Volume 10, Number 6

CAMPAIGN '97 WEEKS 1 AND 2:                                                       NEWS OF THE NON-CONTENDERS

TWO WEEKS INTO ELECTION '97, the most interesting stories of the campaign have often emanated from the separatist Bloc Quebecois: the lost campaign bus, the hairnet incident, the audience of horses, and, finally, Parizeau's comments on unilateral separation. English language television news has reported these incidents in great detail, so much so that the Bloc received more coverage than either the Reform Party or the Conservative Party during the first two weeks of the campaign. This, despite the fact that no one in the rest of Canada has a Bloc candidate on their ballot.

The National Media Archive examined all CBC and CTV national television news reports (i.e., the "National," "Sunday Report," and the "CTV News") on the federal election from April 27 to May 10, 1997. All statements made by anchors and journalists within each news report were examined according to the political party being discussed and the tone of the commentary (i.e., neutral, positive, negative).

Not surprisingly, the incumbent Liberals received the most attention, accounting for 31 percent of CBC's and 35 percent of CTV's journalists' commentaries. However, on both networks, the Bloc Quebecois beat out both Reform and the Tories to place second with 17 percent of CBC's and 19 percent of CTV's total journalists' statements (see Figure A).

Click here to view Figure A: CBC and CTV Federal Election Coverage, by Party, April 27-May 10, 1997

On CBC, attention to the Tories and Reform was nearly equal, at 13.6 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively. CTV provided slightly more commentary on the Conservatives, who accounted for 15 percent of journalists' total statements, compared to Reform with 11 percent.

The New Democratic Party, who during the first week of the campaign received more attention on CBC than either Reform or the Tories, fell to last place in terms of journalists' commentaries by the end of the second week.

McDonough TV darling during first week of campaign

Archive researchers also measured the quantity and length of the "soundbites" of the five federal party leaders and discovered that during the first week of the campaign, NDP leader Alexa McDonough received the most airtime on CBC. Throughout week one, Ms. McDonough received 11 clips on CBC national television news totalling 107 seconds, compared to Prime Minister Chretien who received 16 clips, but only 103 seconds.

McDonough, whose party is either last or near last in national opinion polls, also received considerable attention on the "CTV News." During the first week, Preston Manning led with 13 clips totalling 96 seconds, followed by Jean Chretien with 92 seconds, and McDonough with 64 seconds of airtime.

During week two, Alexa McDonough continued to be quoted frequently on Canada's public broadcaster where she received 64 seconds of airtime on CBC, but was quoted less than Jean Charest, Jean Chretien or Preston Manning. On CTV, McDonough received just 29 seconds of airtime during the second week.

Although McDonough's media presence was toned down during the second week of the campaign, she still had the advantage of the longest average soundbite (10.0 seconds) on CBC during the first two weeks, and the third longest soundbite (7.1 seconds) on CTV.

The New Democrats were also the only party to receive more positive than negative comments from journalists on both the CBC and CTV national television news reports during the first two weeks of the campaign.

The battle on the right

On April 27, 1997, the first day of the campaign, CTV News reporter Paula Newton predicted that the Tory campaign would be an "uphill, full speed climb," a prediction that set the tone of how the "CTV News" would be covering Charest's Conservatives during the campaign's first two weeks.

Analysis of the balance of positive and negative commentary indicates that the "CTV News" provided far more favourable assessments of the Tory campaign than any of the campaigns of any of the other parties (attention to the NDP campaign was also predominantly favourable, but constituted less total coverage). CTV's journalists' assessments of the Conservative campaign were 33 percent positive and just 19 percent negative, compared to assessments of the Reform Party which, during the campaign, were 26 percent positive, but 37 percent negative (see figure B). "CTV News" reports consistently focused favourably on Tory leader Jean Charest as well as the Conservative Party's "star candidate," retired Major General Lewis MacKenzie.

Click here to view Figure B: Journalists Comments on . . . (by Party, April 27-May 10, 1997)

CBC reports exhibited remarkable balance in their assessments of the Tories and Reform. Throughout the first two weeks of the campaign, journalists' commentaries on the Conservatives were equally positive and negative, while their assessments of Reform were 25 percent positive and 26 percent negative.

