Mandryk: Moe's use of social media to bypass criticism an unwelcome trend - Regina Leader-Post

Media

Mandryk: Moe's use of social media to bypass criticism an unwelcome trend – Regina Leader-Post

Published

3 years ago

January 10, 2020

Harry Miller

There’s been a concerted effort as the Oct. 26 vote nears to bypass media filters and move government messaging to social media forums.

One of the many optimistic posts on Premier Scott Moe’s Facebook and Twitter sites of late was that of a Pipeline News article proudly proclaiming that oil in Saskatchewan is back.

The tireless proponent of the oil and gas industry noted “Saskatchewan’s drilling rig fleet went back to work with a bang on Jan. 6 … a jump of 19 rigs compared to its last report on Jan. 3.”

“The map came alive all over the province, with clumps of rigs showing up throughout much of southeast Saskatchewan, at Shaunavon, north of Highway 16 near Lloydminster and, most curiously, in a string along the Alberta border from Alsask to Macklin,” Pipeline News reported.

“The net result was 54 per cent utilization rate, with 57 of 105 rigs working. That’s a better rate than Alberta, whose 45 per cent was made up of 165 of 366 rigs, or British Columbia, who had 18 of 40 rigs going. Manitoba had five of six rigs working, for a 83 per cent utilization rate.”

The story also noted that, nationally, there was a decline in the drilling fleet to 532 (as of last Dec. 10) from 549 in November and that those numbers were down from approximately 800 six years ago.

As a huge proponent of the oil and gas sector (you may recall the entire Saskatchewan Party cabinet attended the Weyburn Oil and Gas Show with now Alberta Premier Jason Kenney last year), it’s not exactly shocking to see Moe promote this very good news … even if it doesn’t perfectly fit the narrative that the oil and gas industry has totally collapsed under the weight of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax.

Success in the oil sector does mean more jobs and more government royalty revenue to pay for schools, hospitals and roads. For this, we should all be grateful.

But while Moe’s tweet was neither untoward nor shocking, it’s interesting to watch it as part of a government strategy. Clearly, there’s been a concerted effort as the Oct. 26 vote nears to bypass media filters and move government messaging to social media forums like Facebook and Twitter.

Consider that in the first seven days of 2020, Moe had already tweeted 29 times (not including retweets) about policy or general matters. By contrast, there were just six government news releases from executive council’s entire communications department at a time when we await government pronouncements on heady matters like its response to the Provincial Auditor’s report on the Brandt/CNIB project, expected new direction on environment policy or our supposed need for measures to make us more independent from Ottawa.

One obvious reason why Moe would prefer social media is that its easy, breezy nature makes it easier to convey his messages or brand as he sees fit, while conveniently bypassing the aforementioned media filter. This trend — especially the use of Moe’s Facebook page for speeches or policy statements — is untoward.

While perhaps seemingly harmless to some, it is a less than subtle way of avoiding critique at a time when media critique of government is already diminishing. (Along with the use of staff paid with taxpayer funds for the seemingly sole purpose of taping reporters’ scrums to produce partisan memes for Moe’s social media sites, this was clearly one of the less pleasing communication developments in 2019.)

And even when Moe’s message hasn’t necessarily been overtly partisan, social media’s simple ability to allow “likes” and partisan responses becomes a subtle and effective way of tilting the message in the Sask. Party’s favour. (For example, Moe’s posting of the Pipeline News to his site was filled with “likes” and comments crediting the premier for turnaround in drilling and blaming Trudeau and the carbon tax for the problem. Indirectly, yet still effectively, like-minded partisans convey his political message without Moe having to do it directly.)

Maybe it’s not quite as bad as the “war room” in neighbouring Alberta using taxpayers’ resources to discredit environmentalists with opposing government views.

But — even when it appears seemingly harmless — it’s still part of a problematic trend that can result in less government scrutiny.

Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Source link

Media

OPEC denies media access to Reuters, Bloomberg, WSJ for weekend policy meets

Published

4 hours ago

June 2, 2023

Harry Miller

VIENNA, June 2 (Reuters) – OPEC has denied media access to reporters from Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal to report on oil policy meetings in Vienna this weekend, reporters, Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The three media organizations are among the world’s leading suppliers of financial news and information. They report on the outcome of policy meetings between OPEC and its allies, where ministers make decisions that impact the price of the world’s most traded commodity.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies is a group known as OPEC+ and includes top oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia. Ministers from the group, which pumps more than 40% of the world’s oil supply, are scheduled to gather on Saturday and Sunday for regular biannual meetings.

OPEC staff declined on Friday to give media accreditation to Reuters journalists to cover the event. The staff handling media accreditation at one of Vienna’s luxury hotels said they could not issue accreditation without an invite. They did not comment when asked why Reuters reporters received no invites.

OPEC has not responded to requests for comment from Reuters this week on why it has not invited or accredited Reuters reporters for the meet.

