Monday, August 31, 2009

Gentle Jabs

Great quote by Ignatieff today, taking a gentle jab at the media disconnect:
"I'm surprised to see you all, you disappeared on me this summer"

While Ignatieff logged tens of thousands of miles in 8 provinces and terrorities this summer, he was criticized by sedentary scribes for not getting "out there". Most people didn't know this, because nobody bothered to tell them. Instead, it was much more productive to lazily pen from a desk in Ottawa a narrative, that was outdated about a week after it started. I found this dynamic most telling when a Liberal leader, for the first time in YEARS, did an extensive tour in the Bloc heartland. I could think of multiple angles from which to write a piece, what that meant in terms of changing dynamics and offensive thinking, but alas no mention from the same press corp that criticized.

Anyways, it's nice to see everybody back and invigorated for the fall season. There's one irrefutable fact, judging by the "coverage" this summer, the critics took a hell of a lot more time "off" than the one being critiqued.

7 comments:

Woman at Mile 0 said...

the burn and bang on

Jesse said...

Perhaps more significantly... does anyone care either way? Whether Iggy wasn't working, or it wasn't being covered... it could not be less significant five minutes after it "ended".

Steve V said...

Maybe, maybe not. I do note however, that his personal numbers took a dive over the summer and the media narrative is the Libs need to regain the lost ground during their summer of invisibility. You can say everything doesn't really matter, but I will say this false narrative all summer sure didn't help, and that's unfortunate.

Jesse said...

I just don't think anyone's vote will be affected. That's all.

And there's nothing wrong with coming from behind. Especially since the PM will, presumably, call the shortest possible campaign; the media may only have time for one change of direction.

Steve V said...

I think two months of bad press does have an affect, that's just intuitive. I appreciate the "from here onward" perspective, but the summer wasn't kind, and I still don't know why.

Oemissions said...

That's probably the best thing he's ever said.

RuralSandi said...

Perhaps the media, lazy media journalists should be required to write essays (like kids do in school) on what THEY did last summer.

I swear, thinking back when Harper was in opposition - where's Harper, what's his policies, etc. - they just drummed up their old articles and changed the name from Harper to Ignatieff - go for a swim and drinks later.