{"id":548,"date":"2024-11-16T20:44:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T20:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/?p=548"},"modified":"2024-11-17T20:42:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T20:42:01","slug":"very-different-positions-very-evident-as-panel-tackles-purpose-of-political-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/2024\/11\/16\/very-different-positions-very-evident-as-panel-tackles-purpose-of-political-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Very different positions’ very evident as panel tackles ‘purpose of political journalism’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kory Teneycke, Emilie Nicolas, Desmond Cole, Amira Elghawaby and Rick Harp discuss the meaning of political journalism during a panel discussion at the Reimagining Political Journalism conference at Carleton University on Nov. 16, 2024. [Photo \u00a9 Natasha Baldin]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Nkele Martin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moderator Adrian Harewood kickstarted Saturday morning\u2019s first panel \u2014 titled \u201cWhat is the Purpose of Political Journalism\u201d \u2014 by noting that the assembled speakers \u201chave come at this question from very, very different positions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives would become apparent over the next hour or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five panelists, journalists representing an array of career trajectories and ethnocultural backgrounds, had a lively conversation that confirmed Harewood’s introductory observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Emilie Nicolas highlights the parallels between political journalism and sports commentary during a panel discussion at the Reimagining Political Journalism conference at Carleton University on Nov. 16, 2024. [Photo \u00a9 Natasha Baldin]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The discussion began with each participant providing a personal take on political journalism\u2019s purpose. Answers varied but a few common themes emerged: holding truth to power and making political systems more transparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Podcaster and radio host Rick Harp, founder of MEDIA INDIGENA, said all journalists should be, at the very least, \u201cconversant with power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel that the role of a journalist is to make power plain \u2014 perceptible, legible, accessible, intelligible, and fallible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rick Harp discusses the intersection between political journalism and advocacy during a panel discussion at the Reimagining Political Journalism conference at Carleton University on Nov. 16, 2024. [Photo \u00a9 Natasha Baldin]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A question posed by Harewood about the role of advocacy in journalism sparked a fruitful debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the question, panelists spent considerable time discussing and debating recent news coverage \u2014 particularly by The National Post <\/em>\u2014 about the controversial playing of Haza Salam<\/em>, an Arabic-language song about the eternal search for peace and justice, during Remembrance Day ceremonies at Ottawa\u2019s Sir Robert Borden High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics, including Jewish-Canadian organizations, claimed the decision to play a song sometimes played in the context of the current Israel-Hamas war and Israeli military attacks on Gaza was disrespectful to Canadian veterans and offensive to Jewish Canadians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cole, a former Toronto Star<\/em> columnist, decried the Post<\/em>\u2019s coverage as deeply biased and missing many key facts, including the voices of Arab Canadians. He highlighted an incorrect quote published by the Post<\/em> that claimed Haza Salam<\/em> was the only song played that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A debate on the topic ensued between public relations executive Kory Teneycke \u2014 former head of the Sun News Network and a former top advisor to Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper \u2014 and Cole and Amira Elghawaby, the former journalist now serving as the federal government\u2019s special representative combatting Islamophobia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cole has written about<\/a> the uproar over the song, including an interview with a Middle Eastern student who described the song as \u201cbeautiful\u201d and felt much differently about the controversy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cole\u2019s story included a photo of the school\u2019s main sign vandalized with the spray-painted words \u201cHamas High.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The principal of the school, Aaron Hobbs, later apologized for including the song in the ceremony and failing to recognize that it was \u201cpolitically charged.\u201d But many ardent critics have called for him to be fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Post<\/em>, Cole said, was on an \u201cadvocacy mission\u201d with stories like its coverage of the Sir Robert Borden High incident. \u201cThey are not interested in whether or not that parent\u2019s claim is true or false, and actually, I think that they included a parent saying it because it\u2019s just \u2018seemingly an opinion that a parent had\u2019 and masking the fact that their job there was to report on what actually happened at the ceremony,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cole acknowledged that his responsive piece was advocacy, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amira Elghawaby, a former journalist now serving as the federal government\u2019s special representative combatting Islamophobia, said that significant voices missing from a story like the Robert Borden High incident fuels division and disenfranchisement in Canadian