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There is a "growing disconnect between a moderate mainstream Canada and a more right-wing media elite," The Globe's Lawrence Martin writes today in his column As the media tilt rightward, so will the country
Mr. Martin was writing about CanWest, the conservative news chain (and the country's largest media company), officially launching a national news service to compete with Canadian Press and inaugurating its Global National newscasts out of Ottawa.
"The CanWest expansion will secure, among other things, a larger media presence for Western Canada, which has understandably chafed at Eastern bias . . .
"The Aspers have made a big leap. After purchasing the Southam News chain and The National Post from Conrad Black, they looked out of their depth and were roundly criticized for their management practices. Now they are growing in strength and impact.
Globe columnist Lawrence Martin
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"Their continued ascendancy is a major blow — tilt the message and you gradually tilt the mind — to the left and to moderates. The Aspers make no bones about their conservative bias. It is evident every day in their national flagship paper, The National Post, which regularly runs the likes of Charles Krauthammer.
"Given Canada's relatively small right-wing population, what the Aspers have achieved is all the more surprising. They have hardly been preaching to the converted. Their empire's growth exacerbates the trend that sees a growing disconnect between a moderate mainstream Canada and a more right-wing media elite."
Whether you agree or not, it's a provocative thesis.
That's why we're pleased that Mr. Martin was online earlier today to take your questions on his column and on federal politics in general.
Your questions and Mr. Martin's answers appear at the bottom of this page.
Mr. Martin is an Ottawa-based public affairs columnist for The Globe. His column appears on Mondays and Thursdays.
A best-selling author, Mr. Martin has written 10 books, including a two-volume study of Jean Chrétien and two books on Canada-U.S. relations.
He served as correspondent for The Globe in Moscow, opening the paper's bureau there in 1985 and as bureau chief in Washington and Montreal.
Earlier this week, Mr. Martin wrote in his column Harper ultimatums – we've seen this show before
"Last fall, Stephen Harper brought in the Throne Speech and declared that he would regard all his priorities as confidence votes.
"Usually, minority governments only fall when defeated on important budgetary measures. But the Prime Minister toyed with the system. He had every journalist in town reading tea leaves on election timing. He was declared a strategic genius. No election came.
"Now he's staging a repeat performance. It's ultimatum time again . . .
"Election speculation is dominating the news pages again, and now they're calling the PM, who is trailing the Liberals in two recent polls, a strategic genius. The result might well be the same: no election . . .
"When you don't like the conversation, change the conversation. The PM and his flock have taken a lot of abuse recently. Issuing ultimatums is a way of refurbishing his image as master controller.
"The only problem with his being a strategic genius is what's come with it: a decline in public standing. A poll on Friday had the Liberals at 33 per cent and Mr. Harper's Conservatives at 31 per cent. A recent one had his party at 29 per cent. That's hardly prime election positioning. But in the smoke and mirrors world of Ottawa, the PM has made it appear otherwise."
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Lawrence, welcome and thanks for joining us today to take questions from the readers of globeandmail.com.
For those of us who are not in Ottawa, it's a bit difficult to follow the ups and downs of election speculation.
