Media mysteries

   Judging by the chitchat around Ottawa and on the blogosphere, there are three great mysteries in the Ottawa media universe right now.

1. What happened to Edward Greenspon, the recently ousted editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail? As some colleagues have noted, his departure, if not his entire existence, has been airbrushed out of reports about the fact that there's a new guy in charge at Canada's national newspaper.

2. What's going on with CBC Newsworld's Politics show after Don Newman's departure? A little blog entry by Ian Capstick today has gone viral across the blogosphere, helped by its prominence on the National Newswatch site.

3. Will CanWest avoid bankruptcy? For months now, we've heard the cycle of creditor deadlines reached, deadlines extended, etc., but as of now, we don't know if the empire will soldier on or simply crumble.

Perhaps there's a fourth mystery here. Why is the  media so bad at reporting on itself?  Clearly, judging from the talk I've heard around this town, there is interest in knowing the story behind the stories here.  

 Maybe we're reluctant to report on people with whom we've worked, shared a paycheque. (That's my main excuse, by the way.) Maybe we assume that it's self-indulgent to dwell on these job issues, when so many other Canadians have their own employment concerns. (That's also a concern for me.) Maybe there are legal issues, preventing full disclosure.

What is strange is that "can't say" or "don't know" seem to be acceptable answers when it's a story about the media, but those same answers would be unacceptable in business or political reporting.

Comments

[Catherine]

Another media question, Ms. Delacourt.

After smearing mud for Jason Kenney, what is the responsibility of the participating media figures to actually reporting on the outcome?

Responsibilities to the family name of elected officials?

Responsibilities to the folk that made the allegations? Both political and workers?

[Wascally Wabbit]

1. It's Creepy!
2. It's stupid!
3. It's deserved!
4. It's sad!

[woods]

Catherine, the answer appears to be "none" according to the media.

The Star is not even covering the conflicting reports and was not interested in asking obvious questions. The Caregiver Resource Centre seems to have split over this, with Rodriguez, supported by Cervantez, suggesting political motivation and that this cannot be allowed to 'die a natural death' with unproven allegations hanging over Dhalla. But no one, media, government, police, nannies, seems interested in investigating any further. I guess their opinion poll gave the desired effect.