society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to Cole\u2019s point about the National Post<\/em> story, Teneycke argued that critics need to look at coverage from a wider perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe National Post <\/em>has a filter, an approach\u2026 We should be striving to not have that [factual inaccuracy] happen. However, there is a perspective in every story,\u201d said Teneycke, CEO of Rubicon Strategy Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBalance is pretty difficult to achieve in one story, in one media outlet. I think you\u2019ve got to look at it all as almost a collective body of work and then make your own assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cIf you look at political journalism as some sort of perfect thing, that in one story, you\u2019re going to get everything right and everything is going to be represented in every viewpoint and there\u2019s going to be no factual errors, I think that\u2019s destined for failure. I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Desmond Cole highlights the need for diverse voices in political coverage during a panel discussionat the Reimagining Political Journalism conference at Carleton University on Nov. 16, 2024. [Photo \u00a9 Natasha Baldin]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The contentious topic wove its way through the panel\u2019s conversation, arising for a final time during the Q&A period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emilie Nicolas, sitting between Cole and Teneycke, occasionally mediated the differences in opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you have a fish, you don\u2019t ask it to identify the water in which it swims,\u201d she said, highlighting the panelists disparate perspectives. \u201cYou\u2019re just a product of the water you swim in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comments by Nicolas, a Le Devoir<\/em> columnist, took the conversation in a new and unexpected direction: political horserace coverage, or what Nicolas referred to as \u201csports commentary” applied to politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolas said her work, which explores the effects of the Canadian political status quo, has been well-received. And she noted that those who want to see more of her brand of analysis want less political journalism framed like sports coverage, a statement that drew applause from the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kory Teneycke discusses the role of political journalism in today’s changing landscape during a panel discussion at the Reimagining Political Journalism conference at Carleton University on Nov. 16, 2024. [Photo \u00a9 Natasha Baldin]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This form of political journalism, which she described as \u201cwhich powers should be exchanged\u201d and \u201cwho\u2019s up, who\u2019s down,\u201d does not acknowledge that power has consequences on people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That conversation, which included input from all five panelists, widened into a broader discussion of the atmosphere of Canadian political journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the question that the host is asking is, \u2018Which horse is ahead in the race?\u2019 a conservative and far-left person can agree on which horse is ahead,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are consequences to that kind of diverted focus, she added. \u201cThere is a conversation of actual policies and its effects it might have on people that become very hard to have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teneycke favourably compared aspects of sports and its coverage to politics while Elghawaby stressed the need for political journalism to \u201cgo deeper” in its probes of public issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elghawaby noted the relative success \u2014 at least in terms of attracting eyeballs \u2014 of sharply opinionated pieces compared to more moderate or explanatory journalism. She questioned if there was a way to better engage broader audiences without reinforcing individuals’ sometimes narrow viewpoints, effectively fragmenting audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harp said journalists may need to discuss an additional approach to covering the world of politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amira Elghawaby challenges our conventional understanding of political journalism during a panel discussion at the Reimagining Political Journalism conference at Carleton University on Nov. 16, 2024. [Photo \u00a9 Natasha Baldin]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wonder if what we need is what we might call \u2018apolitical\u2019 journalism \u2014 journalism for the people who don\u2019t vote,  who feel disaffected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolas warned of the dangers of a \u201cBritish Private Boys Club\u201d culture in political discourse in which debate on serious ideas is not common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to find a culturally unique solution that speaks to our strengths as Canadians,\u201d she said, \u201cbut also acknowledges our weaknesses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nkele Martin Moderator Adrian Harewood kickstarted Saturday morning\u2019s first panel \u2014 titled \u201cWhat is the Purpose of Political Journalism\u201d \u2014 by noting that the assembled speakers \u201chave come at this question from very, very different positions.\u201d That range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives would become apparent over the next hour or so. The five … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","latest_post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":693,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548\/revisions\/693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/reimagining-political-journalism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}