sanamark

You clearly DON'T know the facts then.

After the original error - in response to a request from the Province to pull down the column and apologize - to which the Tyee readily complied, the Province went ahead with the suit.

I'd say they're the ones who should have paid the Tyee's legal costs, and I'm sure, had it actually gone to court that would have been the final result. It was a vexatious misuse of the legal process, in my view.

I don't blame the Tyee for settling this way, that's the way business is done - but the suggestion that this was anything but a SLAPP suit from big media is absurd.

Organizations like CanWest only harm their credibility by such actions. Have you checked their stock price over the past 18 months?

As far as the ‘facts’ are concerned - you might care to look up the definition of constructive dismissal.

According to sanamark............

......... Gordo and his pals have made factual errors about RAV, the Convention Centre, the Olympics, etc., can I sue them?

Try this

He`s guilty several times over
181. Every one who wilfully publishes a statement, tale or news that he knows is false and that causes or is likely to cause injury or mischief to a public interest is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years
from the the Criminal Code of Canada. Think BC Rail Hydro should we all file a criminal complaint?

G West...

For the first time I will admit that you are correct in your post... with the exception of the "constructive dismissal" insertion, which is not legally applicable in this matter.

Imagine that!

Someone from Canwest went wayyyyyyy overboard, particularly after an apology and the retraction of the column.

The so-called "slapsuit" neither met the "smell" test nor the "reasonable" test.

By way of explanation.

I appreciate the comment.

Two cartoonists, who had spent their careers doing that particular job, were relieved from it and offered other employment...I think that, arguably, amounted to constructive dismissal and, had the Mair article implied that, rather than make the statement it did, there would have been no reason for any legal action whatever.

Which is why I made the reference - and, before posting the response, I checked with not one but two practicing attorneys.

I read the original journalism - before it was expunged in response to the Province's complaint and request for a retraction - and was, as I mentioned above, appalled at what I took to be an irresponsible action by an organization that ought to have known better.

Costs?

Those legal costs must have been significant.

As a guess, $20,000. for CanWest. And very likely the same for The Tyee and Rafe Mair.

Plus, to rub salt into the wound, a charitable donation in the name of the Pacific Newspaper Group.

Would $50,000. cover it? And was anything else demanded of The Tyee?

CanWest, in my view, has given itself a black eye. I can't see that this legal action was in any way remedial.

Will it affect The Tyee's future survival?

I don't want to pile on, and

I don't want to pile on, and it's concerning that The Tyee had to go to such lengths to make amends. But...

This particular author does make a habit of hyperbole, overstatement, and selective use of facts in a manner that not infrequently results in mendacious polemic rather than objective journalism. In this case, he saw what he wanted to see, and wrote what best complimented his prejudices. That's not the journalist's job, any more than it's the physician's job to invent illnesses and peddle mock cures. So as a result this author's highly characteristic self-indulgence, The Tyee was left vulnerable. But it wasn't the first time, and it's unfortunate that this pattern came to a head in this way.

If you don't want to pile on nightbloom...

Then don't.

Your remarks are uncalled for and, frankly, wrong.

Perhaps you missed the recent column where a remark of Rafe's that was deemed objectionable by another of his targets went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada...

He won that one too - just as he would have won this vexatious effort by CanWest to respond to an evolving media environment that it is no longer able or competent to compete in.

Have another look at their share values...

Just by way of example,

Just by way of example, Rafe's column immediately prior to the one that was pulled ("Translink Hijacked", Dec. 17, 2007) contained selective omissions of fact of the sort that I've come to regard as characteristic of this journalist. I remember commenting that, although I agreed with his critique, he should "try to avoid the temptation to butter (his) argument with highly selective omissions of fact".

So it's been a recurring problem. It's just unfortunate that it resulted in The Tyee being exposed to such a stern smack-down.

The problem is

You still don't understand - the only people who should be embarrassed are the folks at CanWest.

Opinion columns are meant to be persuasive and push a particular point of view - if you don't like buttering up, you should never watch Rex Murphy

If the mission of the

If the mission of the putative Fourth Estate is simply to stir the pot by polemic, exaggeration, half-truth and disinformation, then why take exception to the term "shock jock" and presume to dictate the very diction with which the Supreme Court chooses to articulate its judgment? He seems to want it both ways.

You still don't understand that the mission...

...of the fourth estate is not to slap down other media with idle intimidation and usurous legal costs.

That's the ONLY issue here - as explained very clearly up thread.

A piece of journalism chose to describe a particular action erroneously, the paper in question demanded an apology and a retraction - the journalist and his editor responded with the requested action.

