At least seven of the 24 names on this sub-list for inside the Queenswayers are plain awful; few of the rest are beyond mediocre. Your thoughts in the “Comments”, any names?
The Hill Times’ top 100 most influential people in government and politics in 2011
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MEDIACBC’s The National’s At Issue Panel
The CBC’s At Issue Panel is one of the most-looked-forward to political panels because Andrew Coyne, Allan Gregg, and Chantal Hébert’s comments on the day’s top issues are insightful and accurate. Politicos usually take note of the 13-minute panel and is a must watch among the country’s top decision makers.
QMI Agency bureau chief David Akin
As the bureau chief of the wire agency for the largest news publisher in Canada, David Akin is influential in shaping the news agenda. He’s also a top social media user and often breaks stories on Twitter and through his blog.
La Presse bureau chief Joel Denis Bellavance
Joel Denis Bellavance is a well respected and well connected reporter who often break stories that the English media follows. As one insider said, if Mr. Bellavance has a story, “you can almost rest assured it came straight from the PMO.”
CBC reporter Rosemary Barton
Since veteran broadcaster Don Newman left his seat at the CBC-TV’s Rosemary Barton has taken on an even bigger presence for the national public broadcaster. She’s been called upon to fill in for Power & Politics host Evan Solomon, and she often breaks stories that shape the news agenda. Ms. Barton is new to the list and is also an influential Twitterer, engaging her followers with witty commentary and political news.
George Cope, CEO Bell
With the $1.3-billion purchase of CTV, President and Chief Executive Officer Bell George Cope steps into a whole new league as he leads the transformation of the country’s largest communications company. The deal will split the assets of CTV Globemedia, which includes The Globe and Mail newspaper, which will go to the Thompson family’s Woodbridge Company Ltd., although BCE will keep a 15 per cent stake in the newspaper. BCE will have full ownership of CTV and its specialty television, digital media, conventional TV and radio. Mr. Cope plans to broaden the media corporation’s content assets across its Bell mobile, online and television services.
Le Devoir reporter Hélène Buzzetti
Hélène Buzzetti has a keen political sense and often breaks stories which the English national media later follow. Her stories are a must-read for her in-depth analysis of the federal political scene from a Quebec perspective.
Toronto Star senior writer Susan Delacourt
Susan Delacourt is a Hill veteran who writes for Canada’s largest circulation daily paper. Her stories are full of insider perspectives and analyses. Top political players keep a close eye on her work, as does her large blog, Twitter, and Facebook following. She’s one of few Hill reporters who uses her blog to give insightful political commentary on the day’s top issues.
La Presse columnist Alain Dubuc
Alain Dubuc has been covering federal and provincial politics for more than 30 years and is a must-read columnist for any top political players wanting a French-Canadian perspective on the day’s most important stories.
CTV Ottawa bureau chief Bob Fife
Top political players and government officials often take note of Bob Fife’s stories. As a Hill veteran, he’s cultivated many sources on all sides of the House to break stories that shape the political agenda.
Toronto Star, Le Devoir, The Hill Times columnist Chantal Hébert
Chantal Hébert has covered politics since 1975 and top federal political players trust her honest, ever sharp and insightful views of Parliament and federal politics. She’s definitely an influential must-read and often shapes the political agenda.
The Globe and Mail Ottawa bureau chief John Ibbitson
As the Ottawa bureau chief for one of Canada’s national newspapers, John Ibbitson plays a large role in shaping both the news and political agenda. He has close contacts inside the PMO and often is the first to break stories which are followed closely by top political and government players [see here].
National Post columnist John Ivison
John Ivison is well-known for his Scottish accent, but is also best known for his gritty, insider, and thoughtful must-read columns that often have Hill reporters chasing stories of their own. Top political and government players watch his column closely.
Halifax Chronicle-Herald Ottawa bureau chief Stephen Maher
As the bureau chief for a regional paper, Stephen Maher has been successful at breaking original and exclusive national stories which are later followed by other Parliament Hill media.
