CBC and Liberals teamed up to question Mulroney?

[calculoso]

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_p...html?id=169820

The CBC is reportedly launching an internal probe in response to allegations that journalists and Liberal MPs teamed up to write questions used to grill former prime minister Brian Mulroney during Thursday's Commons ethics committee hearing.

...

In a televised interview, former Liberal cabinet minister Jean Lapierre, now a television pundit, said an "influential" Liberal MP told him that CBC journalists wrote out the questions that Montreal Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez asked Mr. Mulroney during his dramatic morning of testimony.

The Tories complained in a letter to CBC ombudsman Vince Carlin, calling the allegations "troubling." The letter, which was publicly released, quoted both Mr. Lapierre and CTV's Mike Duffy, who said CBC journalists phoned and suggested questions, but the Liberals typed them up.

"Regardless of who wrote the questions, the fact that our national public broadcaster was actively co-operating with a political party in an attempt to embarrass the government raises serious questions about the impartiality of Canada's publicly funded national broadcaster," wrote Mr. Finley.

Another black eye for the CBC? Normal practice for government to get questions from all over?

[Resolute 14]

Just scrap the CBC already. It costs us far too much for the purpose it serves.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Just scrap the CBC already. It costs us far too much for the purpose it serves.

I dont agree with that....just check out radio3.cbc.ca amongst other cutting edge websites they produce to promote canada.

but the CBC and liberals not shocking..the CBC is soo far left it isnt funny

[Sparks]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

but the CBC and liberals not shocking..the CBC is soo far left it isnt funny

Are you sure the Liberals are even "left?" The way I see it, both the Liberals and Conservatives are actually pretty much in the centre, maybe very slightly leaning one way or the other.

[Slava]

The allegations stem from a CBC piece from about 4 years ago to begin with IIRC. Isn't the ridiculous part of this that the PMO brought Mulroney in close and protected him, even knowing that there were possible improprieties to begin with?

Who really cares where the questions come from....as long as they are answered its irrelevant in my eyes.

[OracleOfCalgary]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I dont agree with that....just check out radio3.cbc.ca amongst other cutting edge websites they produce to promote canada.

but the CBC and liberals not shocking..the CBC is soo far left it isnt funny

That's funny, because if I was to pick one pointless money waster to cut, it would be the Radio 3 website. I have checked it out a few times and always been disappointed... you are the first person who I have seen anywhere who has claimed to have actually visited the web site.

[REDVAN]

I think the CBC is far more to the left than the Liberals or the Torys so it's good they are a TV station and not a political party!

The only thing CBC is good for is sports. If they didn't show sports I'd never watch it.

[burn_this_city]

What a shock.. To think not even a month ago I was flamed on this board for insinuating that the CBC is a liberal mouthpeice..

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Sparks

Are you sure the Liberals are even "left?" The way I see it, both the Liberals and Conservatives are actually pretty much in the centre, maybe very slightly leaning one way or the other.

No, but the CBC is pretty left wing

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by OracleOfCalgary

That's funny, because if I was to pick one pointless money waster to cut, it would be the Radio 3 website. I have checked it out a few times and always been disappointed... you are the first person who I have seen anywhere who has claimed to have actually visited the web site.

My wife and I are both huge, HUGE fans of CBC Radio 3.

[mykalberta]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

And some people call FoxNews the arm of thje Republican party. Now direct evidence from a former co conspirator that the CBC is dry humping the Liberals left leg.

This is priceless.

Thank you for the amazing Christmas gift.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by OracleOfCalgary

That's funny, because if I was to pick one pointless money waster to cut, it would be the Radio 3 website. I have checked it out a few times and always been disappointed... you are the first person who I have seen anywhere who has claimed to have actually visited the web site.

well unless you want canada to blend into American culture than you going to need something to promote canadian artists and culture...which is part of the CBC mandate...All CTV and Global do is copy crappy american shows...Canadian IDOL ect...what station produces this amount of original canadian programming..at the same time promoting unkown canadian artists?....Some of the CBC websites are truly top of the heap..better than alot of sites out there...check HNIC video player its fantastic..way better than crappy TSN broadband....I maybe in the minority on this board, but i enjoy the CBC programming especially CBC Newsworld...just watch 20/20 and comapre it to a show like The Fifth Estate..the quality isnt even in the same league....

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Slava

Isn't the ridiculous part of this that the PMO brought Mulroney in close and protected him, even knowing that there were possible improprieties to begin with?

