Myth or fact: Is the Harper government really muzzling scientists?
Theres been a lot chatter over the past several years about the Harper government being secretive and antagonistic with the media.
One of the things that gets a lot of attention are the allegations from the opposition parties, from federal scientists and from the media that the Tories are muzzling scientists, presumably as a means to hide information to further their oil-based agenda.
Well, a new report penned by theEvidence For Democracy supports that narrative.
The reports authors looked at 16 federal departments and came to the conclusion that government media policies do not support open and timely communication between scientists and journalists.
The worst department, according to the report, was Natural Resources Canada:
"NRCan policies emphasize message control and place restrictions onwho may interact with the media.Media relations will developmessages together with thespokesperson and communicationsmanagers; approval is then requiredfrom the Ministers Director ofCommunications and, in some cases, from the Privy Council Office."
The authors deduce that U.S. scientists are more free to talk to media and, to their credit, they offer some good suggestions to facilitate better communications.
However, according to at least one media relations expert, the Harper governments PR strategy is simply prudent with a 24/7 media cycle.
"As opposed to what most people would think, the reality is that it takes a while to gather all the communications pieces in a puzzle," Matt Wilcox of the Wilcox Group said in an email exchange.
"One scientist may not know the bigger picture or have all the facts, or they may have a particular focus which is not relevant to todays story. Or worse, they are off-topic or so specific that it doesnt give the full answer to educate."
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Myth or fact: Is the Harper government really muzzling scientists?