“We believe that transparency and a free press serve both readers and markets, and we object to this restriction on coverage,” a spokesperson for Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO), said on Friday.

“Reuters will continue to cover OPEC in an independent, impartial and reliable way in keeping with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.”

A reporter from Bloomberg was also denied accreditation on Friday, a person familiar with the matter said.

A Bloomberg spokesperson confirmed on Friday the company has not been given accreditation to cover the OPEC meeting.

The Wall Street Journal did not respond to a request for comment.

Reporters from the three outlets, many of whom have been covering OPEC meetings for years, did not receive invitations from OPEC ahead of the meeting.

Without accreditation, journalists cannot enter the OPEC Secretariat where the ministers meet, or attend press conferences during the event.

Reporters at other media outlets including trade publications Argus and Platts received accreditation on Friday. Argus confirmed its reporters have been accredited and will attend. Platts did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Reporting by Alex Lawler, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Ahmad Ghaddar, Julia Payne, Maha El Dahan; writing by Simon Webb; Editing by Marguerita Choy

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source link

Media

OPEC denies media access to Reuters, Bloomberg, WSJ for weekend policy meets – Yahoo Canada Finance

Published

5 hours ago

June 2, 2023

Harry Miller

VIENNA (Reuters) – OPEC has denied media access to reporters from Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal to report on oil policy meetings in Vienna this weekend, reporters, Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

OPEC has not responded to requests for comment from Reuters this week on why it has not invited or accredited Reuters reporters for the meet.

“Reuters will continue to cover OPEC in an independent, impartial and reliable way in keeping with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.”

A reporter from Bloomberg was also denied accreditation on Friday, a person familiar with the matter said.

A Bloomberg spokesperson confirmed on Friday the company has not been given accreditation to cover the OPEC meeting.

The Wall Street Journal did not respond to a request for comment.

Reporters from the three outlets, many of whom have been covering OPEC meetings for years, did not receive invitations from OPEC ahead of the meeting.

Without accreditation, journalists cannot enter the OPEC Secretariat where the ministers meet, or attend press conferences during the event.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Ahmad Ghaddar, Julia Payne, Maha El Dahan; writing by Simon Webb; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Media

Social media restricted in Senegal amid political unrest – NetBlocks

Published

18 hours ago

June 2, 2023

Harry Miller

NetBlocks metrics confirm the restriction of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram and other social media platforms in Senegal on 1 June 2023. The measure comes amid widespread protests over the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

⚠️ Confirmed: Metrics show the restriction of social media and messaging platforms including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube in #Senegal; the incident comes amid protests over the sentencing of opposition figure Ousmane Sonko

📰 Report: https://t.co/2ckQPxJ5j3 pic.twitter.com/MuohanLeCP

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) June 1, 2023

Real-time network data show the restrictions in effect on Senegal’s leading mobile provider Orange (Sonatel) with restrictions subsequently also observed on Free (Tigo). The study is taken from a sample size of 4000 measurements from 120 vantage points across Senegal. Unrelated platforms have remained available without restriction. This class of disruption can be worked around using VPN services, which are able to circumvent government internet censorship measures.

What’s happening in Senegal?

Ousmane Sonko, a prominent opposition figure in Senegal, has been sentenced to two years in jail on charges of “corrupting youth,” leading to widespread protests in Dakar and other major cities. The court acquitted Sonko of rape and death threat charges but found him guilty of immoral behavior towards individuals younger than 21. The sentence could potentially bar Sonko from running in the upcoming presidential election. Protests have broken out in response to the verdict, with Sonko’s supporters claiming the charges are politically motivated and part of a plot to stymie his political career

Senegal has a history of using social media restrictions to control protests. In 2021, NetBlocks found that authorities limited access to social media and messaging apps, in addition to measures targeting traditional media.

Senegal’s government has also faced a series of activist cyberattacks over the treatment of Sonko, which brought down several state websites and online platforms hosted on the government ADIE network earlier in the week.

NetBlocks recommends against the use of network disruptions and social media restrictions, given their disproportionate impact to fundamental rights including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Methodology

Internet performance and service reachability are determined via NetBlocks web probe privacy-preserving analytics. Each measurement consists of latency round trip time, outage type and autonomous system number aggregated in real-time to assess service availability and latency in a given country. Network providers and locations are enumerated as vantage point pairs. The root cause of a service outage may be additionally corroborated by means of traffic analysis and manual testing as detailed in the report.

NetBlocks is an internet monitor working at the intersection of digital rights, cyber-security and internet governance. Independent and non-partisan, NetBlocks strives to deliver a fair and inclusive digital future for all.

[ press | contact ] Graphics and visualizations are provided for fair use in unaltered form reflecting the meaning and intent in which they were published, with clear credit and source attribution to NetBlocks. Intellectual property rights are protected including but not limited to key findings, facts and figures, trademarks, copyrights, and original reporting, are held by NetBlocks. Citation and source attribution are required at the point of use.

Core Reporting Sponsor