Friday, February 13, 2015

Sun News is dead!

This must be Friday the 13th.  Sun News went dark (see also) at about 2:00 AM PT this morning.  That's very bad news.  Now all we're left with is Fox News and leftist, politically correct,  group-think TV in the remainder of the cable news wasteland.

And, we're left to wonder where Ezra Levant, Brian Lilley, Michael Coren, et al might resurface to give us some relief.

Update: Here's Ezra Levant's opinion on Sun's demise.  Sign up here to stay posted on Ezra's next moves.


18 comments:

Roy Elsworth said...

Brian lilley was on the Lowell Green show this morning he does so well on the radio. we need to start a online tv thing like glenn beck does with the Blaze. but we need to get rid of crtc or change it.

JR said...

Exactly, Roy. Both ideas are right on! As long as the CRTC remains unreformed the Glenn Beck model would seem to be the only alternative to cable.

Anonymous said...

Maybe satellite radio?

Anonymous said...

As a more moderate Conservative I am glad Sun News is gone for two reasons. For starters I believe in the free market so if you cannot sell your views than that's what happens.

1. Sun News takes a hard abrasive right wing position that appeals to the hardcore base but scares away the key swing voters needed to win elections.

2. Because many Tories only watch it they lose touch of what most Canadians think and as such push for policies that are both bad and out of touch with what most Canadians want.

I prefer a more thoughtful intelligent conservative argument which many in the National Post, give not rants. And also too tea party type politics never had and never will sell in Canada so better to focus on more moderate reasonable policies that do sell and yes are still more conservative than the NDP and Liberals have to offer.

Anonymous said...

Rightttt...so now we are left with CBC Power and Politics with CBC's Katie.and Susan Smith..and CTV's Question period with Oliver, and Fife the knife...and these are the people for freedom of speech and VALUES? What a CROCK. Bad day for Canada and a good day for the lefties. Now we will never learn about the crooks over at Ontariowe's Queens park OPP investigation for one and allll the other mafia wrongs....Trudeau gushing and harper bashing now...same old, just in time for the next election. watch it and weep!!!1

L said...

This a very very sad day. I will very much miss SNN, as they actually were investigative journalists, not puppets copying the newswire. Although I do wish the Nat Post would get back to its nice conservative roots, it will not, as it is in central Toronto, which is lefty-latte. At times Ezra and Coren were over-the-top, but we NEED them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope they will go for an online news format that does not need the CRTC. To all of you on SNN, we 8000 loyal listens want you back!

Alain said...

@anon 2:58pm. You claim to believe in the free market but ignore that SNN never had a chance to compete in a free market. I too would like to see a free market in television instead of having to pay for the CBC which does not represent the views of most Canadians. I would also like not to have imposed on me as mandatory carriage the likes of CTV, Global etc. So let us not pretend there ever was or is a free market or even free choice in Canada when it comes to television and radio.

Anonymous said...

Friday the 13th indeed... a sad day for freedom from leftist propaganda 24hrs a day. The CRTC did their job and made sure an alternative to the "progressive" dogma didn't stand a chance, way to go assholes! Considering Sun News was pretty much the only station worth paying for, the reasons for keeping cable are finished... I will now cancel my cable and save a few bucks. Sun News will be greatly missed by myself and my family, cable costs, not so much. The leftist fascists celebration is nauseating but to be expected as everyone knows leftists/progressives can't survive without total and utter capitulation to the cause with a complete monopoly in the field of choice. Very sad day... Good bye Sun News, you will be very much missed, you already are. The cult of Trudopia goes on... sad.

JR said...

Anonymous @2:58 PM,

You're a "moderate" Conservative and you're GLAD Sun is gone?! We can take it then that you'd also be glad to see the CBC and the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star disappear because they take hard loony left wing anti-conservative positions on nearly every issue. And they refuse to even cover many important issues that Sun News never shied away from (eg. the High River RCMP gun grab and Islamic radicalism in Canada).

