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| Ms.Photo Op,Mentzelopoulos,Muir,Waldner |
Here’s an excerpt from the Vancouver Sun that ran Nov 22nd about the hiring of the husband of the minister of corporate priorities by the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), and the link to the full story:
VIHA president Howard Waldner, in an interview from Toronto, said he never placed an advertisement for the interim job:
“I wouldn’t call it a mistake. In hindsight, perhaps we could have put an advert out. And someone might say we should have put an advert out.”
Two days later (Nov 24) a story appears in the Victoria Times-Colonist on the same subject and written by the same reporter, Rob Shaw. However, this second story appears to contradict the Vancouver Sun story of Nov 22.
Waldner admitted he made a mistake in approving the Muir contract. VIHA’s board is not looking for Waldner’s resignation.
“Howard has our full confidence,” said Hubbard*. “Howard’s leadership is very strong. People make mistakes. He’s human.”
*[Don Hubbard, chairman of VIHA’s board of directors]...
The first story exposes, with a direct quote, VIHA’s Waldner as an arrogant person who has not admitted any mistake was made, and who does not seem to believe he has to play by the rules.
However, the later Times-Colonist story presents a much more contrite view of Waldner stating that he admitted his “mistake”.
Really? Where’s the quote or even some attribution of the “fact” that Waldner admitted it to be a mistake? And mistake my foot. Health authorities damn well know the rules, it’s not rocket science.
This looks to me like the media is helping to make Waldner look contrite so that VIHA can avoid being pressured into firing Waldner.
It’s such a disappointment to see the media play these games helping government to whitewash matters. And most people won’t even know that they’ve been hoodwinked into thinking that Waldner is contrite.
Categories: Health, Journalism
in-sights.ca 
Sadly today, most if not all politicians and high level bureaucrats are 'coached' in the way to treat questions from the public or opposition, which ultimately turns the question around and is designed to deflect any ownership of untruth or ignorance.
My two favorite responses by politicians, which tip me off to the big obfuscation to come are, “Thank you for the question. That's a very good question and let me answer it by saying yadd yadda yadda.”
The second favorite is usually always a prelude to a 'fixed' lie. “Let me be perfectly clear about this, yadda yadda yadda…”.
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The MSM has had good experience manipulating the news to suit its advertisers views.
Example 1: The SkyTrain versus LRT debate or more precisely lack of a honest SkyTrain versus LRT debate.
If one reads the MSM, one would believe that LRT was an inferior transit mode, even obsolete, but in the real world, it is SkyTrain that is indeed obsolete, with only seven such systems in operation (soon to be only five)despite being on the market for over 30 years.
The MSM treat SkyTrain as a “miracle mode” of public transit, yet in revenue operation it has yet to prove; 1) it can carry more people than LRT; is safer than LRT; 3) is cheaper to operate than LRT. Yet the MSN has never printed such news, in fact, the MSM continues with the SkyTrain myth ad nauseoum!
Example 2: The Canada Line is not a SkyTrain line; the Canada Line is a conventional heavy-rail metro (not powered by LIMs as the proprietary SkyTrain) and is not compatible in operation with SkyTrain metro system.
As costs increased for the Canada Line, the scope of the project was reduced to the point that for about three to four times the cost of LRT. We now have a heavy-rail metro that not only costs more to build and operate, it has been designed to have less capacity than LRT to save costs!
Has the MSM every printed a story about this…not on your Nelly, especially when TransLink and the Canada line group spent well over $5 million in MSM advertising telling everyone how good the Canada Line will be!
Example 3: The German built ferries a.k.a. “das zitrones”. It is common knowledge that these boats are gas guzzlers and are only used during peak times, there has been another and more serious problem with these boats…..prop wash.
The prop wash is so strong that it scoured the seafloor around the pilings at the docks making them unsafe and all the BC Ferries docks that the German Ferries use have been expensively rebuilt to accommodate them. As the costs have been hidden from public view for political reasons, only independent estimate can be made and they are huge, in the $100 million to $200 million range and maybe be the real reason why BC Ferries are in financial distress!
Any peak from the MSM …… the only thing you here from that constipated mob is FastFerry debacle, which happened about 20 years ago!
The MSM in BC is nothing more than a right-wing infomercial and has zero credibility. If you have enough money to buy advertising in the MSM, the Editorial Board will craft the news to suit your needs.
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Ole, maybe you should send your nephew a link to this article. Have him share it with his classmates, and the faculty — during classes.
See what the journalism instructors have to say. It would be interesting to know their reaction.
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It's so difficult to keep track of what one says when one lies their face off. . .
But more and more politicians, when caught, have one of several predictable responses – “I was never aware/I didn't know this or that” (claim innocent and stick to it even when you're an obvious liar); bold faced lies and others in the party repeat it if they know what's good for them (“the HST was never on the radar screen prior to the election” – “we had to act quickly or we would face losing it”) blah blah.
Still better to be honest in this world, I believe. As we can see from their actions in the past and present, a certain party is in a sh__load of trouble as a result. This will happen to Harper and company eventually also.
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great analysis of the MSM and their service to government and not to the public. They are supposed to act as theFifth Column. sad.
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Another example of how the MSM is in the pocket of special interest groups or those who contribute to their pay cheques. Absolutely shameful! How can they look members of the public in the eye when they print/write such BS?
I have a nephew in his last year of journalism at Mount Royal College in Calgary. Now, he is an idealistic young man with stars in his eyes and his entire future at his feet. I worry that his idealism will be co-opted by what appears to be the status quo for the MSM.
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