Journalism 101

Listening to Michael Enright's show on CBC this morning, I was very surprised to hear that Prime Minister Harper had said on Farreed Zakaria's show last week that the Taliban could not be defeated. As I noted in a post last week, Harper said nothing of the sort. What he did say was that western military might alone would not defeat the Taliban, or any other insurgency, but that insurgencies such as this can be managed and controlled by competent and effective local governments aided by foreign powers. He further suggested that Canada might well have a role in making a contribution to this kind of transformation, though it would be very careful in assessing that role.

Again, I am amazed and depressed by the capacity of the MSM, and the CBC is certainly that, to get it wrong by putting their own spin on a story. If Enright is "the hardest working man in radio" as many of his fans describe him, then surely he, or one of assistants would have taken time to listen to the Zakaria interview. This is not an issue of left or right. Those in favor of military intervention have been just as guilty of inaccuracy and spin. It is simply an issue of separating fact from opinion and being honest about which is which.