Blog by John Miller

PP's faux pas

April 19th, 2023
Someone should tell Pierre Poilievre to take off his tin foil hat: The government does not actually control the news that the CBC broadcasts. As part of his campaign to limit the reach of government, the Conservative leader went public with an April 11 letter he sent to Twitter asking the social media giant to label all CBC news shared on its platform as “government-funded media.” He wrote ...

OutFoxed

April 19th, 2023
The jury in the libel trial of the century had already been sworn in: Five Black men, two Black women, three white women, a white man, and a Latino woman. Considering that the defendant was Fox News Network, the powerhouse right-wing cable TV king, it was hardly shaping up to be its sort of audience. Sure enough, just before opening arguments began in Delaware Superior Court this week, Fox ...

Don't ask, or tell

April 16th, 2023
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is a master of the politician’s black art of not answering questions directly. As she embarks on a crucial month-long provincial election campaign, she seems to be doubling down to limit her government’s accountability. She has announced that news outlets will be able to ask only one question each at her news conferences, and follow-up questions will not be allo ...

Fox hypocrisy

April 13th, 2023
Case N21C-03-257 EMD  goes to trial before a jury in Delaware on Monday, and  it’s shaping up as one of the most significant tests of media freedom and responsibility in decades. At its heart lies Donald  Trump’s claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, in part because voting machines were programmed to switch votes to his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden. Milli ...