You'd have to be a lot more specific about what views Sun promoted that you consider beyond the pale to convince anyone that you've actually watched Sun and know what you're talking about (and that you're really a conservative.) That "too Tea Party" reference is a typically lib/left, anti-conservative partisan talking point.

Anonymous said...

I was dismayed to see SNN fold as well but let's not get too pessimistic. There are plenty of alternatives for Ezra, Brian and frankly any of us who want to communicate our points of view to a wide audience. Online TV and radio offers unlimited opportunities to communicate and, better still, you can do it in an interactive format that engages people. Added bonus - it's beyond the reach of the CRTC.

This is the future of broadcasting anyway. The cable network conventional TV model is dying. The media-party celebration about SNN's demise is going to be short-lived. Within the next decade the big networks are going to go the same way. I see Ezra is already up to something http://therebel.media/

So let's not get too disenchanted. Start looking at the alternatives as they are all around us.

JR said...

Anon @4:21 AM,
Thanks for that link. Ezra is too energetic and upbeat to let Sun's failure get him down for long.

Anonymous said...

As for being a moderate Conservative, I am former Progressive Conservative, the party of Robert Stanfield, Diefenbaker, Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, Bill Davis and Peter Lougheed so while I am not a Conservative in the American sense, I am in the Canadian sense at least based on what Conservatism has been traditionally in this country and I can ensure you most former PCs cannot stand Sun News and its hard right.

As for media bias, CBC has many great programs like the Fifth Estate, Passionate Eye that examine the issues and on the National they have the political insiders that include Jamie Watt for the Conservatives, David Herle for the Liberals, and Kathleen Monk for the NDP thus allowing for each side to give their views. The Globe and Mail endorsed the Conservatives in the past three elections and includes writers like John Ibbitson who normally praises them and Margaret Wente who is on the right. Yes it also gives voice to those on the left but shouldn't a balanced media give to both sides not just one side? I generally disagree with the Toronto Star but I read it as its good to read things from different perspectives. No ideology is right all the time and a broken clock is right twice a day. Besides if you want to defeat a certain group better to understand what motivates them rather than just go on about how evil they are without understanding them. I am fine with right wing including tea party type articles, I just like ones that are well written and make a strong argument, not rants and insults which is what Sun News did. I won't agree with the hard right ones just as I don't with the left wing ones, but I enjoy reading and hearing intelligent arguments.

I know many will say I am not a real conservative, but if that's the case, I guess then Conservatism didn't exist in Canada prior to 20 years ago as prior to the Reform Party we didn't have any political party anywhere in Canada advocating policies SNN supports. I prefer our traditional version of conservatism over the hard right American type.

joannis said...

hey "anon-scared to give your name!" boy am i sure glad we got rid of the likes of you in the party!

Anonymous said...

oldwhiteguy says.... I am still looking for a real conservative in Canada.

Anonymous said...

The whole problem with one sided news(left or right) is that most Canadians will not know there is another side.The left wing media news will now be all we will hear and believe.
The majority of Canadians who only listen to news sound bites will be only getting the left-wing prospective which will be intrenched in their psyche.
Not having another prospective on the news available to Canadians is actually an affront to democracy. Having more than one ideology available for the people to choose from is what a free society needs to continue to be free....

JR said...

Anonymous @9:24 PM,

Sounds to me like you're a Joe Clark kind of "conservative" - which is to say far more progressive than conservative and likely to vote Liberal rather than back those "mean" Harper Conservatives. And the "far more progressive than conservative" also fits most of the PM's and other names you claim to admire. On most policy issues you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish those "PCs" from most Liberals.

As for CBC shows like Fifth Estate being top quality, etc, how did you like the smear-job they did on Brian Mulroney with "Brian Mulroney: The Unauthorized Chapter". Then there was Mulroney the Opera.

