On Thursday night, I went to a Canadian Journalism Foundation event billed as The Media, the Military and The Pollsters: Who's got the story on Afghanistan?
To prime the pump, so to speak, Ipsos-Reid released a poll on Wednesday that measured the public's attitude about media coverage.
To summarize:
- 54 per cent feel the media is providing fair and balanced coverage of the mission in Afghanistan
- About one-third feel the media is against the mission and tilt its coverage in a negative way towards both the mission and the government
- About 14 per cent feel the media is biased in favour of the mission and tilts its coverage accordingly.
- 44 per cent think the media has the balance right between covering combat and humanitarian efforts, 56 per cent think the media downplays humanitarian stories because covering combat is more exciting.
The speakers were Lt. Gen. Andrew Leslie, chief of land staff for the Canadian Armed Forces, Lisa LaFlamme of CTV News and John Wright, vice-president of Ipsos-Reid Canada.
Wright spoke about the poll. He thought that the Canadian public generally thinks the media is doing a good job in covering the conflict there.
I did get a chance to ask one question. I asked LaFlamme (a senior CTV News colleague) and Wright about a speaking tour in November by Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor. In the coverage I saw, O'Connor said (in essence) that Canada wasn't in Afghanistan to be international nice guys but because it was in our interests to be there and to ensure the terrorist threat didn't migrate here.
I wondered if the government was trying to change its messaging to try and drive home to Canadians that it was in this country's interests to be in Afghanistan, especially with support for the mission apparently softening. Er, LaFlamme and Wright did not share my views on this. :) However, I think it's something that bears watching as time goes on.
There were a few topics that didn't make it onto the agenda. Here's some questions I would have liked to have heard answered:
1. The Globe and Mail's Graeme Smith included this quote in a Nov. 28 story:
"There is a big difference between Canada and the United States," Mr. Azizullah said (a Taliban member), tapping his fingertips together in a pensive gesture.
"If we attack the Canadians, they call for aircraft and bomb everything in the area. The U.S. only tried to kill the Taliban. The Canadians try to kill everybody."
I would have liked to hear Lt. Gen. Leslie's reaction to that quote. Should the Canadian media be interviewing the Taliban? How should the media be reporting on incidents that cause significant civilian casualties? Are those casualties hurting Canada's efforts to win "hearts and minds"?
2. Smith did another story on how Dutch troops have approached their task in Uruzgan province, which sits immediately north of Kandahar province, where Canada's troops are operating. Here's an excerpt from the Dec. 2 story:
This past week, the first four-month rotation of Dutch troops started to leave Uruzgan after having completed 400 patrols, established two forward bases and started the slow work of building roads, bridges, schools, and clinics -- all without a single soldier killed in action, and just two injuries from hostile forces.
There have been just seven ambushes and 18 roadside bombs in four months; Canadian troops have suffered worse in a single week.
Should Canadian journalists be asking more questions about whether Canadian strategy and tactics are making things worse for our troops?
3. How much more sophisticated has the Taliban become, with respects to selling its message, in the five years since it was driven from power? What impact does that have on "who's got the story?" For more on this, see this CP story posted on CTV.ca.*
The Taliban have also allowed BBC reporters to go on ride-alongs, and given "backstage" video to CTV News reporters. They have someone in Pakistan in charge of producing DVDs.
As a secondary question, where does it matter more as to who's got the story: In Afghanistan or in Canada?
4. I never got the chance to mention to Lt. Gen. Leslie that when I've phoned the public affairs department at DND with questions on the Afghanistan mission, I've never got an answer? Why is that?*
See this CP story on CTV.ca: Cdns. ill-informed about Afghan mission: Fraser
5. In the "undercurrent" of stories, I thought I've detected growing anti-Canadian attitudes amongs the Afghans quoted. In February, I read quotes like, "the Canadians are our friends." In the past few months, I've seen quotes like "I hate the Canadians." Is Canadian popularity eroding in Kandahar province?
One thing I did mention was that in the ABC News/BBC World Service poll I mentioned earlier, one in six respondents say that people in their area supply the Taliban with food and money. In Kandahar and Helmand provinces, the figure is two in three.
Some other findings from that poll:
Among people who support the Taliban in Helmand and Kandahar, 46 per cent say they do so because they think the Taliban can improve security
While the Taliban are considered to have some or a strong presence by 86 per cent of respondents in Helman and Kandahar, support levels for the Taliban are higher in the eastern provinces running from Paktika to Wardak.
Ultimately, Canada's troops are in the area where international success will be the toughest to achieve. If Canada is to make a long-term commitment to stabilizing Afghanistan, is it fair that it do so solely in Kandahar province?
Thomas Walkom of the Toronto Star said that decision's already been made. In a Dec. 6 column, he wrote:
In September, when NDP Leader Jack Layton called on the government to withdraw Canadian troops by early 2007, (new Liberal leader Stephane) Dion was caustic. "No one wants us to get out now, like Mr. Layton, in dishonour," he said on Sept 17.
Now, it seems, the new leader of the Liberal party has changed his tune.
And with Harper preparing the ground for what looks to be his eventual reversal, the political momentum for Canada to get out of Kandahar looks unstoppable. The only question remaining is when. Or, to put it another way, how many more soldiers will have to die before the inevitable occurs.
Other blogs' posts:
Canadian Journalist: Canadian media of Afghanistan
The Torch: Who's got the story on Afghanistan?