Harvey Oberfeld is becoming the scourge of his former colleagues in television news, via the blog he launched a few months back. The latest target of his outrage: Global TV, his former employer, which comes in for a whacking because it paid $5,000 to the Vancouver police charity in order to secure an interview with rescued kidnap victim Graham McMynn.
"It is my own sad view that the news standards at Global TV (and some other current major media as well) are not what they used to be. But payment for an interview surprised even me! I hope other news stations do not follow Global's precedent. I hear CTV was approached but refused to pay. I applaud that decision," blogs the award-winning, 38-year veteran political news reporter, now retired.
In the same item, he wickedly suggests a fees-to-charity rate scale for further interview buys. "Candidate for any public office $500 (20-second clip)... and no questions asked." Talking to a convicted criminal? That's should fetch $5000.
Oberfeld was early to assail local television stations CTV, Global and CHEK for giving Premier Campbell, who refused to open the legislature, free air time to give his speech last week.
Oberfeld then scolded radio station CKNW for "hyping" the premier's message in six hours of special coverage the next day, and in a third post he slammed the same outlets for "adding insult to injury" by giving Opposition leader Carole James' address short shrift a few nights later.
Oberfeld's "Keeping it Real" blog is hardly the home of delicate nuance. A sample: "By carrying the whole speech inside their 'news' programs, I would call CTV, Global, and CHEK the premier's private 'whores' … but I would in fact, be wrong. Because apparently they didn't even get paid for their air time. Did they just give it away? That just makes it all worse.... and makes them political sluts, not whores."
But in a province whose corporate media players are shy about keeping each other honest on ethics and bias, Oberfeld is emerging as a credible voice of conscience.
David Beers is editor of The Tyee.
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Skywalker
3 years ago
Way to go Harvey!
This is not the first time I have seen a journalist start telling it like it is. But it is always after years of staying between the publishers lines. If this is the product of some move to assuage the guilt for the years of not being able to say what one actually felt so be it. It is welcomed. Maybe the bias is just becoming too blatant to be ignored by any journalist with self respect. The internet may just be the organ that beats the corporate propaganda machine.
I too watched the Carole James coverage. There was a 30 second clip of James and then Jim Beatty summarized what she had proposed. I don't much care for James but Beatty could barely contain the contempt in his voice and hide the ridicule from his face. Perhaps he felt the same about Campbell but he never got the chance to do it on him. I thought it was over the top. Typical though.
RossK
3 years ago
The HarveyO Effect.....
It's good for what ails Lotusland's Monolithic Media!
______
(well, that and The Tyee too, of course)
(and maybe PublicEye also)
.
BC Mary
3 years ago
The HO effect ...
... and Pacific Gazette ... and maybe The Legislature Raids ... which reminds me, David & Co., I was pretty sure you'd be OK with seeing your tribute to Harvey re-posted at my place so I ... um, errrr ... well, I hope it's actually OK.
Worthy cause & all that. In fact, it's a downright pleasure to have stories like that.
Thanks, all.
David Beers
3 years ago
BC Mary
But of course! thanks.
HarveyO
3 years ago
Keeping It Real
Thanks for mentioning my blog. Now that I am retired, I am really enjoying still giving back to the community by fighting for better, highly principled journalism and political discourse. I am really not intending to single out my former wonderful working place BCTV ... but, under Global, they ARE still the #1 TV news show, they are the ones who paid for an interview and I am saddened to see what has happened generally to my once beloved Newshour and to journalistic standards in Vancouver in general (my Blog archives has many details).
Maybe one day the penetrating (and fun) reporting will return; the news will cover politics as fairly and as well as it used to and once more start breaking more in-depth well-researched stories on real issues than just feeding us so much crime, fires, accidents and puffery pieces. Then I can really retire!
Harv Oberfeld