Hill Journalists PR for PM

I have for some time been commenting on the National media and their coverage of Prime Minister Harper.

Clearly there are problems - the PM will not allow scrums, will not hold unfettered news conferences, and dictates who can ask a question and how many questions may be asked.

More recently the behavior of Harper has gotten worse as he ducks and hides from open media scrutiny of the whole Senate scandal - more particularly the Mike Duffy affair.

The highly paid and educated journalists on the Hill have been reduced to news interns chasing the PM around to photo-ops. When not doing that these otherwise skilled professionals are gathering groups of people together in panels to see if anybody else might know what Harper is thinking, doing, or involved in.

Yesterday took the cake - reaching new heights - (no pun intended) as the PM sat in the front of Canada's version of Air Force One - while the media was herded to the back. The Prime Minister was his usual self stating no questions were to be asked or answered - but allowed them a little visit to the front to see his guests, former Prime Ministers Mulroney and Chretien.

It was almost pathetic to watch the media scramble and excitement as the former PM's joined them in the back of the plane for some chit-chat.

What a disgrace - and what a pathetic sight. Journalists have allowed their integrity and professionalism to be damaged because Stephen Harper won't talk to them.

There is only one answer to this and that is that all media on the Hill STOP covering Harper. Ignore the News Releases from the PMO and do not attend his photo-ops. Cut him off and instead spend your time covering the Opposition parties, leaders, and MP's. Let the Opposition do all the speculation without an Harperionette inputting talking points.

And one more thing - when Stephen and Laureen stop at the top of the boarding stairs and wave - please show us a reverse angle so we can see who they are waving at.