It’s entertaining and more than a little sad that conservative Lord Black has a better grasp on the history and potential of liberalism than the leadership and rank-and-file of today’s Liberal Party of Canada.
Archive for the Category » Media «
24
Jun 2010
Paul Wells provides valuable insight into how General McChrystal got burned—and how, given that reporter’s prior history, COMISAF should have seen it coming. Unfortunately it will also tend to reinforce lousy opinions about the media for those of us with a cynic’s view.
09
Jun 2010
The Company regrets to note the closure of Canada’s foremost milblog, The Torch.
In the Canadian media hothouse—and its even more stultifying coverage of military matters—you tend to hear from the same four or five voices all the time. Veteran journalists who have spent decades building a particular spin and brand; spokesmen for “non-partisan” institutes whose entire raison d’être is campaigning for the reduction of Canadian military spending; and my personal favorite (in the years before Lewis Mackenzie and Rick Hillier rose to prominence) the administrative and logistics colonels our national broadcasters would chuck onto our television screens in times of crisis, billing the rear echelon types as tactical and operational experts.
The Torch was a much-needed antidote to all of that, and was the most interesting and well-rounded of all Canadian military blogs. In their honour, the Company is pleased to present “The Black Bear”—the traditional march out/return to barracks tune of many Scottish regiments. This version (embedding disabled, sorry) is a massed band variant from the 2007 Québec City Military Tattoo.
07
Jun 2010
19
Apr 2010
I enjoyed this Toronto Star opinion piece on Porter Airlines’ upcoming IPO because it sheds some light on how certain industry analysts think, and that in turn colours how certain journalists think.
“People aren’t as afraid of taking risk,” says Basili Alukos, an equity analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago, who adds that there’s “appetite” for airline stocks, appetite being one of Mr. Porter’s favourite words.
Alukos notes the recent loft in the share prices of even some debt-laden U.S. legacy air carriers.
The story Deluce, a pilot and past-president of Canada 3000, will take to the street is the story of the still upstart airline stealing a march on the competition while keeping a lock on what is now called Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.
Well, nothing lasts forever, and Bob Deluce knows that. There will surely be other carriers on the island, and Deluce is a practical man. “Airline flying is a commodity,” sighs Alukos. “It’s driven by price. If there’s a new air carrier offering cheaper fares, people will be chomping at the bit.”
If Alukos is right – and I do believe he is – brand loyalty will be weakened, eventually, by price war. Mr. Porter’s adorableness will only take him so far.
– Wells, Jennifer. “Porter Airlines takes a flyer.” Toronto Star, 17 April 2010. [Emphasis mine]
That one sentence tells you right away that the analyst does not comprehend Porter’s business model. Every airline is expensive to operate and generates relatively meagre profits, but almost all of them have refused to adapt their core processes to better reflect new realities of air travel. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) are frequently cited as factor in driving down fares, and that is a valid point. But LCCs alone do not explain air travel’s woes. The bottom line is that air travel has become inconvenient, unpleasant and inappropriately priced relative to the true cost of operating an aircraft.
For example, a typical full-service airline will operate its aircraft to and from major hub airports, say from Pearson to LaGuardia, for example. These are both busy, expensive and frequently congested airports. The landing fees are expensive relative to smaller airports in the same metropolitan areas. Many airlines fly into these large hubs, and with greater numbers of aircraft comes greater complexity and opportunities for delays. A smaller airline such as Porter can avoid these potential hassles by choosing to fly into a less-congested airport (Newark, for example) near to the large hub. This allows the smaller carrier the possibility of cheaper landing fees, better on-time performance, fewer delays, quicker embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, and so on.
Any airline could, in theory, switch hubs provided it negotiated appropriately with the relevant airport authority. But most of the large airlines are locked into large, expensive airfields because that is where their partner airlines and connecting flights meet, or their maintenance facilities are located, and so on. The genius of Porter lies in choosing airports which are close to the major cities they serve, but not as congested as the main international hubs. Having to wait in the Customs line behind 1200 people that just got off a trio of arriving 747s can put a bit of a damper in your day. There’s little chance of that happening when you fly into the airfields that Porter serves, and that’s a deliberate choice because they want better a better customer experience.
Which leads me to the next point: Porter’s animating philosophy is business class for everyone. Or to be blunt, a more pleasant flying experience for everyone. Even if the airline’s competitors slash their fares, they will have to match Porter’s convenience and superior customer experience. The average Bay Street exec flying from Toronto to New York is not going to be wooed by a cheaper fare. Let us say that Air Canada Jazz begins operating its Dash 8-100s from CYTZ as they did in former days. The temptation for Jazz’s route structure will be to fly into a major international hub in New York where it can connect with Air Canada proper. Even if Jazz slashed its fare to just above TTC bus fare, it would not destroy Porter’s market share. Sure, a lot of people would give Jazz a shot, but they will soon realise that 1) the equipment is older and noisier, and 2) departure from YTZ might be faster, but extricating oneself from LaGuardia is still slow and painful due to large passenger volume. Students and cheapskates will be wooed by cheap fares; the suits on Bay Street and downtown dwellers in general—arguably Porter’s primary audience—will not. They will opt for a more pleasant and convenient experience even at a greater cost.
