Monday, July 4, 2005
Canada's Ambassador Declares War on Fox News
Canada's ambassador to the United States has launched an all-out war on Fox News Channel.
Ambassador Frank McKenna has undertaken a public relations effort to reach the more than 1 million Canadians living in the United States, a group he calls the "Canadian diaspora."
McKenna says the effort is to boost support for Canada here, and to counter what he says is the "Fox factor," referring to the Fox News Channel, America's most popular cable news network, and its most highly rated show, "The O'Reilly Factor."
McKenna told the Toronto Star that he wants to arm Canadians with facts that will enable them to debate Americans and to lobby when Washington makes decisions that can hurt Canadians.
But most importantly, he says, Canadians in the U.S. should counteract Fox News, alleging that the network often spreads disinformation and creates a false picture of his homeland.
"We know we're a bit of prey for the Fox News type of shows," he told the Star.
The ambassador said he has sent out 6,000 pieces of literature to Canadians in his battle with Fox, and plans to mail to some 100,000 Canadians in the weeks ahead.
McKenna said he launched this campaign because "having dinner every month or two with some interesting people is not enough to move" Washington.
The ambassador hopes that his new network of Canadians "will be in the millions."
"Then all of a sudden we've multiplied our efforts exponentially and we have a lot more people out there armed with information," he said.
Calling on Canadians wintering in Florida, retirees in Arizona, Hollywood comedians and actors, investment bankers in New York and professors and students at universities across the United States, McKenna said they should carry these messages to Americans:
Canada is the largest source of imported crude oil in the U.S., bigger than Saudi Arabia or the yet untested reserves of Iraq.
None of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists entered the U.S. from Canada.
Canada-U.S. trade supports more than 5 million American jobs.
Said McKenna: "We have to be very careful about overblown rhetoric. We don't get a lot of attention here, but we can get attention here for the wrong reasons.
"So we shouldn't be so judgmental about a country that has chosen to play that role."
But as far as Fox News is concerned, that seems to be a different story.
Canada's ambassador to the United States has launched an all-out war on Fox News Channel.
Ambassador Frank McKenna has undertaken a public relations effort to reach the more than 1 million Canadians living in the United States, a group he calls the "Canadian diaspora."
McKenna says the effort is to boost support for Canada here, and to counter what he says is the "Fox factor," referring to the Fox News Channel, America's most popular cable news network, and its most highly rated show, "The O'Reilly Factor."
McKenna told the Toronto Star that he wants to arm Canadians with facts that will enable them to debate Americans and to lobby when Washington makes decisions that can hurt Canadians.
But most importantly, he says, Canadians in the U.S. should counteract Fox News, alleging that the network often spreads disinformation and creates a false picture of his homeland.
"We know we're a bit of prey for the Fox News type of shows," he told the Star.
The ambassador said he has sent out 6,000 pieces of literature to Canadians in his battle with Fox, and plans to mail to some 100,000 Canadians in the weeks ahead.
McKenna said he launched this campaign because "having dinner every month or two with some interesting people is not enough to move" Washington.
The ambassador hopes that his new network of Canadians "will be in the millions."
"Then all of a sudden we've multiplied our efforts exponentially and we have a lot more people out there armed with information," he said.
Calling on Canadians wintering in Florida, retirees in Arizona, Hollywood comedians and actors, investment bankers in New York and professors and students at universities across the United States, McKenna said they should carry these messages to Americans:
Canada is the largest source of imported crude oil in the U.S., bigger than Saudi Arabia or the yet untested reserves of Iraq.
None of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists entered the U.S. from Canada.
Canada-U.S. trade supports more than 5 million American jobs.
Said McKenna: "We have to be very careful about overblown rhetoric. We don't get a lot of attention here, but we can get attention here for the wrong reasons.
"So we shouldn't be so judgmental about a country that has chosen to play that role."
But as far as Fox News is concerned, that seems to be a different story.
