Proposal: Canadian Military News Network

[DualCore]

Considering the general disinterest or failure of Canadian journalism to routinely report on Canadian Military activities, I propose the government cut $100 Million per year from the CBC budget, and devote that money to an agency to report on Canadian Military Activities.  We will leave the editorials to CBC, Star, Globe, Post, Senlis, etc., but this agency will produce daily reports, however boring or however dangerous, on whatever it is that each 1000 Canadian Military personnel or up to today.

We are at war, but the only news we get is ramp-ceremonies, financial bickering, and tim-hortons stories.

We get more Canadian battle news from You-Tube and British-ITV than from any Canadian source.

British Medals for Canadians get 10-times the coverage of Canadian Medals for Canadians.

Just as the CBC failed to report on Canadian Parliament, and that duty was transferred to CPAC and the cable companies, we need to acknowledge that the management of the government news network is unwilling or unable to fulfill that duty and it needs to be conducted elsewhere.

We might even be able to hire back some of the Canadians reporting for CNN, CBS, Times, Telegraph, etc. and send them to report on Canada, rather than where their employers are sending them today.  Canada's current greatest military journalist is Rick Mercer, and while he certainly does the job, and is entirely well-intentioned, he is a clown, not a real journalist -- we need some real journalists on this project to counter the idiotic editorialists that have set the tone in recent decades.

Skill Testing Question:  Canadian Soldier:  Young man with a helmet and a rifle, or Middle aged women with a blue hat and a goody-bag?

I fear that Canadians will answer that question in the same proportion that think Douglas MacArthur was Canada's greatest general, who led the Canadian Corps into the battle of Thermopylae, ... back during the Clone Wars, ... when the earth was flat, ... and hobbits ruled the middle kingdom, ...

 

[Yrys]

I propose

You've just registrered... Want to take a breath before doing that  ?

 

[Timmy!]

Ever heard of Army News?

 

[DualCore]

No.  What channel?  Or is it pay-per-view?

 

[Yrys]

No.  What channel?

... and by the magic of Google, I give you :

U.S. : http://www.army.mil/

Aussie : http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1167/index.htm

 

[Blakey]

... and by the magic of Google, I give you :

U.S. : http://www.army.mil/

Aussie : http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1167/index.htm

You couldn't supply a link the the Canadian Army News site....?
http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/6_1.asp

N.B. Not that I have any hope for it (Army News)

 

[niner domestic]

There's also www.milnews.ca and this entire thread on news sources to pick from... http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/54641.0.html

 

[Armynewsguy]

If anyone has any questions about Army News, let me know as I am one of the reporters for the Unit.

Armynewsguy

 

[vonGarvin]

There's also www.milnews.ca...

Just went there for the first time.  Found it to be a series of (a) death reports and (b) combat reports.  I was hoping for more, eg: stuff that is non-sexy but vital (eg: schools opening, completion of roads projects, success stories regarding training of the army and/or police and so forth).

 

[Armynewsguy]

Capt S

Thanks for at least taking the time to take a look. If you get a chance to look up some more of the videos you will find there is a fair number of stories that deal with a fairly wide range of activities in Canada and overseas. Sgt Dennis Power has done quite a few pieces from Afghanistan and he still has a bunch more to come out.

We are always open to suggestions, if there is something specific you want to see we can try and do our best. Unfortunately at the moment we do not have anyone in theatre. MCpl Darrell Priede was one of our Army News team members although he was working for combat camera at the time of his death. We hope to have teams in Afghanistan soon to bring back the messages and stories of the troops.

It is kind of funny that you say you want to see other things besides the combat reports because that is what we seem to get slammed for the most by showing too many noncombat things.

Well, thanks again for taking a look.

Armynewsguy

 

[vonGarvin]

It is kind of funny that you say you want to see other things besides the combat reports because that is what we seem to get slammed for the most by showing too many noncombat things.

Well, not really being the kind of guy who DOESN'T want to see combat stuff, it's just the complete lack of other stuff on the site from a perusal pretty well on par with the attention span of our ADD society.  If it's not up front, I'm not looking for it (so to speak).

Well, thanks again for taking a look.

Armynewsguy

You're welcome

 

[niner domestic]

milnews.ca is owned by user ID, milnewsthbay (sp? sorry Tony), that is a privately owned site. 

 

[Reccesoldier]

TV news?

