Teneycke was a lightning rod- the unnecessarily goading, immature, obnoxious style only served to harden opposition, as he morphed into a unattractive caricature. Particularly stunning to watch, considering the COMMUNICATIONS pedigree. Couple the amateurish style with the very real ties to the Conservative Party and it all congealed into a very large net negative from the QMI perspective. With today's announcement, a chief irritant and mounting obstacle is removed, meaning SunTV just got closer to reality.
Today QMI dumped a obvious problem, and they gained a Charles Adler. I can barely listen to five minutes of "Adler nation"- a windbag if there every was- but he's entitled to his opinion, conservative and proud of it. Adler is certainly a better "face" from the upstart network's perspective, an ideologue, but so what? What I'm getting at, it's a little harder to get worked up over an Adler vs a Teneycke, for obvious reasons. Throw in a "straight shooter" like David Akin, and it tends to offset an Ezra Levant. With Teneycke gone, the NAKED partisan connection is removed, at least in terms of stark appearance. Teneycke's resignation announcement raised some valid points, much of what he said is true and shouldn't be dismissed.
Given the abrasive zeal, there's a certain inherent justice in watching Teneycke fall flat on his face. However, when the final chapter is written, this perceived victory might turn out to be a turning point, a plus for QMI and their aspirations. Stay tuned...
19 comments:
I heard the guy replacing Kory also worked for the PMO.
I agree fully and thought that same things Steve, with Kory gone it can only help the upstart SUNnews in finally hitting the airwaves.
I have absolutely no problems with a right-slanted news network starting up in this country. But a media company with obvious connections to a sitting government (any government) is way out of line. Likewise the possibility of interference with the CRTC in obtaining a license was just as unsettling, we are really hitting banana-republic territory if that were the case.
With Teneycke gone, then SUNnews can wash it's hands of any connections to the government. Bravo! Now it can become a TV version of it's crap newspaper. I may not be a fan of their tabloid-style media, but there may be a market for such and QMI can find out if its big enough to register a profit.
Jerry, did they name a replacement already?
Luc Lavoie is "temporary" replacement, but he could wind up being a much greater lightning rod because of his Mulroney connection.
I agree that Charles Adler joining is good news because, once more people are exposed to the "Addled Nation", Canada will see SUNnews for what they really are.
I think Adler is a complete flop on primetime television, but it's fine on the appearances front.
I'm not sure how anybody can be more offensive than Teneycke, he was unbelievable. That he was a communications director is jaw dropping. Hey, let's needlessly make enemies, mock the establishment and be as obnoxious as possible. I said it before, this guy was already past his best before date. Addition by subtraction for QMI.
And for all those people who want to know why an 'American' named Ricken Patel should be allowed to comment on Canadian affairs, according to the Avaaz website. Patel "was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta."
Hmmm...Adler is connected to Fox News:
Adler on Line airs on 14 radio stations. In 2001 Adler was the debut host on Global Sunday, a national Sunday night show. In the U.S. he has substituted on occasion for Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes
CS - my comment has nothing to do with prior elections, etc. in case you have trouble again staying on a subject.
Hey, it was never about whether Sun news could get their channel but about whether they were going to get the special treatment they were asking for.
If they were going the same route as the dozens of other proposed channels and the CRTC was allowed to make an impartial decision then there would be fewer objections.
But is there any doubt that this channel is by design going to be the mouthpiece of the Conservative Party of Canada?
And shouldn't that be the issue?
Tof KW said...
With Teneycke gone, then SUNnews can wash it's hands of any connections to the government. Bravo!
You're right, this looks like a win for both QMI and the Conservative party. "Bravo", indeed.
Kirk said...
Hey, it was never about whether Sun news could get their channel but about whether they were going to get the special treatment they were asking for.
You mean the same "special treatment" that CBC and CTV both get? Why shouldn't they be treated the same?
Fred from BC - do you pay any attention to facts at all? CTV tried, like some others, to go via the back door - they were turned down, as Sun should be.
The CBC was created by RB Bennett to be a voice for a right wing Canada, only when all the conservative support for fascism blew up in their faces during WW2 the CBC turned into a voice for the victors. Liberal democrats. The desire of the right for new voice for fascism is being fought by the same people who fought the conservative agenda in 20's and 30's and 40's. Let them start their faux news station as a front for the PMO, just not on basic cable.
