Censorship in TVA Sport

[mattef]

Michel Langevin just said at 91.9 fm that while working at TVA Sport, he was told to stop "bashing" the Canadiens because they were business partners. He also speculated about it being the same with RDS.

I guess it's to be expected, but what do you guys think?

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[CrAzYNiNe]

It's to be expected. Peoples feelings get hurt... Can't have that... Why report your opinion when someone pays you to report theirs..?

 

[Seb]

Must be even worse with RDS since they're owned by Bell.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

 

[Price is Wright]

Michel Langevin just said at 91.9 fm that while working at TVA Sport, he was told to stop "bashing" the Canadiens because they were business partners. He also speculated about it being the same with RDS.

I guess it's to be expected, but what do you guys think?

Happens all the time.

If he was critically constructive and smart in his dialogue, he wouldn't be accused of bashing.

Radio tends to lean on the radical.

 

[LaP]

The way you explain it, it's way to vague to call it censorship.

Bashing should never be part of a journalist work. A good journalist should present the facts and let the viewers/readers make their own idea about it.

I would not call asking journalists not to bash censorship personally. Asking journalist to hide facts and lie would be.

Here's an example of how a see it:

Journalist 1. The Montréal Canadiens wont win the cup this year their center line is too weak.
Journalist 2. The Montréal Canadiens are a bunch off losers without any skill and Bergevin is the worst DG in the league. This team wont win anything.

Both journalist basically said the same thing. The team wont win. But the 1st one acted professionally and the 2nd one bashed. Asking a journalist to present the facts like journalist 1 is not really censorship imo.

We would need more details and more concrete examples to know if it's right or not.

 

[MXD]

Michel Langevin just said at 91.9 fm that while working at TVA Sport, he was told to stop "bashing" the Canadiens because they were business partners. He also speculated about it being the same with RDS.

I guess it's to be expected, but what do you guys think?

I think that a principled man would have resigned instead of crying-after-the-fact.

He could also have been looking for a job on French broadcasts of his favorite team, but the salary probably wasn't as interesting.

 

[LePoche69]

It has always be like that. The NHL and the CH are the Producers "without the title". It has nothing to do with sport, it is a business. The goal is to make money. The Habs are only the product. And you don't discredit the product you're trying to sell.

 

[MXD]

It has always be like that. The NHL and the CH are the Producers "without the title". It has nothing to do with sport, it is a business. The goal is to make money. The Habs are only the product. And you don't discredit the product you're trying to sell.

That makes sense... But I would add that the teams are like that. It's not a Habs-only phenomenon, and media guys who are fans of other teams can actually get a job in Montreal. That has saddled us with morons like Francois Gagnon and Michel Langevin and PJ Stock, too.

 

[hototogisu]

No surprise it happens. The network and the team are partners with a mutually beneficial relationship.

Same thing when TSN had the NHL rights. Their "criticisms" of the NHL during their intermission or panel discussions were pure fluff and usually not dwelt on. Obviously the NHL doesn't want to have a partner who takes them to task too severely. I'm sure it's the same with Sportsnet but I barely watch their panels.

 

[Justin11]

Michel Langevin just said at 91.9 fm that while working at TVA Sport, he was told to stop "bashing" the Canadiens because they were business partners. He also speculated about it being the same with RDS.

I guess it's to be expected, but what do you guys think?

Heard it on the radio this morning. I'm not surprised. I would not be surprised if someone from Habs office made some kind of request to TVA for Langevin to settle down.

 

[lo striver]

lol. who would have thought? shocking.

 

[Inkling]

TSN690 are radio partners (though TSN is no longer a TV partner) and they can be very critical of specific players, Therrien (especially) and Bergevin (much less so). In pre-Bergevin era, it was even worse.

Perhaps radio can get away with more as they tend to have a smaller audience, but rather bashing the team in general, it tends be more accepted the more specific you are in your criticism.

 

[mattef]

He did say that it was really the only time it ever happened to him. And he's worked at RDS and CKAC, both partners with the Habs. I always assumed their bosses obviously didn't like it, but kind of "had" to suck-it-in and move on.

If it was common occurence, I'm sure some journalists (and especially editorialists) would be very offended to be asked to breach their ethics code, and we would hear about it more often.

Or maybe I'm just very naive...

 

[ThaDevilGirl]

I'm sure they can criticize the team's individuals, but bashing the organization is kinda meh.

 

[Brainiac]

He did say that it was really the only time it ever happened to him. And he's worked at RDS and CKAC, both partners with the Habs. I always assumed their bosses obviously didn't like it, but kind of "had" to suck-it-in and move on.

If it was common occurence, I'm sure some journalists (and especially editorialists) would be very offended to be asked to breach their ethics code, and we would hear about it more often.

Or maybe I'm just very naive...

What is naive is calling these guys journalists.

There's not much journalists left in the press. Especially in French. La Presse is full of product placement, Le Journal de Montréal is even worse. And they do have to push some agendas to please the bosses.

So when we get down to sports journalists... forget it. Most of them can talk about the Habs and only the Habs. When we got Scott Gomez, Rejean Tremblay and another guy said on the radio it was a bad move because Gomez wasn't even on Team Canada. Just shows how little they know about hockey when you get out of Montreal.

