Katie Telford is the Prime Minister’s Chief Of Staff, one of the most powerful unelected people in government. Yesterday she spent a little over two hours answering questions from MP’s on the issue of China’s interference in the 2021 federal election. I only caught the last half hour.
I noticed she used the words ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ quite a bit. Merriam Webster defines misinformation as incorrect or misleading information. Disinformation is defined as: false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.
I thought the word choice was a surprising tactic. Telford essentially implied the media was lying. It’s become a troubling strategy used by both sides of the political spectrum. With the Liberals, it’s sinister, because it’s implied, or left unsaid. The Liberal ideology is associated with western ideal of freedom of the press, even when you don’t like what is said about you. This Liberal government is so friendly to media, it’s even established funding for struggling news outlets. If you think journalists are lying, then why fund newspapers?
It’s a strategy that is more in keeping with the Conservatives these days. Look at the clip Glen McGregor from CTV shares via twitter. Pierre Poilievre goes after a CBC reporter for not clearing a question about his plan to defund the CBC with the Ethics Commissioner. Their exchange will become the story, until there is enough outrage that prompts Poilievre to either clarify his stance, or reverse his course. It allows politicians to get away without defined policy, but the one that will get them elected.
It’s a cheap practice that disgusts voters; and disgusted voters don’t go to the polls.