Freedom of the P

Is it really serious if the (Canadian) Government wants to change the rules on the Prime Minister's press appearances, and control who asks questions rather than having the press community do so itself. This is the nasty question brought to my mind by a perusal of this morning's news. Granted today is a budget speech day, so that the ability to question leaders is a more or less important subtext concern. But the implication from the media standpoint which presents us with this information is that the freedom of the press is somehow at stake. Is this serious.

My personal answer is - and I think many will agree with me - that it would be serious if the press were doing their job. One can have different views on that and the joke, from the point of view of the government, is precisely that: those jokers are wasting our time, we can do a better job and as elected representatives, nothing says our view of the matter is not the better one. Are we being robbed blind, kept in the dark, exploited and ignored, and left for dead by our government. Probably a lot of us are. This press corps isn't about to do much about it.

At least, we could press the government for answers, retorts the Press, if something really important cropped up, like the Prime Minister becoming improperly involved - this sort of thing happens in the U.S., you know - or if the Civil Service handed us a hot file.

Alright, I am cynical about the whole thing. In effect, freedom of the press is as much of a manipulated question for us as any other. There are rules and boundaries but no overt political prisoners or victims. It is also what makes events such as Tiananmen Square in China poignant. Violent confrontation is also about innocence (and sobriety).

The Chinese word Tian means god or deity (from Wikipedia). It is a terrible image. All sources agree that there is web censorship in Asia. I don't feel too bad about it; it probably means a lot of teen-age Chinese will not waste their time on glittery and repetitive nonsense (not to mention the SPAM, which we agree collectively to control). Then again it might not. There are more computers in China than in the U.S. but that represents only a small penetration rate. It probably means that there are fewer hits on decadent clothing sites. I am innocent; they are blocking pornography!!

So my advice to the Press Corps is accept the new digs but keep control of the event. We want to hear from you, as long as we know who you are. The real battle is on the Web and the issue is knowledge.