There was a time when a conservative political leader from Calgary thought reporters and their newspapers were too big for their britches and he set out to cut them down to size.
No, we’re not talking about prime minister Stephen Harper and his current tug-of-war with the reporters who cover him on Parliament Hill.
We’re talking about premier William Aberhart and the original Battle of Alberta.
Aberhart and the Social Credit movement swept to power in 1935 determined to challenge many of the capitalist establishments of the day, the press among them.
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Relentless hostility between the Alberta newspapers and the new premier with his radical ideas brought the Press Act, which passed the Legislature on Oct. 5, 1937. Newspapers would be forced to publish a government rebuttal to any story or editorial the politicians decided was “inaccurate.”
The Edmonton Journal fought the bill all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing it was a fight for Canadian free-speech rights. The Supreme Court tossed the bill out and the Journal won a special “public service” Pulitzer Prize in 1938 for its efforts.
Now that’s a real case of tension between the governors and those who report on them. In comparison, what is transpiring on Parliament Hill these days between Harper and the press does not even qualify as a skirmish.
The symbolic core of the dispute sounds trivial – who gets to decide which reporters will be able to ask questions when the prime minister is holding a news conference?
For decades, a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery (all reporters on the Hill must be members to be recognized by Hill security) has chaired news conferences and assigned questions based on gallery needs. The Harper prime minister’s office says it will decide who gets the privilege. Reporters fear it is a slippery slope to media control.
Harper thinks media are too self-important, too Liberal, too anti-West and anti-Conservative. The stand off continues.
Memo to news consumers: this will not affect the news you receive, the government will be covered, and life goes on.
Memo to Harper: you are getting some of the most admiring coverage I’ve seen in 26 years and seven prime ministers on the Hill. Relax and enjoy yourself.
Memo to the gallery: you don’t have to talk to Stephen Harper to find out what his government is doing. There are lots of sources.
Memo to both sides: move on. There’s governing to do and a government to cover.