Any airline that hopes to eat Porter’s lunch will have to provide a similar level of service and convenience, and that won’t be easy unless they adopt a similar business model (which will, in turn, mitigate against their price being significantly lower). Cheap fares are not the airline-killer; the real killer is cheap fares married to lousy product and great inconvenience. That, unfortunately, describes the bulk of air carriers today.
RELATED: A Canadian Press report in the Star‘s business section gets it right.
Analyst Robert Kokonis of travel consultancy Air Trav Inc. said considering Porter’s stellar reputation, that figure is not out of the question.
He said the offering will generate a lot of excitement among investors because Porter offers a unique business model that focuses on customer service.
“It’s going to ignite a lot of passion and a lot of people to hop on board, so I wouldn’t doubt if this issue becomes oversubscribed,” he said.
“It’s a smart move to put your money into an airline that realizes you’ve got to pay attention not just to the cost line (by cutting costs), but realizes you’ve got to pay attention top line as well, by offering a great product, a great service.”
– “Porter plans IPO.” Canadian Press/Toronto Star, 16 April 2010.
Sort of sad that a “focus on customer service” is considered a unique selling point among airlines. But maybe that’s all you need to know about why Porter’s successful, and other island airport carriers (such as Air Canada Jazz) were not.
12
Apr 2010
Sometimes they turn out to be a boon, even if they came there to heckle you.
22
Mar 2010
…from an unexpected source.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Simmons and Tech. Sgt. Leslie Bell speak to a group of Royal Canadian Air Force Cadets at the Field Training Detachment on Joint Base Charleston, S.C., March 16, 2010. The FTD is used to train pipeline-Airmen how to work on C-17s. During their tour, the cadets visited the training areas for the C-17 engine, tail and cockpit. Sergeant Simmons and Sergeant Bell are aircraft maintenance instructors with the 373rd Training Squadron based out of Sheppard AFB, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Lauren Main)
Royal Canadian Air Force Cadets board a static C-17 during a tour at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., March 16, 2010. The cadets drove 22 hours from London, Ontario, Canada, to learn about American military operations. During their tour of Joint Base Charleston, the cadets visited numerous base facilities and watched a demonstration of the military working dogs. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Airman 1st Class Lauren Main)
Royal Canadian Air Force cadets look on as U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Ken Connor demonstrates the modifiable capabilities of the C-17 cargo bay at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., March 16, 2010. Airman Connor is a load master with the 16th Airlift Squadron. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Airman 1st Class Lauren Main)
To be fair, the cadets are properly known as Royal Canadian Air Cadets (not Royal Canadian Air Force cadets). But this isn’t the first time USAF’s tried to re-royalise the CF’s air component in its publications.
I think at this point they are just going to keep calling it the RCAF until we change the name back out of frustration.
22
Mar 2010
Perhaps it is the vagaries of CRTC-regulated Canadian television, the fact that we are not the target audience, or their transitional (and presumably, ephemeral) nature, but I don’t recall seeing either of these ad spots eight years ago. They are meant to capitalise on patriotic feelings amongst Americans after September 11th, 2001, but they are also fairly brilliant in underlining the message that airlines are an essential component of global commerce.
Engine.
Way of Life.
The director and cinematographer for these ads are geniuses. They are filled with tons of modern and old-school airline iconography; subtle nods to the decades-old liturgy of airline advertising, and the occasional subtle “screw you” to bin Laden and company. For example:
- Obligatory shot of arrivals and departures board with “On Time” status has become common in airline TV ads since the 1980s.
- Aircrew in front of aircraft and cabin crew walking along jetway, both shot from extreme low angle = power and strength.
- Baggage handlers and rampies running/moving quickly = efficiency
- Marshaller’s clenched fist—part of “set/release brakes” and “do not touch controls” hand signals—(Engine, 00:50) = also an easily recognisable symbol of solidarity, strength and defiance; “we won’t let the bastards get us down.”
- Mechanics servicing aircraft and pilots inspecting landing gear = we are diligent and safe.
- Silhouetted AA MD-11 pushing back to reveal sunrise, another MD-11 leaping skyward in the background, accompanying text “the freedom” prominently displayed onscreen (Way of Life, 00:26). This shot is pure visual poetry; the cameraman in me wonders how many mornings they spent out on an apron shooting that exact confluence of events.
- Silhouetted MD-80 flying in golden sunrise/sunset above the Unisphere, accompanying text “anywhere” (Way of Life, 00:32). Another superb shot where the visuals match the text.
- The AA captain saluting passing military servicemembers (Way of Life, 00:41) is both a mark of respect for those in uniform, and a nod to past airline posters which have—paradoxically—often pictured their civilian aircrews saluting the public in their print ads.
09
Mar 2010
Former vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin is being pilloried for an admission that her family crossed the border to obtain Canadian health care—a system she previously said should be dismantled.