Attention to the Liberal Party-the most discussed party by a significant margin on both networks-was critical, particularly on CBC. Anchor and reporter assessments of the Liberals on the public broadcaster were 36 percent negative and 20 percent positive, while on the private network negative assessments constituted 40 percent, and positive statements accounted for just 26 percent of journalists' statements. Criticisms focused on the initial decision to call an election just three-and-a-half years into the Liberals' mandate, the government's inability to reduce unemployment, constitutional floundering, and the GST "flip flop." However, assessments of Liberal policy positions constituted just 29 percent of CBC's and 21 percent of CTV's journalists' statements, with reviews of the Liberal campaign or ideology accounting for the remaining 71 percent of CBC and 79 percent of CTV anchor and reporter commentary.

Leaders' Soundbites on CBC During Weeks 1 and 2 of the Election Campaign (April 27 - May 10)

JEAN CHAREST                                                                                                                                                               Shortest: (4 sec) April 27, 1997
"Well, this campaign is going to be about the future, it's not going to be about, er, about the past."

Longest : (17 sec) May 7, 1997
"It isn't that there isn't the manoeuvring room to reduce taxes. The Liberals have now acknowledged that there is. Evidence of that is that they are ready to spend your money. The issue is: Will that money go back into your pockets or will Jean Chretien, the Liberal government continue to spend it?"

JEAN CHRETIEN
Shortest: (2 sec) April 27, 1997
"I'm visiting, I'm visiting the governor"

Longest : (22 sec) April 28, 1997
"When the Conservative today are proposing to give the money to the provinces in tax points rather than in cash...you know what that means....that means that in the years to come the rich provinces will have more money for that and the poor will have less! and it's not the Canadian way, the Canadian way is to give cash!"

GILLES DUCEPPE
Shortest: (1 sec) April 27, 1997
"Job, job, job"

Longest : (14 sec) April 29, 1997
"and we have to explain that those policies were taken by the government of Quebec mainly because, we, we didn't receive the 2 billion dollars for the . . . GST, and the sales tax like the . . . receive."

PRESTON MANNING
Shortest: (2 sec) May 8, 1997
"Chretien and Charest have no plans..." (Re: Unity issue)

Longest : (36 sec) May 6, 1997
"The biggest objection that women give to running for federal office at least we find, does not have to do with parties or party platforms, it is, it is the whole system, where women feel, more I think than men that the political system is destructive to family relationships and you know a lot of men will take the chance and hope they can manage whereas women won't, and a lot of women say to us "we do not like the confrontational partisan, in your face attitude in the house", and they say "If you could change the nature of that we would find running for public office more attractive."

ALEXA McDONOUGH
Shortest: (1 sec) April 27, 1997
"..So I say let's get on with it."

Longest: (22 sec) May 8, 1997
"Instead, the Liberal government cut federal investment in research and development in agriculture and most other areas by a total of more than 1 billion dollars. The wheat board, the Crow, Input costs, farm support, research; five Liberal farm promises made, five Liberal farm promises broken."

Reform Labelled as Racist by Television News:                                                      Incidents from Other Parties Ignored

CHARGES OF RACISM, INTOLERance, and extremism have been levelled against Canadian political parties almost 100 times in the first five months of 1997 on national television news. Ninety-three of these charges referred to the Reform Party, while two of them referred to the Liberal Party. The Progressive Conservatives, the New Democrats, and the Bloc Quebecois were not identified as racist, intolerant, or extreme on national television news during this same period.

News reports focusing on the Reform Party involved:

The only report on national TV news which discussed racism, intolerance, or extremism in relation to a political party other than Reform was the story about Liberal candidate Hector Clouthier and his blunt remarks about aboriginals.

National television news is, by the networks' own definition, focused on issues and events of concern to all Canadians coast to coast. CBC and CTV have determined that incidents linking the Reform Party to "racism," "intolerance," or "extremism" are nationally significant. No other parties were subjected to such intense scrutiny.

Is this fair treatment? To answer such a question, it is necessary to know if race-related incidents occurred which involved other parties but which were ignored by national television news.

