That Conservative site steps in it again, this time dragging the Agenda along

Posted on: 11 September 2008 by Mike Miner

On the controversial Conservative attack site Not A Leader users can create their own ads. This is a great web 2.0 tool, where people can manipulate the content and fire its viral spores across the internet. You can only use the clips and graphics the site provides, but it's a good way to get people to spend time on the site and learn the rewarding trade of attack advertising. Good idea, but there's been a bit of a screwup in the execution:

Some of the clips might look familiar. They have been taken from an Agenda interview with Stephane Dion, removed from context and put them to work. And that is where an ad like this can cause trouble. Now the Conservatives are going to have to deal with the embarrassment of being told to take the clips down (sort of like when Heart told Sarah Palin to stop playing Barracuda at her rallies).

For a journalistic enterprise like the Agenda, it is crucial that we maintain a neutral tone. We want to learn about the subjects we cover, not promote preconceived views on them. So to have clips from our show taken out of context and used for political attack ads (and with our logo visible in the background in one) damages that objectivity. And think about it: TVO is a government-funded broadcaster. Our neutrality in elections is crucial.

The Conservatives should have known they would never be allowed to keep the clips up (or they just hoped no one would notice). TVO is demanding the clips be removed.

Kady O'Malley of Macleans was the first to ask us if those clips were from the Agenda and wanted to know whether the Conservatives asked permission to use them. They had not. "TVO has not licensed our content for use by the CPC or any other political party," says Dan Dunsky, the Agenda's executive producer.

So now, their cheeky spin on Dion's "do you think it's easy" clip has blown back on them. "Do you think it's easy to create TV ads?" the site asks. Well, the Conservatives don't make advertising look easy, as they deal with their second attack ad-related blunder of the week.

All this while the Conservative director of communications is suspended over comments about a dead soldier's father. While your spinners and war room want to own the newscycle, this is ridiculous.

In the last campaign, Harper ran a disciplined and smart campaign. While the Liberals were idle (it was just before Christmas, and they figured voters had other things on their minds), Harper rolled out his platform one day at a time, giving reporters something to work with. The discipline and organization of his campaign impressed the media, and Harper got some very positive coverage out of it. These positive reviews had a big impact on how he was perceived by the public. (Remember who the ads were telling us wasn't ready to lead last time?)

If the Conservatives keep tripping on their own shoelaces, voters are going to get a very different vibe from them this time around.

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Comments

Break a law here or there, who cares?

For the record, I'm an undecided voter.

I haven't seen the ad in question so I can't speak to it directly. And the 'puffin' ad didn't bother me at all. That was simply political theatre and, frankly, meaningless. (I'm no big fan of Dion, but when he said that the puffin ad tell us more about the Conservatives than it does about him - Dion - he's absolutely right.)

It is, however, unsettling (in the least) that a political party would break it's own election laws AND use pirated television broadcasts - it's called theft - to further their political aims.

It's quite sad and distressing that somebody in a Conservative backroom somewhere actually had to review and approve this ad. Sadder still is the fact that the person involved is either knowingly negligent (knowingly breaking copyright laws) or incompetent (they should have known that this is copyright infringement, but didn't).

It's one or the other.

I'm still undecided, but each time the Conservatives unveil an attack ad, my potential to vote for the local Conservative candidate diminishes more and more.

posted by Marvin on 11 September 2008 at 2:36 PM

Copyright at its finest....

"TVO has not licensed our content for use by the CPC or any other political party," says Dan Dunsky, the Agenda's executive producer.

Wow - now you can't use news footage of what politicians say on live tv because you don't own a license? Copyright taken too far.

"So to have clips from our show taken out of context and used for political attack ads ...damages that objectivity."

So...I guess you can use it if TVO agrees it is not taken out of context (ie. they are not asking for the removal of the Canadians are stupid May video)

By deciding for people what is context and what is not you are far from taking a "neutral tone" Who decides this?

posted by townes on 12 September 2008 at 3:32 PM

Townes

TVO management decided this.

The Tories should probably have known they might have found themselves being called out over this.

It bites them a little bit because of legislation like Bill C61 which gave them a reputation as being rigid defenders of copyright in the online realm.

The optics of it aren't very good for them.

Thanks for writing.

posted by Mike Miner on 12 September 2008 at 4:41 PM

Marvin, i salute you...

(imho).... it's a case of do as i say not as i do.... TVO has a responsibility to manage its own content or leave itself open to legitimate lawsuits.... the CPC is going to C.R.A.P.: pandering to the "lesser angels" in ppl; why they have to bottom feed all the time i don't get.... besides, the CPC is an entity that wants to govern (i.e., devise, enact and enforce laws on our behalf).... it is under the same laws to which it is beholden. it is not some individual somewhere making use of the "Fair Use" (is that the title?) aspect of copyright law. though, this blogger Taylor's use is questionable....

posted by LIVx...(imho) on 14 September 2008 at 2:51 PM