The updates are flowing fast and furious lately eh?
So yea, softwood. Let me start this post by recounting another of the debates we had when I was editor in chief at the Charlatan. See, during that wonderful year, former-NDP-premier-turned-advidsor-du-jour-now-Liberal-leadership-hopeful Bob Rae released his study into post-secondary education in Ontario. The rat bastard had the gall to release it late on our deadline day and we as a staff, after seeing the litany of complaints raised by student groups, elected to run an editorial that basically said, “gee, maybe we should all study this incredibly thorough document rathern than grab paragraphs that suit our agenda and try to create an argument.”
Seems simple, yes? Well, we certainly took flak from the same groups for “not supporting the student cause.”
Fast-forward to today.
The softwood agreement was announced yesterday very late. Reporters and pundits undoubtedly scrambled to digest it and formulate their opinions. The thing is, while politicians are expected to react instantly and have their say, people turn to the media to help get a clearer picture of the deal and the political climate that gave it life.
Which is why the Globe has me scratching my head this morning.
The lead story is pretty solid, it looks as the deal, gets comments from major players and generally gives a good overview. However, the other story on A1, an analysis piece by Brian Laghi, leaves me a bit confused. His argument is fairly cogent – Harper is ready to do what needs to be done with or without the provinces on side. But turn to A8 to read the conclusion of the piece and you find it wedged underneath a mutli-bylined story outlining how BC and Ontario rallied together to change the proposed deal to suit their demands.
Aren’t those two theses at least somewhat contradictory?
I understand the media feels compelled to fill as much space as they can when a major story like this breaks but rushing to conclusions doesn’t really serve anyone. Remember, these aren’t opinion pieces or columns, they are news and analysis pieces. The public expects some degree of objectivity and fact. Coming to two such different conclusions about the nature of this deal just makes a complex issue harder to digest.