When A Media Outlet Stops Shillin'....

BigAlShrugs
NoLongerGriffithsVille

.....The Corporation Takes a Grillin'

There is lots of talk about corpmedia suppression of the big story these days.

And the comeback, all the way down to the rank and file, is always that 'nobody ever told me to kill a story.'

And thus, all criticisms of bias are always waved away.

But even when it is not overt "go-along-to-get-along-journalism" can still lead to pablum.

And, interestingly, one of the best ways to see this clearly is to observe it in reverse.

Which is exactly what happened in the Vancouver media market last week.

And it had nothing do with a luv-a-fair gone wrong between Canned West and the LINOs or anything else of significance whatsoever.

Specifically, we are talking about the broadcast rights relationship between CKNW and the Vancouver Canucks, which ended this week after thirty-five years.

As a result, the gloves came off with a vengeance.

Suddenly, Todd Bertuzzi really is a cancer in the dressing room, Markus Naslund has lost it, and Mark Crawford is no longer the second coming of Scotty Bowman.

In fact, it has gone so far that even the normally milquetoast personality of Jeff Patterson has started breathing fire in the graveyard that is the latenight weekend shift.

Next thing you know somebody on the no-longer-so Giant'98 may do something crazy like call for the heads of the Gasmen running the operation again.

Unless, of course, they take a look around and realize that maybe, just maybe, the writing is on the wall for the bloated sports department at 'NW.

Naw.......what were we thinking.

Because former media shills gone wild would never, ever knuckle under again.

Would they?

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Al Davidson photo credit: The very fine BC Radio History Page.

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