STRICTLY PERSONAL ‘ KIM CAMPBELL was ab- solutely right to blame the media for her defeat. And the media, it seems to me, shouldn’t be ducking its head and calling her paranoid or pretending we were innocent. We should stand up proudly and say, “‘Yes, we did her in. That'll teach her to mess with us,"” She was so ticked off with the _ media she insisted on an $18,000 government jet ride back to Ot- tawa after the defeat, rather than breathe the tainted air from news scumbags on a commercial flight. That’s a good indicaior of what kind of frugal government she would have run. Cleopatra would have loved it! - 1 will admit that she sucked some of: us in, however briefly. Even I, a callused wordsmith who has been covering elections, on and off, since 1961, got caught up in the initial rush, describing her, only half-pejoratively asa. ‘blonde, bombshell." Maybe it was the photo of her caressing a guitar in what looked like Stanley Park back you-° know-when (if you can remember) or the confession about a whiff of the herb, and let’s not forget that . bare shoulder thing. «However mysteriously it came about, an assumption formed ina few minds, at least, that Campbell was some kind of closet Joni Mitchell-love-beads-and-sister hood type. Sigh. Woulda been nice. But I think after one entire generation of Canadians’ having been burned by the experience of the last ap- parently groovy leader, Trudeau himself, nobody is fooled by make-believe hipness. So there was, admittedly, an element of letdown, when the philosopher-princess started bab- bling in a totally out-of-synch style, the flame of her ego causing backlighting problems for camera crews, and basically told everyone right off the bat to fall to their intellectual knees in tier presence. A let-down media is an ugly thing, It kind of thunders. It doesn’t immediately move. It mills out, sometimes for days. But when it begins its charge, look out! Once you spook the herd or tick them off, an electronic and print stampede occurs — either away from you, or toward you. Fear either. Kim teased the herd, then tried to control it by snapping her finger. Good luck. The reason ! say the media should admit their triumph over Kim is that, if we don’t, we're just pussyfooting around. Of course the media creamed Kim, What’s new? There isn’t anything shocking or surprising about the power of the media to do this. It is one Gf the oldest features of democracy, Pre- democracy, actually. For all her academic airs, the former prime minister obviously knew nothing about the history of the press, She clearly saw the inedia as a passive machine that could be ma- nipufated by PR men and backroom operators, sort of like scratching a dog. All she had to do was mug for the cameras, be seen mingling, bang off a few gnostic quips. She didn't seem to know (maybe it just slipped her mind) that the press were one of the key agents of change.in revolutionary times, He will bring... Renewal, Energy & Vision to our City Hall. The assault on Europe's autocratic monarchies was trig- gered by the invention of the printing press, and itis not just Marshall McLuhan who made this point. Any historian can tell you that. Through the election, | ruminated in this space about the power of modern media, and | reminded the gentle reader that there is really no such thing as objectivity. The attitude of the media itself is a filter through which only so much can pass at any one time. What gets through is subtly selected. My argument is that since media exists by nature in the interface between contending powers in our society, it is therefore the most strategic ground. | don't say im- portant, | say strategic. Who controls the media has a pretty good lock on power. That’s why, obviously, totalitarian states immediately close down indepen- dent voices. And that’s why free, unfettered, diverse and independent media, with lots of different voices, have to exist, so no one lock can be clicked into place. I suggested, just after she won the Tory leadership, that the best thing Ms. Campbell could do was go hide, out of range of any mikes or cameras, on a mountaintop somewhere until the election was over, and she'd probably win. But if she got any more overex- posed than she already was, she was doomed. Even then, we were beginning to know her too well. Alas — for her sake — she chose to take the opposite course. (Funny, Mulroney was like that, too.) Boom! Gone! Both of them, But that’s parenthetic now. This thought only hit me after the election, when an army of Tories was suddenly gone, swept almost effortlessly aside, but the same reporters and anchors and editors and producers were there, covering the new political world just as they had covered the last one. For the politicians, it was an earthquake, but the pundits pun- dited on. Politicians may seem more powerful, but they are checked dramatically. By the media, of course, as well as each other. But also by the bureaucracy, because the various departments and ministries, with all their staff and files and com- puters, arg still there, too, the day after, standing by ready to say to REMENI @ their so-called political masters, **Yes, Minister,”’ while in fact, being able to control whether something happers or not just by sitting on their hands. Well, that was the revolution. Now I guess we get back to fighting over trees and fish and animals and air and water and rocks and stuff like that. PREETI November 11, 1993 The flower that means peace. We ask you to remember all those who are only memories by your donation to. the fund which helps ex service- men and women and their dependents in time of need. WE CARE WEAR A POPPY — DISPLAY A WREATH POPPY TAG DAYS ~— NOVEMBER 4,5,6 THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION Br. #148, 123 W. 15th St, N. Van 988-3712 or 985-3255 Br. #60, 580 - 18th St, W. Ven. 922-1920 AN.ALF, Vets of CDA #45 119 E. 3rd St., N. Van. . 208-7611 SEVEN GOOD TERMS | Mayor Jack Loucks' past good work includes: « tight control over budgets producing one of the lower tax rates inthe G.V.R.D. « development of Lonsdale Quay. « the retention of Park & Tilford Gardens. * creation of a heritage preservation program. «arelatively debt tree government. s fireboat protection. « well managed growth. senhanced community policing (i.c.: Block Watch & Victim Assist. programs). s establishment of the region's largest park: Lynn Head- waters Park (former City watershed). Pay od 1630 L; Br NN yar 20 “aa DESERVES ANOTHER! Re elect Jack Loucks, kis experi- enced leadership will help achieve: « development of Lower Lonsdale in a manner that's sensitive to community needs. « construction of a new police building. a construction of a new Westview interchange. / a development of the Fullerton site with public access to waterfront. ® continued tight control of taxes. 1 ® redevelopment of the Versatile site (Burrard Shipyards). ® continued high health standards under new health care system. « continued enjoyment of safe and healthy neighbourhoods through enhanced community programs.