Media Literacy: Deconstructing Political-Speak Part 1

When a politician like Jason Kenney, who spent more than a decade working for Stephen Harper, gets in front of a camera or microphone, you can bet that there will be no "winging it". Every word out of his mouth is deliberate.. and thought through. There is no going off script. He knows what he wants to communicate and how he wants to communicate it. There is no accidental phrasing or memory slips. That is the first thing to keep in mind. 

Here is a clip of a @CTV_PowerPlay interview about wildfires. Parsing will follow. Watch, then follow along...

He avoids the question about man-made climate change and says there have always been forest fires. His government has kept the carbon levy on major emitters that was set up by the NDP. He tries to make it sound like it's a new program they are developing. 

He talks about using the proceeds to support research and development to shrink emissions, but the implication is that these developments will be geared to the fossil fuel industry as opposed to alternative green technologies. 

If he was planning to use the money to diversify Alberta's economy and support green energy tech, he would have said so. Always deliberate. Always planned messages, remember? 

Then he gets into hyperbole about how shutting down Alberta's economy would make no difference (who has said they want that? No one, but he would like people to see that as an NDP goal) and goes on about punishing people for heating their homes in the winter. 

Which the carbon tax did not do, everyone below a generous income level got a rebate that was greater than the amount paid in tax, but what do facts matter when you are trying to maintain a narrative that benefits you? 

Then he suggests that economists don't think the carbon tax approach makes any difference to emissions. Some Nobel Laureates would disagree with him, but, whatever... 

It's fascinating to find so much spin and misinformation in one short interview clip... 

I hope you have found this fun, and I hope you have found this interesting. Stay tuned for the next installment of media literacy!