CTV Power Play host Don Martin
Don Martin only recently started hosting CTV’s influential political show, Power Play, but is an influential media personality on his own. For years, he’s written thought-provoking insider columns with significant scoops that every politico follows intimately. Apparently, the government’s recent decision on BHP came partly to prove Mr. Martin wrong. He had written a column suggesting the government would allow the takeover. That’s some influence [see here].
Globe and Mail columnist Lawrence Martin
Anybody who follows the federal political scene also follows Lawrence Martin, The Globe and Mail’s influential columnist. Not only is his latest book, Harperland, an insider’s account of the Prime Minister’s control on Ottawa, a must-read, but so are Mr. Martin’s columns [see here].
Political satirist Rick Mercer
Through seven seasons of the Rick Mercer Report, Rick Mercer has not only entertained Canadians by poking fun at politicians, but he’s also influenced public opinion through his political satire. Federal political players and insiders always want to hear what he’s saying, unless of course he’s ranting about them.
National Newswatch founder Will LeRoy
Every morning, it’s almost guaranteed that the first website politicos visit is Will LeRoy’s nationalnewswatch.com news aggregator. Mr. LeRoy’s aggregator is so popular, that he’s attracting top advertising dollars, and is often breaking his own stories with inside scoops and tidbits of information that reporters take note of to follow-up on. He’s hot.
CTV Question Period host Craig Oliver
Craig Oliver has been covering federal politics for more than 50 years, and continues to be an influential journalist. He’s seen as a thoughtful and respected journalist who political players can trust. He often shapes the news agenda [see here, and second comment here--which raises a theme I often raise].
CBC blogger Kady O’Malley
Kady O’Malley is the mother of live blogging and continues to do it best. She has a large following as people tune in to her blog postings to get real time coverage of the most important issues of the day, coupled with insightful commentary [see here].
Corriere Canadese, The Hill Times and The Toronto Star columnist Angelo Persichilli
Angelo Persichilli’s influence comes from the platforms that he has to give his insider’s perspective of the top daily stories. He writes for Canada’s largest circulation daily, The Toronto Star, and Parliament Hill’s influential weekly, The Hill Times, as well as the daily Italian-language paper Corriere Canadese. He has close sources and he breaks news in his insightful columns.
Canadian Press bureau chief Rob Russo
Rob Russo recently won the prestigious Charles Lynch Award for best coverage of national issues at the 2010 Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner, a testament to not only his outstanding reputation as a newsmaker, but also the respect his peers have for him. Through leading a top-notch bureau, Mr. Russo’s team is often the first to break the day’s news, as a result influencing the federal political scene. The Canadian Press Ottawa bureau is trusted and influential.
Globe and Mail senior reporter and CTV Question Period host Jane Taber
Jane Taber’s stories are a must-read for the exclusive insider perspective of life on the Hill. As the senior political reporter for one of Canada’s national newspapers and the lead on a widely-read blog, Ms. Taber is an influential must-read [see here].
CBC pundit Greg Weston
Greg Weston left his years of writing for Sun Media during the Kory Teneycke fiasco, but has landed well at the CBC. Insiders say he’s responsible for heightening CBC’s profile with the scoops he has and the stories he breaks. He remains a key player among the Hill media, and is an influential player when it comes to shaping the federal political agenda. He’s an old fashioned journalist who breaks stories [see here, more on others too]…
Via David Akin at his blog.
Predate: Word sketches of mine from 2006 (in last link in quote):
English Canadian TV Pundits: 10 words or less
Jane Taber: Katie Couric without looks, brains or money
Jim Travers: Punching above his cranial capacity
Don Martin: Hunter S. Thompson without serious drugs or brains
Susan Riley: The class struggling
Rex Murphy: Only in Canada you say? Pity
Susan Delacourt: Hair punching above its weight
John Ibbitson: A conflicted but intelligent pixie
Gilles Paquet: The real and delightfully cynical deal
Don Newman: The chuckling fog (I like Mel)
Mike Duffy: The chortling tummy that showed a backbone a few months ago
Greg Weston: Something stinks and it couldn’t possibly be my judgement…
Mark
Ottawa
Just a casual observation from a daily reader of the news from several different sources. There does not seem to be any “Journalism” today compared to what I was familiar with through the years. What we have these days in its place is opinion and activism.
