The Cons vs Media vs the CBC

The Cons hate the CBC.  We already know that.

The question is why are they attacking the ‘mainstream media’ and ‘Ottawa media elite’?

In the run-up to the 2015 federal election, it’s important to clarify to important evolving issues in order for the Cons to win:

1. There is a ‘liberal media’ out there with a liberal agenda
2. The CBC must be destroyed

The answer to my question above:  the Cons want to pretend that there’s tension between their party and the mainstream media because when the mainstream finally endorses the Cons, they look like they’re being objective with their decisions, despite the pretense of animosity.

The Cons (and other parties) will spend millions on the mainstream media and the Cons in particular will have a distinct advantage because, despite the pretense of tension, they will get significant discounts on the ads they buy because they are buying media under bulk rates via the federal government.  Their media buys will get blurred between apparent messages for the public interest versus messages broadcasting attacks on the opposition and competition.

In fact, it’s probably safe to say that the Cons have already booked their media plans and communication strategy for the 2015 election and run-up in order to maximize both (a) their dominance and what media folks call the ‘reach frequency’ factor (ie. maximizing the number of people with the maximum number of repeat messages) and also (b) limit any remaining air time or space in order to increase the cost of buying this media for other parties.

In other words, the 2015 election has already been bought.

Now, let’s take a peek at some other evolving issues that will have an impact on the 2015 election:

1. Pay for play
2. The Demise of Hockey Night in Canada

The Cons hate the CBC.  I already said that, but sometimes it’s worth repeating.

The CBC is the last remote possibility of some kind of truth being communicated in mass broadcasting.

They have already had their budgets slashed.  This announcement was not done to kill the CBC but to cripple the CBC into compliance.  All I hear on the CBC is narration today, usually from reports issued by the PMO and the Canadian Press, a privately held media company.

With the prospect of the implementation, the argument will be made that the CBC should NOT be part of the ‘basic package’ with the upcoming ‘Pay for Play’ scheme that the CRTC will introduce, likely sooner rather than later.

Finally, with the demise of hockey and other sports on the CBC, the Cons no longer have to spend ad dollars on the public broadcaster communicating to the country’s hockey nuts and Tims fans.

In summary, what we have in the making is a perfect storm for the Cons:

1. A ‘pretend’ war against the ‘liberal media’ with the ‘liberal media’ taking the high road and still endorsing Stephen Harper in 2015
2. Transfer of the CBC to ‘pay for play’ pushing it into financial oblivion
3. Advertising their message to their knuckle-dragging base without having to spend a cent on the public broadcaster.
4. Locking in ad spend now at the public’s expense while the competition has to pay higher prices later for the same space.

Conclusion:  the Cons will win the 2015 election because they will continue to dominate the media space and marginalize public debate about how evil they all are.