CBC really minimizes its "Wish Contest" coverage
Mon, 2007-07-02 06:09
#1
CBC really minimizes its "Wish Contest" coverage
Mon, 2007-07-02 06:09
#2
So the CBC coverage of their not-so-great contest was apparently limited to a 3 minute segment that showed only once at 7:35 EST! (View the clip here at this conservative blog: [url=http://socon-or-bust.blogspot.com/]http://socon-or-bust.blogspot.com/[/url] -scroll down a bit to click on the YouTube video screen.) The clip seemed fair to me, and I liked that it stressed how it wasn't a poll, just a contest, how anti-choice support was solicited through anti-abortion groups and churches, and how most Canadians are actually pro-choice.
Not sure whether to laugh or cry at the CBC's cowardice or courage (?), stupidity or cleverness (?), but it's rather a shame in retrospect that pro-choice supporters were forced to mobilize against this whole stupid contest, that in the end didn't get the national coverage it was promised. On the other hand, it was very gratifying to see the huge amount of pro-choice support expressed on Facebook and the CBC website, with literally thousands of messages pouring in. We always worry about apathy, especially among the young, but it's nice to see that people DO care and will become energized and support us when there's a "threat." And this was not a real threat by any means - if this is the best the anti's can do to gain national attention for their cause in Canada, then maybe we have something to smile about!
I'm glad that the CBC chose to greatly downplay the whole thing - an abortion battle with the anti's winning is totally inappropriate for national primetime, because the whole idea of abolishing abortion is anti-human rights and reactionary, and far from representative of the country or the citizenry's wishes for Canada. I think the CBC made the right decision in the end, even though I'm still rolling my eyes at the whole thing.
A big thanks to Babble commenters and supporters for your involvement and help throughout this contest!
Joyce Arthur
Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (www.arcc-cdac.ca)
Mon, 2007-07-02 06:21
#3
This conservative website: [url=http://socon-or-bust.blogspot.com/]http://socon-or-bust.blogspot.com/[/url] also features a couple revealing articles about the CBC contest, by John Pacheco. I couldn't help but be amused at the second article "Abortion is Dying in Canada" which is a way-overblown analysis crowing about how the anti-choice movement is now ascendant in Canada. Among the grandiose pronouncements:
quote:
1) We have developed a formidable network through Facebook for the next of many future battles.2) This represents the greatest pro-life victory this country has ever had. As such, it is a strong inspiration for us. It showed us that we are not the minority. And we can win in a scrap.
3) Since the pro-abort side didn't win, it's much worse for them then they could possibly imagine. Their demography is being aborted while ours is not. Do the math and extrapolate.
4) There are sure to be more initiatives and challenges by the pro-life community to the abortion situation in this country in the near future. I know of one personally that is going to blow the lid off of the abortion muzzle in this country. You'll know it when it hits the media....and it will hit the media. Guaranteed.
Today, the pro-aborts and their mouthpiece, the CBC, got handed their arses on a plate. For an issue that has been pushed to the fringes for years, Canada's No. 1 wish is to ban something that was considered nothing less than a sacrament. If you listen closely you can almost hear the pro-aborts' grinding and gnashing of teeth.
The glaring holes and delusionary biases in the above analysis hardly need comment. Only their first point may have some merit, but it works both ways, doesn't it?
Mon, 2007-07-02 06:29
#4
I meant to say that the CBC coverage aired at 7:35 A.M. (EST). Sorry!
Mon, 2007-07-02 06:44
#5
quote:
Originally posted by choice joyce:
[b]I meant to say that the CBC coverage aired at 7:35 A.M. (EST). Sorry![/b]
Aren't we on Daylight Saving Time (except in SK)?
Mon, 2007-07-02 07:22
#6
remind
Thanks joyce watched for it on CBC yesterday and all I heard was one advertisement saying go to their website.
Glad to see they marginalized it, as they could not exactly backtrack on it.
From the links to soc-cons it sounds as if they are just as delusional as ever.
Wonder what "big" action they have planned now they think they are ascending? [img]rolleyes.gif" border="0[/img]
---------------------------------
Unionist really that was not necessary, why not take your nitpicking elsewhere?
Mon, 2007-07-02 07:33
#7
[url=http://www.facebook.com/sgroup/subgroup.php?sub_oid=2723871437]I wish the CBC wouldn't waste the country's time with meaningless stunts[/url]
Mon, 2007-07-02 11:24
#8
Scott Piatkowski
quote:
This represents [b]the greatest pro-life victory this country has ever had[/b].
And let's hope that this never changes.
Mon, 2007-07-02 11:31
#9
quote:
Originally posted by remind:
[b]
Unionist really that was not necessary, why not take your nitpicking elsewhere?[/b]
This is only a discussion forum, remind. You don't have to welcome me to your home for dinner. You don't need to appreciate my brilliant wit, either. I'm getting tired of your childish overreactions.
