Volume 7, Number 3

AN UPDATE ON THE LIBERAL HONEYMOON

IN LAST ISSUE'S ANALYSIS OF THE LIBERAL government's first budget we found that television news was unwilling to assess negatively the contents of that budget. This is curious since in our four year study of how television reports economic issues we found that there was a propensity to focus on the negative aspects of the economy.

During the last week in March and the first two weeks in April 1994, the media ran stories explaining the fluctuationg stock and bond markets. For example, on 30 March 1994 Peter Mansbridge reported: "Well, a lot of people are keeping a close eye on the markets these days. It's been a pretty wild ride for the Canadian economy lately. For the past eight weeks, the Bank of Canada rate has been going up. At the start of February, it stood at 3.8 percent, But it has climbed steadily since then, and yesterday another major jump to 5.64 percent. Prime rates, the lending rate major banks charge their best business customers, also jumped dramatically this week. Last Friday, the prime was down at 5.75 percent. Today, it's stands at 6.25 percent. Not everything's going up, though. In fact, the stock markets--well--they've been tumbling. So has the Canadian dollar. It closed today at 72.52 cents, down more than 7 cents from a year ago."

Considering the recent fluctuations in the dollar and the increasing interest rates, one must wonder whether some of the market fluctuations can be attributed to the Liberal government's recent budget. To check on the progress of the Liberal government's media coverage, this issue analyzes television news reports of the dramatic fluctuations in the dollar, interest rates and stock market. It also revisits coverage of these economic indicators to see if any changes in reporting practices occurred since our examination of television coverage of economic issues.

CBC reluctant to blame Liberals for economic problems

Despite the declining Canadian dollar, CBC's analysts placed little responsibility on the federal government (figure A). While 10 percent of CTV's discussion on the falling economic indicators dealt with the federal government's role, and indeed was predominately critical of that role, just 8 percent of CBC's attention linked the problems to the government. However, CBC was less likely to assign blame: half of the statements they provided were neutral, and of the remainder, only slightly more were negative than positive. For example, in an interview with economist Andrew Pyle, Pamela Wallin asked: "Okay. The budget. Everybody said internationally they seemed to think it was okay, and the deficit reduction plan was all right. So what's changed their mind is the prospect of an election in Quebec, essentially?" In contrast, despite CTV's general tendency to provide less coverage of the issues in general than CBC, the private network did report that Canada's foreign debt had been downgraded. On 21 March, 1994 Sandie Rinaldo reported: "Canada received a new warning today about the shaky state of its finances. The Dominion Bond Rating service has downgraded the credit rating on our foreign debt. Analysts say that will likely trigger an increase in the Bank of Canada rate and push interest and mortgage rates sharply higher." The role of this factor in the interest rate increase and dollar decline was not mentioned in any CBC reports until an April 10, 1994 Venture story.

Click here to view Figure A: Analysis of Economic Events

Debt/deficit underplayed on CBC

Further differences in approach are evidenced in figure A. CTV firmly placed responsibility for the jittery markets on the debt and deficit, factors that accounted for nearly fifteen percent of their total coverage. In contrast, the debt/deficit issue received 9 percent of CBC's attention. And while CTV was completely critical of the debt/deficit, CBC guests offered the view that the debt/deficit issue was overemphasized. For example, CBC interviewed Daniel Drache, professor of political science at York University, who said to Pamela Wallin, ". . . and I think the focus on Bay street on the deficit and the dollar and the interest rate is just simply the wrong way to go." Later in the same interview Bill Robson of the CD Howe Institute [It should be highlighted that in the introduction of this interview Pamela Wallin introduced Bill Robson as "a senior policy analyst with the C.D. Howe Institute, the Conservative economic think tank." Daniel Drache was introduced as a "professor of political science at Toronto's York University." No ideological leanings were associated with Drache.] argued: "What is happening on Bay Street is not anybody's design. It is simply what happens when a country continually issues more IOUs to the world than the world is ultimately willing to hold." The last word on that subject went to Drache who argued: "There is no problem as long as you have a growing economy, if you have a strong economy you can carry debt and deficit. That's the record of the last 30 years."

