Reversal on Media Access to Repatriations
Back in April, I wrote about the government’s change in policy on allowing media access to the repatriation of Canadian soldiers killed abroad. This was my position:
Joining the Canadian military and fighting abroad are public acts. When you join the military, you know you might fight, and that your actions (and, to be grim, your death) might be reported by the media.
More importantly, the public owns the plane, airfield and infrastructure where the return of our war dead takes place. We deserve access to that site if we want it. Lastly, I value freedom of the press.
I just heard a follow-up report on the CBC’s The National (nothing online yet) which verified that policy change indeed came from the government, and that the military disagreed with it. For a Prime Minister who advocated transparency throughout his campaign, this sounds highly suspect.
Apparently the Prime Minister’s Office received enough angry letters and emails from Canadian citizens to reverse their decision. The media was granted full access to the repatriation of our latest fallen soldiers.
July 21st, 2006 at 6:55 am
Here’s one I like: media access to repatriation of Canadian soldiers - disrespectful, exploitative (according to Harper).
Keeping the official photographer on the plane, so that he can photograph Harper and his wife welcoming exhausted refugees from Lebanon onto their plane - “important for our national memory”.