Categories: Need to know

Teneycke attacks Atwood over anti-Sun TV News petition

Head of right-wing news network attacks novelist for lack of “principles and patriotism”

by macleans.ca on Friday, September 3, 2010 3:46pm - 0 Comments

Kory Teneycke, the vice-president of development for Quebecor Media and the man in charge of Sun TV News, has lashed out at Margaret Atwood over the Canadian literary icon’s support of an anti-Sun TV News petition. The petition is being promoted by Avaaz, a left-wing group based in the U.S., which claims “‘Fox News North’ [will] mimic the kind of hate-filled propaganda with which Fox News has poisoned U.S. politics.” “This is not the first time Atwood has put her political agenda ahead of principles and patriotism,” Teneycke writes in an op-ed published by the Sun papers, citing Atwood’s musing about supporting the Bloc Québécois if she lived in Quebec. “Seriously? How about voting for someone who doesn’t advocate the breakup of the country?” Teneycke goes on to point out the obviously fake names contained on the petition, including “Dwight Shroot (from The Office), Boba Fett (of Star Wars), Snuffaluffagus (Sesame Street) and Homer Simpson,” which Teneycke later confirmed were added by his source on the matter.

Toronto Sun

CBC News

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  • RobinBC

    Anyone who doesn't agree with the Left socialist agenda is "hate filled". Their biggest problem is they can't win a logical argument, they are locked into "feelings" and vague beliefs about "rights" (collective rights "good", individual rights "bad"). They depend on filling the media with their believers and shutting out debate with hysterical claims about "violence" or "racism" that they can't back up.

    Ever notice there is no violence at so-called right wing "tea party" demonstrations, but left wing "peace" lovers set fires, destroy property, bomb, and physically attack others.

    • Jack

      No. You are missing the argument completely.

      Kory is asking for special treatment for the CRTC, which amounts to a public subsidy of the private corporation he works for.

      No one would be raising a fuss if he wanted to have some sort of 24 hr cable news show on ch 68 (where SunTV currently resides)

      He wants "must carry" status for an station THAT HE HAS ADMITTED will advocate for the PMO, the CPC and his former boss.

      • RobinBC

        Kory has the right to ask for subsidies. Lobbying politically in a system that is already politically controlled is unfortunately necessary. He doesn't write the rules. They were written by the Left to get subsidies for their biased views to be promoted in radio, television, print and "art". All of a sudden when someone uses the system but doesn't agree with the socialist agenda in this country it is an "outrage".

        So long as we have a "State" broadcaster paid for by all taxpayers (no left bias there!) and so long as radio and television licensing is controlled by the CRTC who give "special treatment" subsidies to some channels "in the public interest" but not to others, what is your point? The CRTC also keep out new outlets of all types to protect existing license holders through licensing restrictions even though there are no spectrum or other technical issues. Are you so naive you don't think politics is at play here?

        The biggest problem the CRTC has is figuring out how to deny the subsidy without being exposed as the left biased fraud that it is.

        Don't like subsidies? Great let's stop them all, both direct and indirect.

        • Holly Stick

          Teneycke does NOT have the right to lobby for subsidies:

          a) if he wants to start a private business he can dam' well finance it himself instead of picking Canadians' pockets. CBC belongs to Canadians. Sun TV is private. Learn the difference.

          b) since he used to work for PM Harper, he is barred from acting as a lobbyist.

        • Thwim

          So what you're saying is that the station can't make it without state support?

          Well.. let's see. Western Standard. National Post. CanWest.. hmm. You might have a point. It seems Canadians in general really don't prefer the right wing slant on facts.

          That's actually all the more reason for the state to deny that support, however.

          • Holly Stick

            Conservative welfare bums

  • No NDP

    Atwood has a screw loose. In Canada, the lefty dominates the news cast. The CBC is notorious for anti-Israeli attacks, where serious factual errors are made-just note the number of retractions and apologies. The Toronto Star, a far left rag found in every Ontario school, is home to some of the countries most notorious Marxists-Thomas Walkom, Linda McQuaig, Michelle Shepherd, etc. This paper, the Canadian version of Pravda, should either be out of the classrooms or counter-balanced with the National Post.. Canada is one of a few countries where a national political party, is almost homogeneous in it's membership, to identify with anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic positions. Libby Davies, Linda McQuaig, Stacy Douglas, Samira Laouni ,Hayder Moussa, Carole James , Wayne Marston, etc. Numerous NDP journalists cover their anti-semitism by attacking Israel vociferously and using code words like anti-Zionism as a politically correct protective cover for those in left-wing circles Why do you thing Bob Rae, who's wife is Jewish, left the party?.

    • Holly Stick

      Wow, your comment is dripping with spite, lies and stupidity.

      • O'Neill

        As is yours

    • brooster

      The Toronto Star "a far left rag"? That's hilarious!! It has the largest readership among that city's four major dailies. I guess that makes Toronto a seething cauldron of Marxist revolutionary fervour.

      • Wonk

        People like No NDP do think Toronto a seething cauldron of Marxist revolutionary fervour. That's why Rob Ford's lead in the polls (last I checked) makes them so giddy.