While CTV concentrated on the debt/deficit as the "root cause" of the current economic malaise, CBC focused on how the recent events were harmful to the weak economy. As Pamela Wallin asked Andrew Pyle in the 30 March 1994 interview, "Okay, the other thing I want to raise, Andrew, is this whole question of how fragile our recovery is. Everybody says it's been very, very tentative, and we're all kind of holding on. If we continue to see interest rates rising, then everybody starts to panic, homeowners and businesses that borrow, and all of those people. Do we threaten what is already a very tentative recovery?"

CTV links markets to Quebec more frequently than CBC does

Another interesting difference in coverage on the causes of the jittery markets and weak dollar between the two networks was that CTV was more inclined to link the debasement of the Canadian dollar to the political situation in Quebec. The Quebec factor totalled 13 percent of CTV's coverage as compared to 6 percent of CBC's coverage.

CTV calls for cuts in spending

There were also striking differences in the amount of attention devoted to solutions. As figure B shows, CTV focused almost exclusively on one issue: cutting spending. Over sixty percent of solutions put forward on CTV debated the issue of spending cuts. Of that coverage, over four-fifths supported increased reductions in government spending. For example, on the second day of heightened attention, CTV's first two stories were on the interest rate hikes. In the story by Craig Oliver, the emphasis was on opposition critics blaming the Liberal government's budget: "Many believe that his first budget was Paul Martin's best, perhaps only, chance to make deep spending cuts. An economist says Martin should have exploited the trust and confidence of Canadians who were ready for tough measures . . . . The problem really isn't anything Mr. Martin has done; it is what, apparently what the financial markets don't think he can do, which is stick to his even modest deficit reduction plans, which could be jeopardized, by the way, if interest rates continue to go up and add to the enormous cost of borrowing for the federal government."

Click here to view Figure B: Solutions

CBC's examination of spending cuts comprised only 15 percent of its attention to solutions. In fact, on CBC the single most-discussed solution was to let the dollar fall. There was no disagreement over this proposal. Increasing the interest rate was also much discussed in the various panels and interviews on the subject. However, most of the discussion focused on the detrimental effects that further increases in interest rates would pose.

Networks call for calm

The only real similarity in coverage between CBC and CTV on this issue was the call to stay calm. Seventeen percent of CBC and 29 percent of CTV's solutions advised the public that it was not time to panic, yet. For example, on 31 March, Paul Adams ended his CBC Prime Time story with, "And so for now, no panic. And certainly no change in direction from Ottawa. All on the expectation that interest rates will soon come back down. And if they don't, economists concede then the recovery might be in trouble. And it might be time for governments to panic. At least a little." Similarly, on 30 March Lloyd Robertson began the story saying: "In spite of the drop in stock prices, most analysts say there is no reason to panic. Some even suggest the market was overheated and is now undergoing a simple correction."

CTV still downbeat on economy; CBC has sunnier disposition

What is particularly interesting about the dissimilarities between CBC and CTV was how coverage has changed since we last looked at the economy. In our inflation study, conducted between 1989 and 1991, for example, we found that CBC was tougher on the government than was CTV. When inflation went up, CTV gave an equal number of positive and negative assessments, whereas CBC was almost twice as likely to be negative as positive.

On CTV, coverage of the recent events included over three times as many negative as positive statements in the two week period we analyzed. In contrast, CBC was only slightly more negative than positive in its coverage of the issue. Moreover, CTV was quicker to point out that Canada's foreign debt had been downgraded.

At first blush, this finding might lead one to conclude that the published results of our economic study had at least a partial impact on the reporting practices of CBC journalists. However, we must admit that there may be other factors at work, namely, that CBC is simply treating the Liberal government more leniently than it did the Conservative one.

This finding reflects a similar trend in U.S. television journalism regarding the Clinton administration. Ted Smith, author of The Vanishing Economy, whose study on the reportage of economic indicators was a fore-runner to our own comprehensive examination of television's attention to the indicators, argued that during the Reagan years network news journalists had "chosen not only to stress the problems and failures but to limit or eliminate coverage of gains and success."