In fact, two incidents involving racial comments took place side-by-side, in the same month, in the same British Columbia electoral district. The incidents, one involving the Tories and the other, Reform, were both reported on the front page of the Vancouver Sun but were not given equal prominence by the television networks.

Reform slip trumpeted as "racist" while Tory slip virtually ignored

In the suburban Vancouver riding of Surrey Central, Sikhs have become very active in the political process, so much so that in the June 2 federal election, Sikhs are standing as candidates for 3 of the 4 major parties in the riding. A reporter captured George Rigaux, a Reform Party official, on audiotape, complaining that Sikhs had conspired to manipulate the nomination process in Surrey Central. On the tape played on CBC, Rigaux can be heard making the following inflammatory remarks about Sikhs: "It's this damn temple. And now, for the first time, they're pulling out all the stops to get an MP from that institution. They don't care what political party they're in." The Rigaux incident was reported at length on CBC's the "National," CBC's "Politics," and the "CTV News" between April 22-23, 1997.

The national media described the Rigaux incident in the context of racism, but the Progressive Con-servatives' equally serious faux pas in Surrey Central was either ignored or downplayed. PC riding association president Sunil Ahuja told a reporter that the Progressive Conservatives were "concentrating on getting a white candidate" in Surrey Central.

On April 24, the "CTV News" did not report the incident. And CBC described Ahuja's comments as merely "controversial." Further, CBC's report on PC Ahuja twice questioned whether the Reform Party was racist. CBC's Terry Milewski stated: "But when Sunil Ahuja told the Vancouver Sun he wanted a white candidate, it was ammunition for Preston Manning. His party's often accused of harbouring racists and a Reform Party official in Surrey Central had to quit this week after saying Sikhs were manipulating nominations." Milewski concluded: "But with cameras and tape recorders rolling all over the land, as the campaign begins, it's not just the Reformers who will be nervous about local officials making controversial comments."

The ensuing firestorm forced Rigaux's immediate resignation, while Ahuja retained his party position. In essence, television reporters excoriated Reform's Rigaux, while dismissing Conservative Ahuja's comments as unimportant.

CBC determined to portray Reform Party as racist

CBC reporter Sasa Petricic appeared in an April 22 story in which he characterized the Rigaux incident as "a Reform stumble." After that statement, video footage was shown of an exasperated Reform MP Val Meredith, who, according to Petricic, was "lashing out in frustration." After presenting his case for the existence of racism within the Reform Party, Petricic summed up, offering his coup de grace: "Over the past three years, Reform's tried to put to rest charges of racism in the party. It's even threatened to sue opponents who make the accusation. But time and again Reform's protests have been overshadowed by comments that seem to confirm the worst."

CBC-NW pursued the Rigaux matter further. In an April 23 follow-up story on CBC-NW's "Politics," anchor Nancy Wilson discussed Rigaux's comments in the context of "racial intolerance" within Reform. In an interview, Wilson asked the Surrey Central Reform candidate, Gurmant Grewal, himself a Sikh, how "someone who has the views of Mr. Rigaux" could possibly be "a key organizer" for Reform without the party itself being racist. Later in the show, anchor Don Newman interviewed Reform Party leader Preston Manning about allegations of racism within the party and other topics.

Inexplicably, none of the networks attacked Sunil Ahuja or the Conservative Party as racist, despite the fact that Ahuja's comments offered reporters a virtual invitation to condemn his party as such.

Liberal fails to resign after assault on natives

Television did not, however, miss the opportunity to highlight Liberal candidate Hector Clouthier's scathing comments about Canada's aboriginal population. On April 22, 1997, after obtaining a videotape of Clouthier's comments, both CBC and CTV ran a full report. Neil MacDonald's 183 second report on CBC ran as follows:

Neil McDonald: Hector Clouthier, or "Hec" as he likes to be called, is the Liberal candidate in the Ontario riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke representing the self-described party of tolerance, the party of inclusion. Here's Hec Clouthier five years ago on the question of allowing more native management of natural resources.

Hector Clouthier (video clip): But before you start worrying about what [sic] in someone else's backyard I suggest you should take a look at your own. Many, many reserves, and I say this respectfully, leave a lot to be desired when it comes to proper management and cleanliness.

