#4 – Al Hogan
I don’t know who writes The Sleuth (#7 on the list of 10 people screwing up N.B.) but I do know who is ultimately responsible for it and that man is the editor of the Moncton Times and Transcript, Al Hogan.
The T and T is a paper on a mission and heaven help you if you cross it. Once they have their sites set on an issue or subject, there is no getting out of the way. Don’t believe me? Just ask the provincial Liberal Party.
Editorials in newspapers have long taken political sides. That’s nothing new, but there’s something different about the style of the editorials in the Moncton Times and Transcript. It is almost as if they are on the NB PC Party’s payroll. The PC’s almost always, it seems, can do no wrong, while the Liberals can do no right.
Now don’t get me wrong. I read the editorials in the Times and Transcript and almost am always nodding my head. I think Stephen Harper’s the best thing that’s happened to this country in a long time, and even though I voted Liberal in the last provincial election (my local PC candidate was a dud), I still think Bernard Lord is the better of the two leaders to lead this province (although I wish he would figure out how to make a decision without consulting the entire planet and waiting 3 years).
The Transcript though has almost become a mouthpiece for the NB Tory Party and it screams bias and that is wrong from a media outlet. It is almost as if they have the Tory talking points on an issue the day before and they’re ready to run them verbatim. There’s an abundance of liberal media in this country (CBC regularly being the worst offender – and you pay for that) and maybe the T and T is just balancing it out, but I hate to see bias in any media form. As far as the T and T goes, from anyone I talk to associated with them, the reason ultimately rests with Al Hogan. After all, this is the same guy who actually defended Brenda Fowlie last year for giving out personal information about Liberal MLA Stuart Jamieson and then went on even further to lambaste the Liberals for it. That situation was cut and dry. Fowlie was in the wrong…period. This wasn’t a one-off for Hogan. It is a pattern of behaviour and you can see it almost constantly. The times you don’t, I suspect Hogan is on vacation.
Media cries about having diversity in their newsrooms but one thing they lack big time is diversity of thought. The vast majority of media need a few more conservative voices in the editorial room. Hogan however would be wise to hire a few liberal ones.
There’s a saying that you don’t pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. I think that came before keyboards which of course don’t require ink at all. #4, Mr Hogan.
posted by
Spinks at 8:21 PM -
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3 Comments
The Moncton stop printing my letters years ago. It's a bad paper for the citizens in that area.
They never covered my 6 months protest at all.
10:13 PM
Their story selection is concerning, Charles. I don't expect you should be in there every day or week or month, but the tent protest was provincial news and deserved a mention. There are lots of other examples. Remember the man who abducted his kids from the mother and took them to the southern U.S.? That was in Moncton and became a big regional and a national story but you would not know it reading the T and T. Nary a mention at all. Not always but far more often than other papers if it doesn't seem to concern the editorial board (IE:Hogan) they don't run it or crap all over the issue.
There have been improvements recently at the T and T but there have been in the past too and they always go back to their old ways. It's a private business and they are free to do as they like but in my mind, a media outlet should give everyone a fair shake. I'm not convinced the T and T does and when you have the largest circulation in the province, you're held accountable by your readers, thus the reason for Hogan being on my list.
9:28 AM
Having years of experience in the Times & Transcript building I can tell you that the paper picks the stories they want to publish based on Al Hogan's preferences. When was the last time you saw Gay Pride photos in the paper from the annual parade? Why was there such a big stink about adding a bicycle lane on Shediac Rd.? Hint: That's where Hogan lives.
When you think of a published media company you would think that they are unbiased and truthful. That's far from truth as they have gone so far as to lie about the numbers behind their semi-annual online career fair that the current PC government sponsors. These half-true numbers in turn grant them more cash the next time they run their fair.
5:05 PM
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