CNN: Canadian President Stephen Harper

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Well to be far to CNN, Harper runs Canada more like a president than a prime minister.

A Prime Minister has much more power to run things unilaterally and on his own terms than a American President. So if you are trying to say that he's being more dictatorish and therefore more of a president, it's actually false. A PM has a lot of power in that office that parliament can do nothing about unless it is a minority.

[llama64]

While CNN's mistake is not cool at all -- it's a sign of poor journalism, but hey, it's CNN -- why do we expect the average American to know whether we have a Prime Minister or a President?

This sounds like more whiny Canadianism to me.

And for the record, a President is only the head of the Executive branch. A Prime Minister (at least in Canada) is the head of both the Executive and the Legislative branch. Add in the powers of appointment and it's no contest which position is relatively more powerful in their respective jurisdictions.

[Orange]

Originally Posted by troutman

Quick - who is the leader of Mexico?

That's an easy one, Chairman Mao obviously.

[J pold]

I was watching CNN for a bit yesterday and they used Prime Minister every time they referenced Harper.

People need to chill out for a minute.

[Romanrules]

I was watching AC360, last night. I laughed when they had ottawa spelt as: ottowa.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by troutman

Ciudadano Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Felipe Calderon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Mexico

See how easy that was? And you did it just for an online hockey board. Not CNN. Not live on air. They are not dumb, just lazy. That is even worse in my opinion.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by llama64

While CNN's mistake is not cool at all -- it's a sign of poor journalism, but hey, it's CNN -- why do we expect the average American to know whether we have a Prime Minister or a President?

This sounds like more whiny Canadianism to me.

And for the record, a President is only the head of the Executive branch. A Prime Minister (at least in Canada) is the head of both the Executive and the Legislative branch. Add in the powers of appointment and it's no contest which position is relatively more powerful in their respective jurisdictions.

Speaking only for myself, I don't expect everyone to know--but I don't thing it's much to expect that MOST people will know. We're the US's largest trading partner--in fact, ours is the largest trade relationship in the world, and there are plenty of opportunities for people to get this information if they're curious about it.

But there's no way the average American will ever know if the media doesn't show a little attention to detail. For CNN and NPR to make mistakes like this is just sloppy--and educating the public about this stuff is their job.

I'm no fan of Stephen Harper. Far from it, in fact. But he is our Prime Minister, and he deserves the respect of getting his name and title right. I don't expect the "Average American" to get it right every time--but major news organizations are a different story. I do expect a higher standard of factual accuracy from them.