We don' need no stinkin' TV News

http://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/spotnews_e.html
http://www.nato.int/isaf/Update/update_ISAF_mirror.htm
http://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/

Seriously, I fail to see why anyone would limit themselves by looking to TV to supply information. Especially if what you are looking for is a variety of viewpoints.

 

[a_majoor]

Good thing we have the Internet; there are many blogs to choose from, such as:

The Ruxted Group: http://ruxted.ca/
The Torch: http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/
Celestial Junk: http://cjunk.blogspot.com/
The Blogging Tories: http://www.bloggingtories.ca/ (more of a newsfeed)
Army.ca (surprise!)

Rather than spend the capital to stand up a massive news organization and fight to be heard or published on the MSM; people can go look up things for themselves. As for lack of editorial control, well isn't that the reason for this proposal in the first place?

 

[The Bread Guy]

milnews.ca is owned by user ID, milnewsthbay (sp? sorry Tony), that is a privately owned site. 

I prefer to think of it more as "lovingly updated and nurtured" than "privately owned"  ;D  but it is my own doing - no network/government backing.

While Army.ca's been mentioned specifically, let's not forget honing down to the efforts of GAP and others in the "nothing but news" thread on AFG here:
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/62886.0.html

- edit to include other sources -

 

[Colin Parkinson]

try this
http://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/spotnews_e.html

 

[dapaterson]

Or, for information on Defence procurement (with a US focus) see http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/

 

[DualCore]

Responding to several messages:

My point here to inform the Canadian Public, or at least the Canadian Electorate -- there are lots of good web-sites in Canada as well as other countries, plus scraps of information on foreign networks, etc., but the point is that the Canadian Public and the public debate believes that Douglas MacArthur led the Canadians at Thermopylae, and that the Canadian Military is conspiring to torture Afghanis, while they wait for orders to surrender to the because Canadians certainly could never prevail in a foreign war.  Better information will solve these impressions.

There is another thread here asking what has been going on in Operation Hoover -- if someone inspired enough to read and post on milnet.ca cannot get information, what hope is there for normal Canadians to get military information who have no interest in Paris Hilton but have a detailed knowledge of her legal problems, but have a well-intentioned belief that Douglas MacArthur was Canadian.

re: Army-News-Guy
Would Army-News be able/willing to produce 30 minutes, twice-a-week on CBC, or half a page in the National Newspaper (with maps)?  I see many videos with 3000-4000 viewers over 6 months, but if you put it on tv, or in a newspaper, then channel-surfers will give you 100 times that exposure every week.  Perhaps angry citizens can compel our national network to drop an extra re-run of the Peter Mansbridge turtle-neck show, for a serious military journalism show.  JD Roberts does This-Week-At-War on CNN, perhaps there is another Canadian VJ ready to take up the job.

 

[George Wallace]

re: Army-News-Guy
Would Army-News be able/willing to produce 30 minutes, twice-a-week on CBC, or half a page in the National Newspaper (with maps)?  I see many videos with 3000-4000 viewers over 6 months, but if you put it on tv, or in a newspaper, then channel-surfers will give you 100 times that exposure every week.  Perhaps angry citizens can compel our national network to drop an extra re-run of the Peter Mansbridge turtle-neck show, for a serious military journalism show.  JD Roberts does This-Week-At-War on CNN, perhaps there is another Canadian VJ ready to take up the job.

OK!  Now you just lost me.  You come on here, and with your first post you ask if there are any Canadian Military News sites, and bemoan CBC and the MSM in general.  Now you have had several dozen sites and media forms pointed out to you and you want them to now produce 30 minute segments twice a week for CBC or in 'the' National Newspaper.  That seems quite contradictory to what you initially posted.  What do you really want?  Do you know? 

What makes you think that the Canadian Public will gain from this, if you feel they don't get enough as is from the MSM right now? 

Those who really, and I mean 'Really', want to know usually have the initiative and resources to do their own research and get what they need.  I think you have the feeling that we must "spoon feed the Canadian Public" in order for them to pay attention. 

 

[DualCore]

I never asked for sites.
There is an entire thread on sites, and I could add a lot more.

My goal is an informed Canadian Public. 

We spend a billion on CBC, plus strong-arm authority at CRTC, plus NFB, plus Government-Cable Subsidy Fund, plus .... with the intention of an informed Canadian Public, and the Canadian Public is still shamefully uninformed.