      • balabu

        Toronto Star readership is based on giving it for free at fast food restaurants, gas stations etc. Every second week I get a phone call to subscribe to Toronto Star for $1 per week . I have to be paid by them to accept this Terrorist loving leftist garbage to carry it to the recycle box.

        • brooster

          So Torstar Corp would be…what…a big Marxist trojan horse, right there in the heart of Canadian capitalism?

  • macGen

    we are indeed in troubling times. a schizophrenic, polarized society where the divide between rich & poor, right vs left is now too pronounced. the hurricanes will only intensify. we must tread very carefully or we will lose much that has been built for "the common good" in such an affluent society. when people stop "listening" the result is usually not in the best interests of any of us, except for the psychopaths

  • Martin

    Just a note to all who sign this petition, expect spam in your mailbox. I signed a petition with Avaaz using a specific Email address. The email address was used just once, for that petition. I was surprised at the amount of spam that was generated. After a few checks on the net I found that I was not alone in this situation. Either Avaaz is selling or sharing this data or worse they have a serious security breech. Either way it is not good. Just google Avaaz spam for more info.

    • Lizz

      I signed _ no spam after three days, so sign and hope it makes a difference.

  • LoyalSubject

    Nice photo. New Canada meet Old Canada . . .

  • Mavri

    We don't need Americans telling Canadians what to watch on TV. Sun Tv isn't on the air yet but all the lefties are getting a bit queasy. Maybe we'll learn something that the likes of Liberal CBC isn't telling us. All this "fuss" is the best publicity Sun TV could have wished for and it's free. Don't like the station, don't watch. BTW, CBC gets about 1 Billion of your tax dollars a year but that's OK with Atwood.

    • Holly Stick

      We don't need Harper stealing our money to put in his buddies' pockets. The petitions is to stop the backroom dealing and to stop Sun TV getting a special deal forcing everyone to pay for their channel.

      • Holly Stick

        You just have to look at Teneycke's vicious libellous attack on Atwood to realize what crap will be produced by any TV station he is involved with.

  • Holly Stick

    More about Teneycke's lack of honesty:
    http://skinnydips.blogspot.com/2010/09/kory-teney…

  • Philanthropist

    Left-leaning people are such fascists, they know it, and they hate it when someone calls them on it. That's the problem some people have with the idea of Sun TV. Liberals would shut down the internet in Canada if they could – just so there wouldn't be any forum in which their fascist ideology is questioned. Hypocrites.

  • Holly Stick
    • Patchouli

      This is exactly what I've been thinking about all day; thanks for the links. Teneyke is NOT a journalist and never was to my knowledge; we tend to lump communications strategists and reporters together workwise — corporations LOVE to hire former reporters because they understand the issues from the other side of the microphone.

      But while rhetoric and persuasion are part of both jobs, the intent is very different. So when we read Kory's op-eds in the Sun, we are used to reading them by honest to god reporters and so we think we're reading an expert perspective.

      But we're reading targetted, strategic, partisan, ideological communications tactics. Not journalism. He's a manipulative liar and I don't trust him one iota.

  • No NDP

    Interesting Article by a Czec Intellectial-Kenneth Froehling

    Canadian Media Commentary on Resurgent
    Anti-Semitism and Israel in the 21st Century http://www.phil.muni.cz/angl/thepes/thepes_02_04….

    Excerpts

    Some journalists (and non-journalists too) have
    labeled this the new anti-Semitism1 (i.e. attacking Israel vociferously and using code words ike anti-Zionism as a politically correct protective cover for those in left-wing circles in order to avoid being accused of what is considered to be classical anti-Semitism

    Why Licien Bouchard resigned as Premier

    For the Parti Québécois […] the anti-Jewish diatribes of Yves Michaud, one of its most prominent activists, triggered a political crisis […] His sudden attacks against the Jewish community came out of the blue.

    Pieere Burton on Moving to Toronto

    The people who suffered most were the Jews. The anti-Semitism was palpable
    I brought up the subject at a staff meeting (at Maclean’s) and was assigned
    to write about it. The results were far more devastating than I had suspected.

    Fortunately for Canadian Jews (and non-Jews too), anti-Semitism began to dissipaterapidly beginning in the 1950s. But now….

  • No NDP

    more

    Even if Al Gore had won the Florida ecount and the American presidency, the Canadian left, including most members of the federal NDP in Canada, had already embraced the anti-American, anti-capitalist, antiglobalization movement. However, by 2001, the anti-globalization movement began to advocate the cause of the Palestinians too. This meant that many NDP members, environmental activists and labor members who were against free trade, added criticism of
    Israel to its litany of complaints.

  • No NDP

    Simplistic Thinking

    Naomi Klein, pointed out that the globalization movement isn’t anti-Semitic; it just hasn’t fully confronted the implications of diving into the Middle East conflict. Most people on the left are simply choosing sides and in the Middle East, where one side is under occupation and the other has the U.S. military behind it, the choice seems clear.

    • Jenn_

      Actually though, those of us in the centre aren't choosing sides at all in this complex conflict. It is only the right that is lumping us in as anti-Semitic if we question a single thing the government of Israel does.