The Globe's "Jamie Watt for the Conservatives"?
Say, didn't he back Belinda Stronach, the Trudeau-like (no experience, family name and fortune) candidate for the Conservative leadership job, who defected to the Liberals?

"... not rants and insults which is what Sun News did"
If that's all you took away from Sun then you're being hyper-selective about what you choose to remember. Sure, Sun's "opinion" show hosts did voice strong "opinions" but they always backed them up with factual analysis including interviews with competent, articulate guests such as (even Warren Kinsella was a regular contributor). Then there were the political talk shows like David Akin's. All good stuff from all perspectives.

And, again you haven't been specific on which of Sun's "hard right" opinions you had a problem with. Absent that who really knows whether you watched Sun at all. That you're not just another left-lib troll.

Dana said...

After watching Sun News I finally realized how misrepresented, selective and manipulative the other news stations are, at least you got a dose of the truth whether you liked it or not.
I am missing my Sun...

Anonymous said...

"Sounds to me like you're a Joe Clark kind of "conservative" - which is to say far more progressive than conservative and likely to vote Liberal rather than back those "mean" Harper Conservatives. And the "far more progressive than conservative" also fits most of the PM's and other names you claim to admire. On most policy issues you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish those "PCs" from most Liberals."

Actually I am more of a Brad Wall/Jim Prentice type Tory who used to be considered Blue Tories, but are now considered Red Tories. I don't vote Liberal, but some Red Tories do and if the party cannot appeal to those types it will lose elections. The reason the Reform Party never got much past 20% is they were simply too right wing for most Canadians. The PCs had similarities with Liberals, but also differences as most Canadians don't care whether a policy is left wing or right wing, they care whether it works and delivers results. No ideology is always right and none is always wrong either.

"As for CBC shows like Fifth Estate being top quality, etc, how did you like the smear-job they did on Brian Mulroney with "Brian Mulroney: The Unauthorized Chapter". Then there was Mulroney the Opera." I didn't see that one but I did see one on the Harper government's war on science and one of the people they interviewed was a University of Saskatchewan prof who argued scientist were crossing the line in getting involved in politics and that the government has the right to set the policy it was elected to do so even if the scientist disagree with it.

"The Globe's "Jamie Watt for the Conservatives"?
Say, didn't he back Belinda Stronach, the Trudeau-like (no experience, family name and fortune) candidate for the Conservative leadership job, who defected to the Liberals?"

Mike Harris and John Cummins also endorsed her so are you going to argue they are not Conservatives. Jamie Watts worked was a press secretary for Mike Harris and Mike Harris was no Red Tory, he was in many ways Canada's Margaret Thatcher. The main reason he probably didn't endorse Harper is he is gay and Harper played up his homophobia in the past whereas Mike Harris stayed away from social issues.

""... not rants and insults which is what Sun News did"
Sun's "opinion" show hosts did voice strong "opinions" Then there were the political talk shows like David Akin's. All good stuff from all perspectives.

And, again you haven't been specific on which of Sun's "hard right" opinions you had a problem with. Absent that who really knows whether you watched Sun at all. That you're not just another left-lib troll."

I don't mind David Akin, but cannot stand Ezra Levant who was intolerant and just insulted those who didn't agree with his views as well as also used racist and intolerant remarks which have no place in this country. As for being a lib-left troll, I guess it depends on your definition of ideology, but if being a conservative means being as right wing as Ezra Levant and Sun News, you are looking at probably only 10% of the population and I am personally glad I am not part of the 10% most right wing people in Canada. I am not saying such people should have to keep quiet, they should just realize their views are out of synch with most Canadians and not due to media bias, but rather because they don't represent who we are as a nation. Canada has never been an ideological right wing country at any point in its history and anyone who tries to move it that direction should expect a backlash. We are one of the best countries in the world and you don't blow everything apart or make radical change when things are generally working. Maybe if were in the state Greece is now or many developing countries it would make sense to make radical changes, but we are not.