Canwest’s Only Hope: Core Values
November 17th, 2008
Today we complete our current series, which began October 20th with Challenging Defamation and Political Vandalism. New visitors to the site might find that browsing through our entries in sequence from that starting point is the best way to get up to date.
Pausing for a while provides an opportunity to reflect on the broader background issues to the case we’re pursuing, among them the crises of mounting debt and plummeting share value besetting the Canwest Global Corporation and its related firms.
We need to bear in mind that the livelihoods of thousands of colleagues depend on their bosses pulling the Canwest empire back from the brink. These diverse companies are some of North America’s largest employers of news professionals and media workers.
Last week’s news that the conglomerate is cutting its workforce by 560 positions, or five percent, alarms all of us who have contributed, at one time or another, to the publications and programs that will now be forced to do more with less.
Read More...Hypocrisy Rolls Off Canwest’s Tongue
November 14th, 2008
Hypocrisy isn’t pretty, but the trait is never less appealing than when it comes from the mouth of a media goliath caught misleading its readers.
Yesterday, when asked by the Canadian Press about his company facing a libel action before New York’s State Supreme Court, Canwest Global vice-president of public affairs John Douglas “wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit, saying the matter is now before the courts.”
Commendable, it would seem – until we remember that our election, in Canada’s province of Alberta earlier this year, was also governed by strict judicial rules, and yet Canwest’s most powerful presses and websites didn’t hesitate in levelling an abusive, inaccurate and defamatory outburst at this candidate.
It seems that Canada’s biggest newspaper chain is managed by paper tigers. They’ll take a hatchet to a loyal former colleague when the politics of the moment suit them, but are just as quick to hide behind legal niceties when exposed in the clear light of day.
Read More...A Statement From New York
November 13th, 2008
The following statement was released today. For immediate background, please see the entries Disciplines Worth Fighting For and Malice Without Borders, located below on this homepage. Full details in our entries dating from October 20th.
NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2008 – Journalist Arthur Kent, who was a candidate earlier this year in the provincial election in Alberta, Canada, has filed a libel lawsuit in New York’s State Supreme Court against Canadian media conglomerate Canwest Global, its National Post Company and related firms.
The action, No. 150198/2008, comes nine months after the worldwide publication on Canwest websites, and in several of the company’s newspapers across Canada, of an article written by one of its employees, Don Martin. Canwest’s newspapers refused to publish a rebuttal submitted by Kent, who later filed a defamation action against Canwest in Calgary, Canada.
Read More...Malice Without Borders
November 12th, 2008
One of the most striking qualities of the defamatory attack we’re examining in these web pages is the scope of its publication.
Certainly the writer’s tone is strident, almost frenzied. Equally, his employers at the Canwest Global Corporation went completely overboard in splashing the malicious rant all over the map.
They unleashed all their big guns, opening up with their international online service, nationalpost.com, then laying down a barrage the next day with their canada.com platform, along with hardcopy versions in newspapers including The National Post, the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald (see the pdf at right).
So it was that a political battle in a far-off suburb of the Canadian west was given a global spotlight. For the author, Mr. Martin, and his editors and managers, it was not enough to smother the truth about that battle – and this candidate’s reputation - with bias and lies. They also rushed the article into print for the widest possible audience.
Read More...Wanted: A Little Common Decency
November 10th, 2008
One of the most rewarding aspects of standing for public office is the opportunity to meet and talk with thousands of your neighbours, the voting public, as you ask them to consider giving you their support.
Sure it’s demanding: this candidate lost 15 pounds campaigning door to door for the Alberta provincial election earlier this year. But ask any of our team members, and they’ll tell you that the process is an education, and a valuable one.
People invited us into their homes (and into their lives, in many cases) and revealed what they and their loved ones were going through at the time, and talked about their dreams for the future.
Sometimes we encountered tragic family circumstances. Other visits were uplifting or even wildly comical, like the neighbour who told me, without a shred of irony, that I appeared to her to be a member of “an insidious cult.”
“Not to worry, Ma’am,” I responded. “Our team drinks coffee and the occasional Moosehead, not that other stuff.” She laughed and took a flyer.
Read More...Disciplines Worth Fighting For
November 7th, 2008
For the benefit of new visitors to this website, and in view of coming events, today we’re re-posting our introductory entry from October 20th.
But first, another expression of thanks to those of you who have offered leads and information pertaining to the events, personalities and corporations we are examining here. Your evidence will be handled responsibly and in strictest confidence.
To those who’ve gotten in contact just to cheer on the process of bringing abusive individuals and companies to justice, your encouragement is greatly appreciated. And you’re right: the disciplines of journalism, law and public service are well worth fighting for.
Now, please read on for Challenging Defamation and Political Vandalism.
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