The corporation in question then chose to forget the demand, ignores the fact that it had been fully complied with, and avails itself of legal and entirely redundant remedies. Actions which reflect far more on them than on anything the writer in this case was alleged to have done.

That's the whole story - nothing more, nothing less.

Your own pique with the writer in question, for reasons regular Tyee readers know only too well, appears to have blinded you to the obvious.

Stockwell Day is running CanWest?

How else to explain the RickMercer-worthy image of CanWest calling down thunder and lightning and righteous wrath upon the heads of Rafe Mair and The Tyee?

I thought it was only Stockboy who went about smiting those failing to adhere to his commandments.

If I could spell pyrrhic, I'd say CanWest won that kind of a victory.

.

Say watt??

Is that what alternative journalism is all about...to "choose" to describe the facts erroneously...??

'nuff sedd, bro.

nightbloom

You think its right that Can-West polices other media and sues them into compliance?

I have a feeling you'd rush to defend Mark Steyn or Ezra Levant if they were to cross a Can-West line.

Nightbloom

Yep! life is about choices - if Rafe Mair had said 'constructive dismissal' was the effect of the decision under scrutiny here then there wouldn't have been anything to retract...

As is was, he, and the editor of the piece made a 'mistake'...and then did everything in their power to correct it.

Since mistakes are something most of us make from time to time I think it's pretty clear who played bully boy in this psychodrama.

Like I wrote above, you don't like Mair much because he happens to write things about the RC Church that you don't agree with...so this little story gave you a chance to gloat and preen, over nothing.

It's exactly how your first post on the subject sounded - and every comment since has confirmed it.

You're welcome to that attitude - but don't think it fools anyone.

Gwest, this has nothing to

Gwest, this has nothing to do with this shock jock's pattern of catholic-baiting. Dunno why you even bring that up. It has to do with the other pattern you so aptly described as journalism that "chose to describe a particular action erroneously..." It's a pattern, and you don't seem to deny that fact, so any further editorializing about other commenters here is beside the point.

Frank, the merit that Mark Steyn has over the author in question (aside from superior writing skills) is that he doesn't pretend to be something he isn't. Mark Steyn would likely embrace the label "shock jock" (if he had a radio show) in the same manner that he openly acknowledges the polemic nature of his own writing and pleas 'guilty as charged' when people accuse him of gratuitous shit-disturbing. That's his job, and he doesn't pretend to be the saviour of journalistic integrity. Ironically, however, Mark Steyn did much more to awaken the public to the dangers a free media faces in Canada than Mair did.

Costs

Mary, when a court awards costs, it is not for legal fees but rather court fees, such as filing the Statement of Claim.

Rafe Mair has been dismissed a lot lately. This is his last refuge.

Ignore the CanWest Media

Were CanWest to "do everything in their power" to correct the errors in fact which they frequently engage in their reporting of political stories, then I might be willing to be sympathetic to their complaint. They never do because they have deep pockets. They got much more consideration from the Tyee than they ever deserve. Another reason to ignore them.

I don't deny that the wrong words were chosen

But you seem to ignore the impact of the rest of your post AND the fact that the Province's request to correct was complied with immediately.

As for integrity, that's plain - Mair has some - Steyn has none.

For someone from the east who knows, it seems, little or nothing about media matters here in the west, your ignorance is showing.

Steyn awakens the same kind of irrational urges and resentful feelings that Glenn Beck (musing about how it would feel to murder Michael Moore); Rush Limbaugh (sowing chaos in the political system) and Michael Savage (liberalism and same-sex marriage are evil and degrading American culture) do.

Please, be serious.

Oh, and where'd I get the idea

That your anger might be related to Mair's view on holy mother church -

I got the idea from YOUR posts on the subject.

Would you care to have me post a few of them?

Whoa, boy

Anger? The only person who sounds angry here is you.

No, I'm sure the last thing anyone here wants is another of your cut-&-paste rampages from other threads. You'll just have to accept the fact that not everyone is going to share your perspective on every issue, but that fact alone doesn't make them 'worse-that-Hitler'. We have a difference of opinion, so move along and spare me the innuendo about "mother church" and the whole "your ignorance is showing" routine.

nightbloom

That isn't the issue. The issue is whether Can-West should be Canada's journalism cop.

Saying that one writer is better than another makes it okay would mean I assume that you supported the suit brought against Ezra Levant? After all, no one I've ever heard has claimed Mr Levant is an excellent journalist.

As for Steyn, he writes polemics, its his stock in trade. Yet I wouldn't support the Toronto Star suing him over some minor detail.

The Tyee and Mair made a mistake over a minor matter and apologized immediately with a full retraction and yet they still ended up on the hook for no other reason than Can-West being vindictive.