Media observers in the U.S. have predicted that now with the Clinton administration, "systematic suppression of positive information will be replaced by systematic suppression of negative information." [Joachim Maitre (1993) "The Tilt to the News: How American Journalism has Swerved from the ideal of Objectivity," The World and I, December p. 369.] Despite the recent run on the dollar and the signal by financial markets that the Liberal government has failed to adequately control the deficit, CBC television news remains reluctant to criticize Chretien's policies. This leads to just one conclusion: CBC has not declared the honeymoon over yet.

Summary

•    Real differences were observed in CBC and CTV's coverage of the economy in March and April.

•    CTV was more critical of the federal government's role than was CBC.

•    CBC focused on the U.S. economy as a cause for the market fluctuation and increase in interest rates.

•    It appears that CBC is still judging the Liberal government under the guise of a honeymoon, whereas CTV is more critical of the Liberal government than they were of the former Conservative government.

Methodology

Results are based on 23 CBC Prime Time and 11 CTV News stories from March 21, 1994 (the day Canada's foreign debt was downgraded) to April 5, 1994 (the day Canada's bank rate did not go up as high as expected). All stories appearing during that time were coded, representing a total population rather than a random sample of stories.

Reactions to Violent Crime

RECENTLY, CANADIANS HAVE BEEN SHOCKED to learn about a drive-by shooting in Ottawa, and the killing of an innocent bystander in a trendy Toronto restaurant. In recent weeks, there have been drive-by shootings in both Calgary and Vancouver.

The killings in Ottawa and Toronto were most striking because of the randomness of the acts and because firearms were involved. While reports about these and other murders focus on the human dimension, the lives of the victims and the responses of their families, these crimes have also galvanized discussion and debate about the seeming increase in random violent crime in Canada.

While the outrage expressed in the wake of these brutal murders is unanimous, there has been less agreement about the proposed solutions. As part of our continuing series on crime in Canada, this issue of On Balance tries to get a sense of the debate being waged in the media about the solutions being put forward to stem the increase of random violence. Thus, we surveyed selected major dailies across the country and the national newscasts of CBC and CTV. Our study period followed the two high profile crimes in Ottawa and Toronto in order to identify how the debate progressed from 27 March to 18 April, 1994.

Gun control most frequently debated solution

Of the various proposals to curb the seeming increase in violent crime, gun control emerged as the single most-discussed issue in all news outlets examined with the exception of the Calgary Herald (figure C). It should be noted that although most major dailies and the national media covered the two incidents, they were given the most attention in the eastern Canadian papers and on CBC television. The Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald and Winnipeg Free Press gave scant coverage to the issue resulting from the two incidents.

Click here to view Figure C: Solutions to Random Violence

Strong support for gun control expressed

In debating the arguments for and against stricter gun control, most news organizations were pro-gun control. As figure D shows, CTV News, the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail and the Ottawa Citizen provided few contrary arguments. CBC Prime Time provided three times as many arguments in support of gun control than arguments against, and statements in the Toronto Star twice as frequently supported gun control as rejected it. For example, Bob Brent, writing in the 8 April Toronto Star noted, "[Susan] Eng, [Metro Police Services Board Chairperson] stressing the need for stronger gun controls, said members of the public should reject any thought of arming themselves in self-defense. She said the priority should be `to get the guns off the street. . . . One gun is too many.'" While the story discussed issues such as police budgets and the soft justice system, there were no statements refuting or challenging Eng's and the police board's call for stricter gun control.

Click here to view Figure D: Debate on Gun Control

The calls for stricter gun legislation also came from the government itself. Much of the discussion centred on Justice Minister Allan Rock's proposal for a total ban on gun ownership in Canadian cities. Susan Delacourt reported in the front page of the 12 April Globe and Mail: Mr. Rock, a Torontonian, said he leans toward a hard-line, anti-gun stand." This theme was reported in most major dailies across the country.

Stricter penalties second option

While gun control legislation was the most discussed solution to the problem of violent crime, there were some who argued in favour of stricter penalties such as the death penalty or reform of the Young Offender's Act. However, gun control was given almost twice as much attention as stricter penalties or more enforcement.

