make fun of the politicians, yet, they are allowed everywhere.

Various medias have a, let say, "slight" as to not deviate from the current debate to the left, falsifying facts, twisting the truths, misquoting politicians not of their leaning, yet, they are considered journalists and are allowed to attend such events.

I remember many of these made quite a fuss when Harper was selecting the reporters he would grant interviews to.  This is much, much worst.

[Barrister]

If anything I think we should applaud The Rebel for being an online source that's trying to do actual, first-hand reporting!

I had a case of mine that was picked up by both Vice and HuffPo.  Except those sites didn't have reporters in the courtroom - the Edmonton Sun and Journal did.  What Vice and HuffPo did was just re-write the Sun and Journal stories (without crediting them) and post them on their own websites.

[Admiral Yi]

The onus is on The rebel to prove that they are infact journalists.

What would you consider acceptable proof?