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12th
SEP
CTV and the power of three
Posted by jsallot under Election 2008, Election 2008 Media commentary
Jeff Sallot
The big story in the first week of the campaign is the way Green Leader Elizabeth May’s plea for simple fairness ignited a firestorm of a reaction from voters in cyberspace and in talk radio land, forcing the other leaders and the TV news network execs to back down and allow her to participate in the upcoming TV debates.
But you’ve got to wonder if the producers of two of CTV’s major news and current affairs programs, Mike Duffy Live and Canada AM, have missed this point. The Duffy show on prime time last night had two separate political panels featuring activists or candidates from the Conservative, New Democratic and Liberal parties.
This morning Canada AM had a panel of talking heads with reps from the three same political parties.
What happened to the Greens? Or the Bloc, for that matter?
You can argue that these CTV programs are national and the Bloc is not a national party. I’m not even sure if I were a BQ candidate in Quebec if I would think an appearance on Canada AM or Mike Duffy Live would help me get my message out where it counts for my campaign. But I would be very surprised if the Greens wouldn’t have put somebody up to appear on these panels.
A panel with three guests works on TV. Four is awkward. Five is a real crowd. Photojournalists sometimes talk about the power of three, meaning three people in a picture gives you better opportunities to find interesting compositions. Four or five faces is tough to work with. Nevertheless, during an election campaign journalists have to do more than worry about a crowded frame.
CTV has had Green Party reps on its programs in the past. And CTV no doubt will have many other opportunities to cover the point of view of the Greens as the campaign runs its course.
But the very week that the Greens were forcing themselves on to the political agenda seemed like an odd time to broadcast political panels with only the Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats.
Something wasn’t quite right with this picture.
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September 12, 2008 -
Election 2008, Election 2008 Media commentary -
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I think it is up to the networks to decide whether the Greens deserve a place on their panels. My view is that the the greens are a one-issue party that is used by casual voters as a place to park a vote. I am still not convinced that the Greens have yet earned a real place as a major national party.
Yet under election and party financing law the Greens get money along with the other four parties as the Green Party won more than two per cent of the vote nationally in the past two elections – actually above four per cent in 2004 and 2006. Doesn’t the Bloc Quebecois fall under the one-issue party heading as well?