Jerry, the CBC was created in 1936 on the recommendations provided by the Aird Commission on public broadcasting. It recommended the creation of a national radio broadcast network to counter the growing influence of US radio networks as they began to expand into Canada.
Conservatives back then were quite different than today's version. Back then it was still very much the party of Disraeli, Lord Churchill & Sir John A - and very strongly protectionist against the US; and stood firm on the conservation of British North American institutions, traditions and culture. Not sure where this fascist angle comes from that you mention.
Of course today's version of the Conservative party is strongly corporatist (versus allowing the common man into the market on a fair level), and has jettisoned protection of national interests for globalization and the flawed neo-liberal economic model of the Austrian school fools. But that's another topic all together.
Back on topic, I doubt Luc Lavoie's part history with the Conservatives will cause any problems for QMI. His work in the PMO ended over 18 years ago, and in case you have not noticed the current CPC has little love for Brian Mulroney. Lavoie will keep a low profile and will get the job done, he's nowhere near the lightening rod that Kory is.
TofKW you're wrong about the Con party: Bennett and Borden and Meighen and Drew were opposed to organized labour, they actively supported Mussolini (the Empire Club was a big fan of fascism ('no difference between empire and fascism'), Bennett used fascist organizers in Quebec in '35 election , Bennett allowed Mussolini's vice consuls to turn every Italian Canadian organization into fascist mouthpieces (which is why Dean Del Mastro's desire to get an apology for interred Italian Canadians is not only based on a lie but on an attempt to bury the role the Conservative Party played in aiding and abetting the rise of fascism in Europe and North America; Bennett's most infamous comment was that labour agitators "will be crushed under an iron heel of ruthlessness"; Justice Minister Meighen had ordered the Labour Minister to crush the Winnipeg General strike in 1919 despite the fact that the strikers weren't breaking any laws: "We'll pass a law to justify whatever you do."
George Drew's father-in-law, Guelph born opera singer Edward Johnson came home from Italy after the fascisti had assassinated the head of the Italian socialist party and told the North American press what a great job Mussolini was doing and Drew concurred. The Conservative Party of Canada supported Duplessis -style fascism in Quebec (Mulroney was mentored by Duplessis successor Daniel Johnson senior).
As for the topic at hand: the Faux news via Rupert Murdoch is anti-liberal democracy in the same way Mussolini was. And corporatism (a conservative catholic ideology adopted by the Il Duce, has taken over the planet after being adopted by conservative protestants.) That's where all the connections between fascism and conservatism are - right down the main highway of 20th century Conservative tradition.
RuralSandi, expecting Fred to pay attention is like expecting him to be sober before noon.
Fred from BC said...
You mean the same "special treatment" that CBC and CTV both get? Why shouldn't they be treated the same?
First the CBC got this license way back when there was no other 24 hr. cable news channel so to say that providing a service to Canadians that no one was currently providing is the same thing as SUNTV coming in now is absurd. CBC probably didn't even need a must carry license because believe it or not their was a lot of Canadians (and no not just "lefties") who wanted such a service.
CTV got the license to provide competition to CBC, on the same footing as CBC.
Both are major TV networks who have/had well respected news divisions.
Both these channels are losing their must carry license next year.
To say that SUNTV is should now get what CTV and CBC will no longer have so they can be the 4th 24 hour news channel (after CITY TV's around here) is laughable.
The only reason the right thinks they should is because it will be heavily biased in favour of the Conservatives, with or without Kory at the helm.
The problem with their hitting the airwaves is 1) they'll still probably just get the crappy license everybody else does, and 2)these are all old names and old faces. Adler's career went from Toronto to Winnipeg over the years, and Levant is Levant. Why would bringing them all together in one place lead to TV gold?
It is sort of funny that the buzz has been something different, and the names so far are anything but fresh. Honestly, I think Adler will be a prime time bust, Levant might be controversial enough to draw the car wreck crowd.
And the advantage for Sun fans is that they won't actually have to read the news, or look up the hard words, and since they hear only what they want, they'll hear everything that's said.
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