How many of these 100 people were members of the media?
What a load of incestuous bullshit. Are
MSM losers so insecure and arrogant that they must constantly bestow honors upon each other?
Gee, I guess as a member of the great uneducated peasantry I suppose I should be on my knees with gratitude to these pontificating assholes.
I think the depressing thing from my perspective is just how many of these “influential people who shape the news” are dyed-in-the-wool progressives.
On the other hand, I don’t see either Jeffrey Simpson, Thomas Walkom or the Fount of all Wisdom himself, the one and only Traversty on the list, so maybe there is some sense in the list. On the other hand, Taber, O’Malley and the new host of PP, Don (I’ll write whatever you want me to write) Martin ….
Most of them are commies at worst and leftists at best.
This list is a prime example of what’s wrong with Canuckistani journolistism.
“What a load of incestuous bullshit.” Bang on!
Looking at the list it appears that the majority of people on it belong to the old Ottawa-Toronto-Quebec City club. How else do you explain the inclusion of Jane Taber who writes nothing except the latest gossip, while her colleague Christie Blatchford is missing. Blatchford, is one of the last true-blue reporters left in Canada and is miles above Jane Taber and the majority of the other political junkies on the list.
And how about Mark Steyn? Love him or hate him, the guy has made a name for himself. Plus, he was one of the few (only?) Canadian commentators that has any name recognition outside Canada.
To be fair to National Newswatch, I noticed a woman at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul surfing to it.
George Cope, CEO Bell:
I can’t comment on his work at Bell but Cope did a masterful job of launching Clearnet.
Andrew Coyne is a thoughtful independent who is doing a good job whether one likes his opinion or not. (e.g. I disagree with his position on proportional representation). I respect Chantal Hebert who presents rational arguments for her position even though she is a Liberal. A rational Liberal but a Liberal none the less.
On the opposite end of the scale are Greg Weston and Don Martin who present arguments based on what the last person they talked to said. Classic buzzards in the treetops. They probably married the first woman that was willing to go to bed with them.
I virtually never watch CBC because of their ancient biases. I may catch something accidently or through comments. I do not hold them credible enough to pay them the courtesy of watching their purported drivel. Any Conservative who does listen should do so for election purposes only. (i.e. Know your enemy)
How can a hypocrite be so influential?
Maclean’s National Editor Andrew Coyne says: “I might nonetheless make a mockery of everything I’ve ever written, not to say a total hypocrite of myself, by secretly preferring that Maclean’s, alone, should be subsidized.”
(from http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/03/30/being-for-the-benefit-of-mr-wells/)
What do you say, Mr. Coyne, to Maclean’s getting the maximum subsidy under the Canadian Periodicals fund this year ($1.5 million), and getting the lion’s share of similar funding in the previous five years? And to think we as taxpayers are paying you to offend us. Heritage Minister James Moore who controls the fund has some ‘splainin’ to do!!!
Just so we are all on the same page with respect to taxpayer funding going to publications, the folllowing is from http://www.pch.gc.ca/pap/publctn/report-rapport/ann-rep2010/index-eng.cfm
Publications Assistance Program 2009-2010 Funding — Other periodicals receiving over $100K
** = Rogers publications
Maclean’s $3,042,567 **
Chatelaine (English) $2,280,526 **
Canadian Living $2,215,705 **
Today’s Parent $619,665 **
Châtelaine (French) $607,998
Actualité (L’) $533,475 **
Flare $450,686 **
LouLou (English) $371,660 **
Canadian Business $238,379 **
LouLou (French) $144,087 **
MoneySense $122,182 **
TOTAL ROGERS PUBLICATIONS: *** $10,626,930 ***