Protected him? I've been away in the US on a business trip and so may have missed something, but last I heard Harper was distancing himself from Mulroney.. and even launched an inquiry of some sort into it? Has something changed?

Who really cares where the questions come from....as long as they are answered its irrelevant in my eyes.

If the CBC (and other news agencies) submit questions to a political party, and the political party thinks they're good questions and re-words them and/or combines them with other content, then that's okay.

If the CBC (or another news agency) team up with a political party, what is separating the two of them? Aren't news agencies supposed to report the news, and not make it?

As Mykalberta said above (in somewhat of an obtuse manner), FoxNews is routinely bashed as a mouthpiece for the Republican party. As a private business, it has every right to do whatever it wants. The CBC is a public business, funded by the government. Shouldn't it be a lot more independent from a political party (especially one not in power)?

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

well unless you want canada to blend into American culture than you going to need something to promote canadian artists and culture...which is part of the CBC mandate...All CTV and Global do is copy crappy american shows...Canadian IDOL ect...what station produces this amount of original canadian programming..at the same time promoting unkown canadian artists?....Some of the CBC websites are truly top of the heap..better than alot of sites out there...check HNIC video player its fantastic..way better than crappy TSN broadband....I maybe in the minority on this board, but i enjoy the CBC programming especially CBC Newsworld...just watch 20/20 and comapre it to a show like The Fifth Estate..the quality isnt even in the same league....

I agree alot of the content is top notch.. Ask american hockey fans if they would like HNIC.. Most say its world class compared to the stuff offered south of the border.. That being said I wish they would be a little more politically neutral.. I guess thats wishful thinking considering 13 years of liberal hired bereaucrates (sp?) have risen to the upper jobs in the goverment.

[JohnnyFlame]

I watch BBC if I want a non-American viewpoint. If they took HNIC off of CBC would anybody actually watch it? I wouldn't even know it was gone if they took it off other than HNIC.

Rather watch BBC News or British programming as an alternative to American anyday of the week.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Slava

Who really cares where the questions come from....as long as they are answered its irrelevant in my eyes.

I don't see what the problem is either. What's the big deal? I would think all networks act like this.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

And some people call FoxNews the arm of thje Republican party. Now direct evidence from a former co conspirator that the CBC is dry humping the Liberals left leg.

This is priceless.

Thank you for the amazing Christmas gift.

I see you got that bundle of grasping straws you wanted for Christmas.

The circumstances (and stakes) are just a little bit different, but hey, if it makes you feel that good then live it up.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlame

I watch BBC if I want a non-American viewpoint. If they took HNIC off of CBC would anybody actually watch it? I wouldn't even know it was gone if they took it off other than HNIC.

Rather watch BBC News or British programming as an alternative to American anyday of the week.

Well, there have been a few threads on here appreciating The Dragons' Den. I find Rick Mercer pretty funny, and he takes shots at everyone (the segment where Mercer slept over at Sussex drive with Harper was great). I usually like Venture, Marketplace can be hit and miss. On Saturdays it is interesting seeing some non-mainstream sports.

I don't like the idea that they gave questions to an MP, but if the questions were valid, then why not? (And for the record, I am apparently one of the few who admit to liking Mulroney). I think the CBC covered the Ad scandal pretty thoroughly, so while they are definitely left biased (as are many journalists), I 'm not sure this counts as being a mouthpiece. If anything, I would be more disappointed that the Liberal questioner wasn't able to come up with good questions on his own.

[llama64]

Isn't it the media's job to ask our leaders questions?

Partisan politics is so childish.

edit:

"Regardless of who wrote the questions, the fact that our national public broadcaster was actively co-operating with a political party in an attempt to embarrass the government raises serious questions about the impartiality of Canada's publicly funded national broadcaster," wrote Mr. Finley.

Talk about media spin.

[CaptainCrunch]

I think that the problem with this is that the CBC is involving themselves in the political process instead of merely reporting on it. Frankly its slightly oderous because they're now being granted favorite status by the Liberal Party, something that is not fair to other news reporting agencies. If the Sun was acting in such a way with the Conservatives over AdScam there would be a cry out that the Conservatives were using the Sun as a gun to shoot out the heart of the Liberal Party.

We know that the CBC has been in bed with the Liberal's for the longest time because the Liberal's are more then likely to give the CBC blind funding. But this just goes to prove which party the CBC wants to see in power.

Either the CBC can be an impartial news source or it should go private and represent the Liberal's as their own propoganda station. But it can't do both, and it shouldn't be trying to manipulate or manufacture news.