Even the best ones like Matthias Brunet have Desharnais on the first line to start the year.

 

[Seb]

What is naive is calling these guys journalists.

There's not much journalists left in the press. Especially in French. La Presse is full of product placement, Le Journal de Montréal is even worse. And they do have to push some agendas to please the bosses.

So when we get down to sports journalists... forget it. Most of them can talk about the Habs and only the Habs. When we got Scott Gomez, Rejean Tremblay and another guy said on the radio it was a bad move because Gomez wasn't even on Team Canada. Just shows how little they know about hockey when you get out of Montreal.

Even the best ones like Matthias Brunet have Desharnais on the first line to start the year.

I've worked with plenty of journalists and what you say is full of crap.

Réjean Tremblay isn't a journalist. Don't compare him to them.

 

[Price is Wright]

I've worked with plenty of journalists and what you say is full of crap.

Réjean Tremblay isn't a journalist. Don't compare him to them.

A lot don't understand the difference between a Katie Strang and a Nick Kypreos.

 

[Brainiac]

I've worked with plenty of journalists and what you say is full of crap.

Réjean Tremblay isn't a journalist. Don't compare him to them.

Fair enough, I agree there's a difference between columnist and journalist. But even then. When you work for the big press, there should be some form of minimal criterion to meet. These guys should be the pros, the ones you can listen to for solid information/analysis.

And... have you even bothered reading La Presse+

This thing is so full of product placement that real journalism is secondary at best.

The fact that Bugingo could go around spreading lies and bull**** for years just shows you how weak and self-centered journalism is in Quebec.

 

[Seb]

Fair enough, I agree there's a difference between columnist and journalist. But even then. When you work for the big press, there should be some form of minimal criterion to meet. These guys should be the pros, the ones you can listen to for solid information/analysis.

And... have you even bothered reading La Presse+

This thing is so full of product placement that real journalism is secondary at best.

The fact that Bugingo could go around spreading lies and bull**** for years just shows you how weak and self-centered journalism is in Quebec.

Bugingo is not a common case and it happened to the New York Times too : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair

Let's not pretend he represents all the journalists.

As for La Presse, the sports guys who work there are good. Not sure what's to whine about here.

 

[Brainiac]

Bugingo is not a common case and it happened to the New York Times too : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair

Let's not pretend he represents all the journalists.

As for La Presse, the sports guys who work there are good. Not sure what's to whine about here.

Eh... maybe american journalists are also mostly dumb and self-centered?

edit: and Blair was caught pretty fast too. Bugingo basically built a whole career over the years with nonsense that no journalist here was willing to challenge because it was 'international'.

We're a little off topic here so I won't go any further.

Back on topic: TVA sports is bad. I think we get better info/analysis just by reading that board and all the links to other sites that posters share here.

 

[Seb]

Eh... maybe american journalists are also mostly dumb and self-centered?

edit: and Blair was caught pretty fast too. Bugingo basically built a whole career over the years with nonsense that no journalist here was willing to challenge because it was 'international'.

We're a little off topic here so I won't go any further.

Back on topic: TVA sports is bad. I think we get better info/analysis just by reading that board and all the links to other sites that posters share here.

I'm not gonna disagree that TVA is bad, they are. I just hate when people say all journalists are terrible, it's just not true and I can tell you firsthand.

 

[Runner77]

There is no journalism on Spanre and RDS when it comes to the Habs. Not surprising, but sad nonetheless. I miss the early, less corporately-invasive and non-dictatorial times, when many of those commenting were much more raw and much less filtered.

 

[ThaDevilGirl]

Fair enough, I agree there's a difference between columnist and journalist. But even then. When you work for the big press, there should be some form of minimal criterion to meet. These guys should be the pros, the ones you can listen to for solid information/analysis.

And... have you even bothered reading La Presse+

This thing is so full of product placement that real journalism is secondary at best.

The fact that Bugingo could go around spreading lies and bull**** for years just shows you how weak and self-centered journalism is in Quebec.

OT:If it wasn't for ads La Presse+ wouldn't be free. They need those to continue to make LP+ free to all. You can buy the newspaper if you want.

You're just ranting for the sake of ranting. There are still good journalists covering the Habs If you are not interested in columns, skip them. I enjoy reading Guillaume Lefrançois and Marc-Antoine Godin from La Presse, I'm sure there are some decent journalists at Radio-Canada or even Journal de Montreal as well.

 

[All-Star]

Anyone have any examples of this guy's "bashing" before I form an opinion? Right now I'm leaning towards him attempting to line himself for a job covering the new Nordiques...

 

[Le Tricolore]

OT:If it wasn't for ads La Presse+ wouldn't be free. They need those to continue to make LP+ free to all. You can buy the newspaper if you want.

You're just ranting for the sake of ranting. There are still good journalists covering the Habs If you are not interested in columns, skip them. I enjoy reading Guillaume Lefrançois and Marc-Antoine Godin from La Presse, I'm sure there are some decent journalists at Radio-Canada or even Journal de Montreal as well.

the only person worth reading is Bertrand Raymond anyway.