CBC Caught in Coast-to-Coast Campaign to Highlight Negative Image of Harper

Our ongoing investigation of biased, and sometimes visibly dishonest, political reporting by the CBC (too many to link; scroll the Max West archives) has discovered evidence of a coast-to-coast campaign by the CBC to undermine the public image of Stephen Harper.

First came an interview by Peter Mansbridge with a media consultant named Allan Bonner. He’s an ex-CBC reporter (though Mansbridge didn’t tell you that) who runs a media consulting firm in Toronto (though they misleadingly scrolled Vancouver under his name). Mansbridge’s introduction highlighted all the usual barbs and accusations about Harper’s personality, and Bonner dutifully followed up by further slagging his personal qualities.

Notice how these attacks always work: The Ontario-centred media pretend that there’s breaking news about Harper’s “image” – in reality, all the Conservatives did in recent days was announce his summer tour; the spin about his image is the entirely the product of the media’s interpretation and their own leading questions – and then they use the opportunity to trash him personally as cold, icy, unfriendly and so on.

At first, the Mansbridge-Bonner interview looked like it was just the usual personal attack. But today, evidence appeared that shows it was merely the first stage of an orchestrated coast-to-coast campaign. Local CBC outlets repeated the technique with essentially the same script. This time, the media consultant was Bernie Gauthier of Ottawa but the script was followed by different interviewers on both coasts. And like the Mansbridge interview, each local interview with Gauthier began with similar personal insults against Harper. Clearly, CBC headquarters has issued instructions to local outlets about how to keep the story alive.

Here’s how Harper was described in the introduction on the CBC afternoon drive-home show in Saint John, New Brunswick:

How much hope is there for a man [Harper] who is typically described as aloof, icy and arrogant? We’ve reached Bernie Gauthier….

And on the far coast in Vancouver, the same Bernie Gauthier was introduced with an introduction that began by describing Harper this way:

Stephen Harper has been criticized as being cold and aloof…. On the line is Bernie Gauthier….

How likely is it that the same person would be interviewed on opposite coasts, with similar, and similarly insulting, introductions? The obvious conclusion is that local outlets were following instructions from headquarters, including the introductory talking points. And if two local outlets received these instructions, it’s a safe bet that others did too. (If you heard something similar in your area, let us know in the comments or contact us directly.)

And what is the point of the CBC campaign? In the Vancouver interview, Gauthier explained that the media focus on Harper’s image is disastrous for the Conservatives, because it will turn an unsympathetic light on his every move over the summer. But of course, Gauthier didn’t need to explain that to the CBC. They know that every word adds to the personality-assassination campaign, and every repetitive story will keep the unfriendly focus alive. That’s why they’re doing it.

It’s just more evidence of the ongoing CBC propaganda campaign against Harper and the Conservatives – a campaign to prop up a Liberal government that gives the CBC about a billion dollars per year of your money. For the Liberals, every penny is worth it.