The emphasis on gun control over stricter penalties belies public opinion which has consistently been in favour of strict penalties, such as the death sentence, since 1987. According to a 10 March 1994 Gallup report, "if a national referendum were held on the question of executing a person for committing murder, 59 percent of the Canadian public would vote for reinstating the death penalty." It should be noted that this poll was taken before the incidents in question on February 7 to 14. Further, the majority also felt that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to murder. This view has remained relatively constant since 1987 as well. [Results are based on 1005 telephone interviews with adults. The sample size is accurate within a 3.1 percentage point margin of error, 19 in 20 times.]

Pro-Gun Control interest groups used these recent events as justification for their view. For example, Wendy Cukier, a professor of administration and information management at Ryerson Polytechnic University and the president of the Coalition for Gun Control became the focus of much coverage in the debate. Her statements represented 12 percent of the total coverage in the country on the solutions to violent crime stemming from these incidents.

This finding is even more startling considering that in the case of the Globe and Mail, for example, Wendy Cukier's view alone was given 29 percent of the total attention to solutions. In contrast, the Vancouver Sun, Winnipeg Free Press and Calgary Herald did not relate her views. All other news organizations, including CBC Prime Time, in which she was a panellist, the Toronto Star and the Ottawa Citizen provided significant commentary from this one source. And on CTV News, her view was included in Dave Rinn's story, "The majority of Canadians want tougher gun control and they want it before it's too late."

Summary

•    The dominant solution for violent crime expressed in 6 major dailies and on national television news was gun control.

•    Few statements opposing stricter gun control were provided.

•    Alternate views such as stricter enforcement or stiffer penalties were given half of the coverage garnered by gun control arguments.

Methodology

Results are based on 8 CBC, 3 CTV, 20 Toronto Star, 5 Vancouver Sun, 11 Globe and Mail, 15 Ottawa Sun, 2 Winnipeg Free Press and 1 Calgary Herald story from March 27 to April 18, 1994. All stories appearing during that time were coded, representing a total population rather than a random sample of stories. The Montreal Gazette and Maritime papers were unavailable at the time of analysis.

Further information or details on the coding design and methods may be obtained by contacting the National Media Archive.

King Ralph

DURING APRIL 1994, ALBERTA'S PREMIER Ralph Klein received the honour of being the premier with the most national television news stories mentioning his policies. This is quite a distinction considering that he beat out Ontario Premier Bob Rae and Quebec premier Daniel Johnson.

The last time there was significant national attention on a Western Premier was when former British Columbia Premier Bill Vander Zalm was forced to resign amidst conflict of interest charges. No such problems plague Mr. Klein. However, it is interesting to examine what is being said about the Alberta premier.

Klein's cost cutting measures gain national attention

The issues discussed most frequently on both networks regarding premier Ralph Klein were his various spending cuts and measures designed to eliminate the Alberta deficit in three years. As Craig Oliver reported in a CTV biography feature about the Alberta premier: "No Canadian politician has ever slaughtered as many sacred cows as Klein has." The biggest controversy was Klein's approval of private health care clinics in the province. Federal Health Minister Dianne Marleau warned that "we believe that bringing forward a two-tiered system is not the way to guarantee good medical care to the people of Canada." Klein's response: "This is precisely the kind of thing that we're looking for in this province, not to undermine the Canada Health Act, but to really recognize those people who are innovative and creative."

Klein in favour of stricter penalties

Premier Klein's position on crime was also given prominent national TV coverage. Klein publicly favours the death penalty, including for young offenders who are tried as adults. While the federal justice minister rejected any calls for reintroducing the death penalty, CTV News reporter Craig Paisley ended a story on the issue with, "Ralph Klein says the federal government has to start listening to the public. A public Klein says he's in tune with."

This portrayal of the premier as a populist figure was much more evident in CTV's coverage of him than in CBC's coverage. This is shown most graphically by CTV's choice in making Klein the focus of the stories, whereas most CBC coverage of him showed Klein on the periphery, merely responding to events and issues.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.