“My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse,” Palin said during a speech in Calgary on Saturday. “Believe it or not — this was in the ‘60s — we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada.”
– Canwest News Service (with files from Jason Markusoff). “Sarah Palin’s Canadian health care link has critics sick.” Calgary Herald, 8 March 2010. [Emphasis mine]
Some excitable journalists and commentators are trying to insinuate the stink of hypocrisy and covering the story like it’s a giant contradiction, but what it really tells us is that they have no deductive reasoning capability whatsoever. I am no Palin apologist (my impression is that she is an earnest but incompetent politican, like Stephane Dion or John Tory), but surely the woman can not be called a hypocrite for an act she could not have influenced in any way, shape or form.
Let the record show that Sarah Louise Palin (née Heath) was born in 1964. At the end of the 1960s she would be five years old. Hands up, everyone who had the authority to select a sibling’s trauma treatment facility (in lieu of their parents doing so) at the age of five. If you are guessing that Mom or Dad Heath was responsible for sending her brother to Whitehorse for treatment, you’re correct. Now, hands up everyone whose parents made a decision in your formative years that you now, as an adult, find disagreeable.
Canada’s publicly-funded health care system was initiated by some provinces in 1961, but key federal legislation (the Canada Assistance Plan, 1966, and the Medical Care Act, 1966) did not come into force until 1968 (see timeline). Yukon Territory set up a hospital insurance plan with federal cost sharing in 1961, and a more general medical insurance plan with federal cost-sharing in 1972.
It will not surprise you to learn that in that time, non-Canadians were not eligible for our publicly-funded health insurance, so the American Heath family would have paid for any medical services that were provided.
Palin’s father said his family probably boarded the train for the Whitehorse hospital only twice — once when a daughter had rheumatic fever, and once when his son, also named Chuck, severely burned his leg and an infection set in.
“We much preferred to use our facilities because my insurance didn’t cover anything in Whitehorse. And even though they have socialized medicine, I still had to pay the bill, being an American citizen,” Heath said.
Heath worked part-time for the White Pass & Yukon Railroad and had a pass allowing him and his family to ride for free.
– Markusoff, Jason. “Sarah Palin heads north. Er, south. Er, to Calgary.” Calgary Herald, 7 March 2010.
If you want to drag Mrs. Palin over the coals about why the details of this story are eerily similar to another one told previously (where her brother burned his foot and went to Juneau, Alaska for treatment), you may have firmer ground to stand on. It’s okay to dislike a pandering politician; I dislike lots of them. But hypocrisy? Please. Palin was a five-year-old girl, at best, not the parent who decided where their children got treatment. If there’s a contradiction here, it’s why a non-story is garnering so much breathless media attention.
01
Mar 2010
One of my concerns about Col. Russell Williams’ stunning treachery is that it would inevitably create a self-perpetuating media cycle. It is no surprise to anyone who consumes news—whether via newspaper, magazine, television or radio—that sensational crimes beget a lengthy media search and focus for similar events, no matter how tangental the relation.
Thus I have noticed in my “Canadian Forces” news filters a change in focus; instead of largely laudatory items regarding ISAF or humanitarian relief, I see a lot more items focusing on misdeeds and death (training-related or otherwise).
For example:
- “Military police officer facing assault charge.” Metronews (Halifax), 1 March 2010.
- “Police investigate 3 sudden deaths at CFB Borden.” CTV News (Toronto), 24 February 2010.
- “Eleven members of Games security unit sent home over disciplinary issues.” Canadian Press, 19 February 2010.
- “Sex charges laid against former top Forces Chaplain.” Toronto Star, 17 February 2010.
These are all, of course, quite newsworthy items on their own. And it would be a huge mistake to infer any wider trend out of these incidents, but because the media focus is inevitably going to be on the CF, member arrests, and deaths on base, we are going to end up getting a steady diet of it until the next sensational item redirects the media’s short attention span.
Where it can create a problem is that even if the pundits and reporters do not draw any inferences themselves, they could end up creating one for the ordinary Joe and Jane just through a steady accumulation of similar articles in a relatively short time span.
It didn’t take very long for a spate of negative attention to divorce the Forces from the Canadian public back in the early 1990s, during the Somalia affair. Subsequent to that there was a long fall-off in defence spending and atrophying of key capabilities.
A perceived fall in public esteem today will likely herald a fall from political grace; which will breed the perception amongst highly competitive ministerial departments that DND is a ripe target with few political defenders. That could mean budget oblivion, something Canadians have seen and regrettably accepted in the recent past.
It will be interesting to see how things play out in the long run, because the CF’s ability to weather this media focus on its bad apples could once again decide the Forces’ future, and the types of roles and missions they are able to execute. One hopes that the brass at NDHQ are cognisant of that possibility.
Chris is most often found flying a desk, but he delights in studying the Golden Age of Aviation (1919-1939). He admires all the pioneering men and women who navigated the skies with nothing more sophisticated than a map, compass and sextant—and the conviction that there was no place they could not reach.