Neil McDonald: On native land claims.

Hector Clouthier (video clip): If you don't pay the piper, my friends, you don't call the tune. The natives are net consumers of public wealth on a scale that would simply astonish anyone who has lived or worked near them.

Neil McDonald: And on Native environmental policies.

Hector Clouthier (video clip): They are saying we're not interested in money and they want to get back to the land, and yet many of them are trying to wring every dollar they can get from the government through subsidies.

Neil McDonald: Those views were expressed by Clouthier just before the last election. As a result, the Liberals refused to let him stand for the party in 1993. He vowed to get even, ran as an independent, and lost. The Liberals then retaliated by expelling him and banning him from running as a Liberal for five years. Now, though, Clouthier is back. The party has changed its mind. All is forgiven. And today a contrite Clouthier retracted the remarks completely.

Hector Clouthier: I think they were rather obtuse, ill-headed, and just plain stupid. If anyone from the aboriginal community took offense to those remarks that I made on the night of February 10th, 1992, I truly am sorry and I regret having said them. I guess, what else can I say.

Neil McDonald: But on a local talk show in Pembroke months after he made the first remarks, Clouthier was sure of his convictions.

Hector Clouthier (video clip): I stand by everything I said that night. I will not retract any statements whatsoever.

Neil McDonald: And this is what he had to say at the time about Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Hector Clouthier (video clip): The bottom line is I believe he is not a leader.

Neil McDonald: For the record, Clouthier has changed his mind on that score too. He now says Jean Chretien is a good leader, a generous leader, and a friend. Senior Liberals say there was some internal debate about allowing Clouthier to run this time but in the end it was the Prime Minister himself who decided to sign Clouthier's nomination papers. The official party line is that Clouthier should not be punished forever for a few remarks he made a few years ago.

Canadians can only wonder if the national television networks would have pursued Clouthier with more zeal had he been a candidate for the Reform Party. Despite his statements, Clouthier remained a Liberal candidate and the networks dropped the story. The Liberal Party was not condemned as racist or intolerant or extremist by the media; the story simply died.

Reformer Lim attacked for "racist" remark

Reform Party candidate Janice Lim incurred the wrath of television reporters when she stated that customers have "the right to refuse service from blacks or gays." While some might say Lim's remarks simply expressed her viewpoint on the related issues of freedom of contract and freedom of association, the television networks attacked her for making racist comments.

On April 25, 1997, CTV's anchor Lloyd Robertson stated that the "shadow of racism" once again loomed over the Reform Party. CBC's Sasa Petricic was more specific in his accusations in an April 25 CBC "National" report. He asserted outright that Lim had made "racist comments." CTV's Dawna Friesen revisited the story April 27, 1997. In a larger story on the Reform Party campaign, Friesen spotlighted Lim's subsequent apology and asserted that the Reformer had made "a racist remark." CBC's Petricic also revisited the story the same day, but avoided mentioning in his report that Lim had apologized for her misstep.

Click here to view Table: Coverage of Racism and Politics, January 1, 1997 to May 25, 1997

Is it media bias?

These four race-related incidents, two involving the Reform Party, one involving the Tories, and one involving the Liberals, enables a direct comparison of the way the media reports racial issues in politics. On both television networks, the incidents involving Reform were given far more coverage than the incidents involving either the Conservatives or the Liberals. While the incident involving Reformer Rigaux was an example of "the explosive issue of racism in politics," (CTV) Tory Ahuja's comments were simply "controversial." Similarly, while the networks initially reported Liberal Clouthier's comments on aboriginals, far greater ado was made about Reformer Lim's statements on blacks and gays.

The Liberals and Conservatives have been embroiled in media driven race-related issues, but Canada's national television news has chosen to disregard these incidents. The Reform Party has been the subject of virtually all national television news reports discussing race and racism, even though the other parties have been involved in similar controversies. In particular, the media's lack of scrutiny of PC Ahuja's comment that the Conservatives were "concentrating on getting a white candidate" is an indication of different standards-one standard for Reform, and one for the other parties.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.