I expressed my real opinion on this "wish" contest at the start. Progressive people should have ridiculed it - maybe even started a Facebook group to make jokes about the pathetic anti-woman forces trying to win a feeble cyber-"victory" when they could no longer win one in real life. The one thing that should not have been done was to take the contest seriously and organize to win. As I pointed out, even if pro-choice had "won" by some small margin, it would have appeared, and been hailed, as a great "comeback" for misogyny and social conservatism. It was a no-winner from the start.
And, while ways should be found to mobilize people using the new technologies, you can't mobilize real people anonymously. Nor should they be mobilized for losses, when our movement has already won in society as a whole.
Mon, 2007-07-02 12:02
#10
Boom Boom
quote:
Originally posted by unionist:
This is only a discussion forum, remind. You don't have to welcome me to your home for dinner.
You're welcome here for dinner, anytime, sport, if you're brave enough to make the long (and very expensive!) trek here. If you come in the fall, you can dig up your own potatoes for dinner. Get your hands dirty, commune with nature, and all that. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]
Mon, 2007-07-02 12:41
#11
remind
quote:
Originally posted by unionist:
[b]This is only a discussion forum, remind. You don't have to welcome me to your home for dinner. You don't need to appreciate my brilliant wit, either. I'm getting tired of your childish overreactions.[/b]
You are right this is only a discussion forum so why nitpick, as I grow tired of it just as much as you grow tired of me, if not more. We all know your opinion of this but there was no need to make a comment meanyt only to nitpick and annoy, and BTW your opinion does not justify the nitpicking.
Also, you are welcome to come to dinner here anytime, or a holiday, [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img] great fishing just down the way a couples of km's. Great hiking, swimming, boating of any sort, are all just a couple of mins. away too. Also, a great nature perserve to amble through where all sorts of wildlife viewing is available.
Of course, you can always look at the bug kill too just to see the enormity of it.
Mon, 2007-07-02 12:57
#12
Unionist, I appreciate your point of view; it has a lot of merit. I was quite reluctant to try and mobilize for this dumb contest, but decided there was probably some need and maybe some benefits to it.
One, we should not be too complacent, especially with another election around the corner, and the large number of anti-choice MPs in Parliament.
Two, we cannot rest on our laurels anyway, because abortion access still needs a lot of improvement in this country. Unfortunately the media and politicians prefer to ignore it as a "settled issue", so it cuts both ways - women's access to abortion suffers still.
Three, the outcome or total votes is not as important as just reminding everyone (including the anti-choice) that there is strong and principled opposition to the anti-choice viewpoint, and that pro-choice Canadians will never allow abortion to be criminalized again.
Four, there's something to be said for the amount of pro-choice support mobilized through Facebook and the CBC website. I for one am glad to see that support, instead of the usual apathy. It was about time to dispel that apathy. We may need these youthful troops someday soon to help us protect abortion rights.
I wrote and published a blog essay this morning called [url=http://choice-joyce.blogspot.com/2007/07/abolish-abortion-not.html]"Abolish Abortion"? NOT! - A Media Lesson from Canada[/url], which summarizes the whole CBC Wish list fiasco and its outcome.
Mon, 2007-07-02 13:07
#13
quote:
Also, you are welcome to come to dinner here anytime, or a holiday, great fishing just down the way a couples of km's.
Michelle and I will take turns sitting in a corner and moderating.
Mon, 2007-07-02 13:27
#14
remind
quote:
Originally posted by oldgoat:
[b]Michelle and I will take turns sitting in a corner and moderating.[/b]
No need, as my sig other is an excellent host, and non-political, and insists that I refrain during meals, but if you just want to come partake you are welcome to too. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Mon, 2007-07-02 13:35
#15
Ok, ok, I accept the invite.
Mon, 2007-07-02 14:03
#16
Boom Boom
All's well that ends well. Or something. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Mon, 2007-07-02 21:43
#17
The anti-choicers did not "win"! If you go on the site, you will see that pro-choicers were well-represented on the anti-choice forum. I also noticed that most of the women who wrote about abortion as "child-murders" and other nonsense sounded pretty darn ditzy. Little pollyananas, as if forcing a woman to bring an unwanted fertilized egg to term would be a holy thing, in the light of our overpopulation. The world needs another human like it needs another case of AIDS or another Bushy war. Most of the anti-choicers on that facebook blog were men, of course. I noticed they didn't give a darn about the live birth and the instant poverty both would be sentenced to. No mention of the torture and trauma to the unwilling mom. No mention of the costs of the jails when the unwanted blastopore becomes an unwanted adult. This is all about punishing women for--horrors--having sex, wanted or not. Maybe they want us in burkas, too. We women are going backwards in time. The face of poverty is largely female and their kids. While 71% of the unemployed women are DENIED EI when they lose their jobs, 69% of the men are so denied. Not fair for either sex, but a little more unfair for the fairer sex, eh--and this is made worse for the lower amount of EI women receive, as their wages are less to start. You can be sure the work sucks as bad, though! We women have to rule the world for a while [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]