Yep! Anger

This was your first post on this thread:

I don't want to pile on, and it's concerning that The Tyee had to go to such lengths to make amends. But...

This particular author does make a habit of hyperbole, overstatement, and selective use of facts in a manner that not infrequently results in mendacious polemic rather than objective journalism. In this case, he saw what he wanted to see, and wrote what best complimented his prejudices. That's not the journalist's job, any more than it's the physician's job to invent illnesses and peddle mock cures. So as a result this author's highly characteristic self-indulgence, The Tyee was left vulnerable. But it wasn't the first time, and it's unfortunate that this pattern came to a head in this way. [bolding in original]

Certainly sounds angry to me!!! Would you like me to pick out the indicator words or can you do that yourself?

And

Just for verisimilitude - and the information of any new readers out there who may not realize that nightbloom and Rafe have some 'history', check out the comments on this 2007 piece from right here at Tyee:

http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/10/22/SexRegPol/

Just a glimpse

of who the enemy really is.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1106
For once I applaud David Beers for at least having the guts to take on that kind of money and power.

What a relief!

Quote:
This particular author does make a habit of hyperbole, overstatement, and selective use of facts in a manner that not infrequently results in mendacious polemic rather than objective journalism. In this case, he saw what he wanted to see, and wrote what best complimented his prejudices.
Unquote

For a moment there, I thought you were talking about the Asper family; which of course has never had a hidden agenda or even an impure thought. http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/yellow.htm

Oops, remove it before they see it!

CanWest, Reuters remain at odds

Reuters news agency says it's "just going to continue to clarify [its] policy" with Canada's largest newspaper chain after an editorial in the chain's flagship daily, the National Post, indicated it would continue to insert the word "terrorist" in stories from Reuters and other wire services.

Speaking yesterday from New York, Stephen Naru, Reuters' global head of media relations, said his organization "hasn't responded" to the editorial, published on Saturday, which said Reuters' "use of euphemisms" such as "militant," "insurgent" and "extremist" to describe some of the people in the Middle East and Iraq "merely serves to apply a misleading gloss of political correctness." The Post editorial concluded: "We believe we owe it to our readers to remove it before they see their newspapers every morning."

I could go on...

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060703/cohleresses
but why bother?
You can google it yourself if you want to know the truth about Canada's dominant media player. Just type 'canwest yellow journalism' and read for the FACTS.

Frank said: Quote:"The Tyee

Frank said:

Frank, I totally agree (as I indicated above). And it is vindictive on Can-West's part. My only point is that the original error is part of a pattern I've noticed in this author's writing here, which has been criticized by myself and others before.

Gwest, I think that's off-topic and is an attempt to reprise a little vendetta you've had going for a long time now (and which has done so much damage to previous Tyee conversation threads). I'm not going to indulge you, so please refrain, and get back on topic.

Oh really

It's not off topic for you to spew venom at a particular Tyee journalist you've tangled with several times to the point where it became 'personal'?

You made the post in question - not me.

If you're going to play that kind of game - count the words of personal invective in those two parargraphs and think, for just a moment, about who's engaged in self-indulgence.

Yer Momma -

I enjoyed your contributions. Have you read Marc Edge's book?

Gwest, there were a number

Gwest, there were a number of occasions where I expressed agreement with something Rafe Mair had written (although those occasions made for far shorter & less interesting conversation threads). So disagreeing with him (even vigorously) is par for the course and hardly "spewing poison" (and he was more than happy to quote my words verbatim in a follow-up article, albeit somewhat disingenuously). Again, please try to focus on the subject of this specific discussion instead of trying to import controversies from other threads...otherwise I'll be tempted to correct you on your Humanae Vitae obfuscation, which I wasn't able to do before they closed down the thread that you linked above (they always seem to give you the last word). And you have some baggage here too, so let's just leave it at that.

Any time my friend

Any time.

This piece was about an ham-handed and unfair effort by a media bully to slapdown an independent and sometimes feisty new media voice.

That's all.

Your post injected the personal animus - not mine.

Carry on. As for any special treatment for moi here at Tyee - don't kid yourself.

No "personal animus" on my

No "personal animus" on my part here. Just the sanguine observations of a long-time Tyee reader.

I doubt this episode actually changes anything - The upside is that The Tyee is no longer being sued and Rafe will probably be required to be a bit more accountable to his editor for what he writes. My real sympathies are with the other Tyee writers who work hard to produce quality alternative journalism.

That's enough of that

I obviously disgree - and so, I'd say, does the management here - otherwise Mr Mair wouldn't be around here any longer.

I think it's fair to say he's not doing it for the money.

If you have anything further to say, you can contact me at