MacIntyre Shocked, Shocked! That Harper is a Conservative.

Vincent J. Curtis

26 Feb 15

Linden MacIntyre, a nice fellow in person, is an author and a retired investigative journalist from the CBC.  He started work for the CBC in 1976 and headed the 5th Estate program from 1990-2014.  A couple of days ago he spoke at an event, delivering a speech entitled, "Propaganda in the age of media decline."  The story was reported by Daniel Nolan and published in the Hamilton Spectator.

In the course of his remarks, Mr. MacIntyre is quoted as calling Prime Minister Stephen Harper, "The most ideologically driven Prime Minister we're ever had..."

Below are my comments to the Spectator.

 

Linden MacIntyre is quoted as saying that Stephen Harper is “The most ideologically driven Prime Minister we’ve ever had…”  Mr. MacIntyre, an investigative reporter by trade, apparently has never heard of Pierre Trudeau.

 

The ideology Mr. Harper allegedly is addicted to has a name.  It is called “conservativism.”  The investigative reporter finds it shocking that the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada would adhere to a philosophy of conservativism.  And not just adhere to it, but adhere to it in a principled way.  He is not corruptible by the prospect of favorable treatment in the press.  MacIntyre is appalled by Harper’s incorruptibility!

 

The larger aspect of Mr. MacIntyre’s talk was about the parlous state of reporting in this day and age.  One can see why in his remarks reporting is in such a state.  Mr. MacIntyre himself is addicted to, what is called in the game, the “narrative.”  What gets reported and how it is reported is done to support the “narrative.”  Facts are selectively presented to the public to support the larger “narrative.”  At present, and for many decades, the narrative has run against conservative themes, beliefs, and values.  How many times have we heard in the media that this or that was immoral, illegitimate, suspect, or just plain wrong?

 

The Conservative government knows this.  The hostility of the narrative carried by the CBC towards conservatism explains why Conservative governments are hostile to the CBC, and why Liberal governments are favorable to the CBC.  Mr. MacIntyre was a long-time employee of the CBC and he expresses surprise and disappointment that a Conservative government would try to suppress the anti-conservative value narrative of a tax-payer subsidized government entity.  Who does he think is running the store?  Do elected governments have real legitimacy only if they support the values de jure of left-wing-ism?

 

There are perfectly reasonable arguments to be made for the government of Canada and the Canadian taxpayer to get out of the television broadcasting business.  It may be unwise, but to advance such a position is not beyond the pale of morality, as Mr. MacIntyre seems to hold.

 

The parlous state of reportage is in part due to the persistence of “narratives” in reporting.  The public chooses to watch things that are congenial to it, and left-wing-ism is not innately congenial to even the majority of people, which explains the persistence of conservativism through the ages.  Sooner or later the narrative gets boring, the people delivering it get boring, and people who don’t like listening to it will find other amusements.  In a business, this results in a fall off of audience share and a loss in revenue.  The company has to change or die.  Changing or dying is harder to accept when one works for a government agency dedicated to the advancement of that which is boring.

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