Buying Consent

I'm no fan of Norman Spector, but if I had to choose (shudder), I'd take him over a paid shill like Bourque anyday. Still, you're better off finding your own news rather than having it filtered through someone else's agenda - it's not really that hard, what with the internet and all.

I guess most people still use newspapers as their primary filter, although you can never be sure who's setting their agenda either. Witness this movie industry propaganda piece which showed up in the Globe, conveniently timed ahead of the introduction of a bill on intellectual property law here in Canada. Good to see the Globe's commenters taking them to task for their embarassingly one-sided article.

I always wonder how these things come about. Does the industry (or the government, representing industry) have a meeting with the editors where they explain their point of view, while casually remarking that a little favourable coverage wouldn't be amiss? Is it just a personal connection of some sort? I guess it could just be coincidence, but I am doubtful - I've seen this sort of thing too many times. I'm not cynical enough to think that the Globe would be explicitly trading stories for something tangible in return, but it does seem as though there is influence being exerted behind the scenes sometimes.