  • No NDP

    a little more

    Critics of Israel have been at times uncompromisingly harsh, sometimes in the written and spoken word, and occasionally even violent.13 Criticism of Israel has been expressed on university campuses (where the issue of “divestment” is being hotly debated), in the churches
    of certain Protestant denominations and at labor union meetings.14 While their rhetoric has been cleverly crafted to avoid being charged with classical anti-Semitism, the use of words and symbols of the Nazi era and the Holocaust has often been twisted around to be used
    against the Israelis—which many Jews and non-Jews consider to be symbolic of the new anti-Semitism.

  • No NDP

    Michelle Landsberg, a severe critic of
    the Sharon government and herself a Jew, complained
    Not long ago I attended a church-sponsored meeting about the Middle East
    conflict. It was an orgy of righteousness. One by one, members of the audience
    bemoaned and lamented the horrible oppression they suffered. If they dared to
    criticize Israel, they said, they would be accused of anti-Semitism. What
    a terrible burden. I sat there in grim silence. Anti-Semitism is real; it has created
    hardship, hurt and loss beyond the imaginings of any of those smug, selfcongratulatory
    burghers. (Landsberg, The Toronto Star, 7 April 2002)

  • No NDP

    anyhow what was the main article about?

    • brooster

      Wow! One long serial screed, of tangential (if any) relevance to the topic at hand. Feel better? If not, get help.

  • jade_lee

    What would happen if they (the cops if they only would do their jobs, there is now reasonable grounds to investigate this cyber impersonation: identity theft with respect to this petition) link the address to kory's people? We won't need him to take the stand for a conviction for conspiracy in that instance or failing to report a crime at the very least ? It would be interesting to see who uncovers any connection or connects the dots in a public way with this case of cyber identity theft.

    "I can't reveal my source" indeed.", that source would also have an ip right?

    • Holly Stick

      Signing real people's names to a petition without their knowledge would be identity theft or fraud or forgery, I would think.

      Committing such a crime and then reporting it as if he were a real journalist reporting on something he was not connected with would be a capital jouralistic crime, I expect. Teneycke has murdered his own credibility forever.

  • Arturolexo

    It is so reassuring to see that Margaret Atwood, the snivelling little coward, believes in free speech only when she agrees with it. But wait, there is no station yet, there are no editorials, no interviews, no points of view, how on earth does Margaret Atwood know what she is opposing? Must be psychic, I guess.

  • Arturolexo

    It tells people not to vote liberal when you refer to someone you disagree with as being "over his head". Seems like you liberals are in a panic mode lately.

  • Holly Stick

    Oh look. That is suspicious…
    http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canad…

    I'm glad it mentions that Teneycke actually accused Atwood of treason. Projection much?

  • Holly Stick

    No special treatment for Sun TV! Let 'em start on a level playing field, and earn their support. And, Harper, BACK OFF THE CRTC!

  • Jeet

    Those on the left all of whom suffer from severe mental deficiencies revere this crackpot and she has a right to tell me what to read and what to believe. THAT is the makings of a civil war. I'ld rather see this country burn to the ground then be governed by the likes of wingnuts like her and her 'followers'. Haven't read a Canuckistani opinion article for years because I really can't stand maggots and leeches.

  • Holly Stick

    Oh look, Atwood writes rings around everyone else:
    http://marg09.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/on-signing…

    And here's another good one:
    http://fryeblog.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca/2010/09/06/h…

  • citizen_CA

    The only "snivelling (correct spelling is sniveling) little cowards" are those who are afraid of a new news station that might have a different view other than the current Liberal minded media.

  • M L Veres

    The people of Canada deserve unbiased television in this country and we certainly do not get it on either CBC or CTV. If you think we get it on the CBC or CTV you are the biggest fool of all!

  • No NDP

    Lefties do not want competition-it's bad for business. In Ontario there really is only one school system, and the thought of introcducing competition via vouchers or chaters is a none statrter. The Toronto Star, Canada's version of Pravda, has it's own blogs. But unlike the G G and McLean's, the Star censors every single post. I once posted seven articles, which were anti-Harper. All got posted. I took the same articles, tweeked them a little, so that they would be anti-NDP or anti_Liberal and only three were posted.

  • Thwim

    Competition is fine. But unless it's publically run, it really doesn't deserve a public subsidy, right?

  • Gary

    Teneycke was appointed Director of Communication for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on July 7, 2008. and thus became Harper's junk yard dog in charge of intimidating and manipulating the media.
    Harper holds virtually all of the Canadian media in contempt and has gone to extraordinary lengths to control his "message." — sending out his own photos, refusing interviews with the national press gallery, sneaking into the house of Commons through a side entrance so the media can't engage him. Now he hopes to have a channel all to himself. There is no doubt that Harper is behind the Fox news North idea.
    Having seen what damage Fox has done and is doing to the U.S. i.e. spreading lies and misinformation to support a neocon agenda , we must stand up and resist. Fox's ability to manipulate the message and the facts is what Harper wants here in Canada.

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