Sunday, May 03, 2009

Newman Versus Duffy!

It appears Newman is retiring from CBC. Bet he couldn't resist that healthy buyout package and hefty taxpayer pension. Can't say I blame him, I probably would have cut and run too. What is interesting is the reaction to his retiring as opposed to Mike Duffy's retirement from CTV. Sure, Duffy retired to become a Senator, and Newman is only retiring without any prospect of becoming a Senator, but it's interesting to see how the lefties perceive both retirements.

Duffy retires and becomes a Senator:

Elaine Paliwoda from Canada writes: I am sickened.

Mike Duffy should not have been on the air, pedalling partisan Conservative half truths, pushing character assassination of Mr. Dion, pushing Harper's talking points and misinforming Canadians. Mr. Duffy has been brutally undemocratic and unfair to Canadians, for his own self-interest.

Such partisan assassination such as that attempted by Mr. Duffy should not have been tolerated from people like him, who falsely claim they are a "news source". It's a very sad day for Canada when so-called "news" people who do not properly report truthful information, are in turn rewarded with a lifetime supply of dough, as though pre-arranged. And since everyone has been predicting this on blogs for years, it's pretty clear the fix was in, by Harper & Conservative TV (CTV) against Canadian's trust.

The demagogue has rewarded his jester with a lifetime of jewels. Some do it for 72 virgins, some accept their sheiks' oil money. In Harper-Canada, he sticks it to the taxpayer to make his propaganda artists comfy for life.


Newman retires:

Jean-Pierre Arenes from St-Mathias, Canada writes: Thank-you Don and good Luck.
You have provided me and countless of CBC viewers an unbiased insight in Canadian politics. Quite an accomplishment !

.... Herm Acat from Gravenhurst, Ont., Canada writes: I'll be sorry to see Don retire. He had the useful journalistic ability to come across as a nice guy while asking politicians relevant, tough questions, without seeming antagonistic.

Thankfully, Don's not following Mike Duffy's sleazy exit into the cushy Senate trough. (Did anyone else notice the softball nature of Duffy's questions to Tories prior to his being named to the Senate, a position he'd been actively lobbying for?)

.... Ronnieblue Acacia from Edmonton, Canada writes: What can I say that other commentators haven't already said. I often come home during the noon hour when Don hosted the program during Question Period. He asked tough questions and very insightful on what he was talking about. He didn't let his guests off easily and always ensured they stay on topic to the questions he was asking. He will be truly missed, and along with the recent retirement of Henry Champ, leaves a gaping hole in the political scene.


Unlike the pompous Mike Duffy, who was full of himself and much more style than substance ( and now we have to put up with him in the Senate), I wish Mr. Newman the very best in his retirement and whatever projects he may wish to take on next.


I suspect that the lefties don't even see their bias. They think Newman good, Duffy bad. Since Duffy has been gone, I have watched Power Play once or twice, it is a poor imitation of Mike Duffy Live, and now Politics will lose Newman, both shows will continue to tank no matter who hosts. Why? They look at 37% Conservative voters and 63% lefty voters and think they will win by slagging Conservatives. Not so.

Most voters are middle of the road voters, not Conservative or Liberal, they are not the ones watching these political shows, so they will make their minds up at election time.

What even my Liberal voting parents have noticed is that the media is biased, and they don't like it, they prefer to make up their own minds about who to vote for, not be told who they should vote for.

6 comments:

Skinny Dipper said...

It was painful to watch Mike Duffy in his last few months on Mike Duffy Live. He did pander to his Conservative guests. I can only paraphrase. He would thank his Conservatives guests by saying, "It has been an honour to have you on the show today."

Don Newman would probably say, "Thank you for being on the show today."

I like Don Newman because he does his homework. He knows the topic that he and his guests are discussing. He comes prepared with facts in case one of his guests makes misleading statements.

Tom Clark on CTV's Power Play can ask hard hitting questions to Conservative cabinet ministers. He just needs some time to make Power Play his own show.

I'm not so worried about the biases of broadcast journalists. I'm more interested in the quality of their journalistic skills. I would prefer to watch, listen, or read something from a high quality conservative journalist than left-wing drivel. I enjoy reading the British magazine, The Economist. Likewise, High quality progressive journalism beats Fox News pap any day.

Anonymous said...

"They look at 37% Conservative voters and 63% lefty voters and think they will win by slagging Conservatives"

The numbers are currently running a bit lower for the Cons (no?) but let's use 37% for the sake of your argument.

Yes, look at 37% Conservative voters and consider what percentage of that belong to the Alliance right. If you do that, the percentage of "lefties" in the voting pool is considerably higher. And the question of Conservative slagging grows more questionable. It's become too hard for the Conservative Party to hide it's socially conservative, far right agenda. That's all there is to it - there's nothing to slag. It's ugly and people don't want it.

Mary HInes said...

Funny how the Journalist criticize Mike Duffy for his bias - but we have to constantly listen morning noon and night to the LIBERAL bias of Jane Tabor, Oliver, Fife and Mansbridge - Fife even slipped the other night on "On The Hill" when talking about the liberals - said OUR PARTY - even Tom Clarke tried to correct him, but he went on and said "our party" again - referring to the liberal party and the big bash they were going to have in Vancouver. Well, every time I see Oliver, Tabor or Fife appear on TV - the TV goes immediately OFF - I have head all the liberal bias from them for the last time!

Soccermom said...

Don't write off that senate seat appt. for the Lipless Wonder just yet. He'll be among the first appointed by a new Iffy gov't should that come to pass.

Martin said...

like Don Newman. He is a terrific interviewer, arguably the best on TV today, and more important to me personally he has a great sense of humour. Not that he will lose that by leaving CBC. In fact it may well improve.

As you may know he has announced that he will take a retirement package from CBC. First it was the Friendly Giant, then Mr. Dressup, next it was the theme to Hockey Night in Canada, now Don??? What's next, local service?

Anyway, all of the staff here at the worldwide headquarters of Monte Solberg.ca wish Don all the best in whatever he does next!!
Guess who said that? Monte Solberg.

maryT said...

I still want to know, was his retirement voluntarily or requested.
Didn't Jim Munson go from ctv to the senate.