Canada Wants Its Fox News

NewMax ^ | 4/27/04 | Carl Limbacher

[wagglebee]

"Why is Fox News banned from Canada, yet CNN isn't?"

Peter Worthington of the Toronto Sun poses this question in his latest article.

He isn't sure if it's because Canada is more accepting of the liberal-leaning CNN, or if it's just because CNN was there first and is sort of 'grandfathered in,' so to speak.

Either way, Fox News has blown away the competition here in the U.S., and Worthington says he feels "withdrawal pangs" after returning to a Fox-free Canada. "I find Fox News an invaluable balance to CNN programming," he says.

When he called up his cable company to find out why Fox News isn't available, his answer was a chuckle: "Ask the CRTC or, better still, ask the CCTA (Canadian Cable Television Association)."

Worthington tells readers that Canada's governing CRTA has had an application from the CCTA to allow Fox News into the Great White North's TV system, but the CRTA has not done anything about it. "We don't understand how the CRTC can keep denying Canadians the right to have Fox News," said a CCTA spokesman.

The BBC and Euro News are both in Canada, and one can listen to Rush Limbaugh and others who don't lean left on the radio, if you can pick it up from a U.S. station.

But there is no alternative to the liberal media establishment in Canada, and that's apparently the way they like it, if the Globe and Mail's TV critic John Doyle is any measure.

He wrote that Fox News should be aired in Canada ... "so that we can all take a look, and get a laugh."

Worthington dismisses Doyle as childish, wondering how the G&M can even print his infantile tripe.

He concludes by saying that he wants Fox News in Canada as soon as possible, "not just for the amusement of Canadians like John Doyle, but their intellectual edification."

"Trust me," he says, "Fox News is not pathologically conservative or right wing. It is mostly sensible, and airs opinions from people who aren't afraid to challenge prevailing orthodoxy or think differently. Small wonder Liberals and the CRTC fear it."

[-YYZ-]

I have friends who are, or were, pretty hard core into the pirated DirecTV scene. I'm not sure about electronic detection-equipped vans, but they will come and take your equipment, and possibly fine you, if they find out you're running a DirectTV (or Dish Network) system, and possibly fine you. Criminal charges for mere users are very unlikely. And the above applies whether you're paying for your DirecTV service (albeit in the grey/black market, as I've explained) or pirating the service.

[Dr. Luv]

"The Canadian government drives around in vehicles with satellite detection equipment looking for unbrainwashed citizens trying to watch information sources not sanctioned by their government. If detected, the offender is subject to criminal penalties. "

I guess that some of us will believe anything...

[nutmeg]

FoxFan ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.

[SevenofNine]

Rack it I saw that letter on O'Reilly factor that something else hey not all Canucks are like Canuck Globe and Mail

I bet the common sense Canucks are saying dont' be bunch of hosers CBC

You guys are hoser eh

I want MY FOX NEWS EH

[Free2Be49]

Do you have a source, or is it hearsay?

Yes.  First, my brother told me about it.  Then an article concerning this issue caught my attention.  It was in an online Canadian paper.

When I called my sister, who lives up there, during the conversation she mentioned her husband was watching the news.  So I said, "I'll bet you he's not watching Fox News." 

That's when she confirmed that programming from the US is controlled by the Canadian government and yes, by the by, she confirmed the truth of the article that said they do drive around checking for using a dish to receive illegal US programming.

Sometimes, I will store exceptional articles on my drive.  If I run across it, I'll ping you with it.

[lainde]

bttt

[DeltaJo]

I wrote an article about this myself on my conservative-oriented Canadian web site (yes, we conservatives exist in Canada -- or at least we will if I have anything to do with it).

I will agree that the use of the word "banned" when referring to Fox news in Canada is inflated, and I can't prove it's official government policy to ban right-wing views, but the fact remains that liberal Canadian government bureaucrats (appointed by Liberal Party politicians) decide what will and won't be allowed in Canada, and for what reason. It's open to speculation as to why they don't allow Fox News channel despite Canadians demanding it (the "official" reasons aside -- since they're suspect, being government). But "banned" is a legitimate use of the word.

I've decided that the only rationale for not allowing Fox News channel when the less popular (in the U.S.) BBC and CNN and CNBC and all U.S. networks are allowed, is that the liberal dominated government bureaucracy feels threatened by so-called right-wing views, especially when it would compete with the state-run media giant CBC and their 24-hour news channel, which is decidedly left-wing (and terrible).

Just why it is that government would think that forcing, by law, "Canadian culture" on Canadians by restricting Canadians and what they watch on TV when they know full-well what is available, is hideous. You can't force somewone to love something, especially by law.

Link to my article at www.ProudToBeCanadian.ca:
http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=285

Joel Johannesen

[-YYZ-]

I agree with you. I'm waiting to see what will happen with the standalone application to bring in FOX News. If they deny it, it will be interesting to hear their rationale this time. If they allow it, it should shut some of these guys up. I'll be watching to see how this one turns out. Lousy commies at the CRTC.

[Eli Playter]

Agreed that the word "banned" is bandied-about here far too easily. The fact is that Fox News and Global Television in Toronto had an agreement to start Fox News Canada. They got a license 4 years ago and then Global's done nothing since. Maybe there just isn't enough money in it. But that speaks more to economics than politics.

[Undertoe]

Free2Be49, I like your signature:
(A wise man’s heart inclines him toward the right, but a fool’s heart toward the left. Ecc. 10:2 RSV)

Please allow me to offer my own observation;
-A wise man knows that when Ecclesiastes was written, “left” and “right” had absolutely nothing to do with liberal and conservative.