Margaret Atwood vs. “Fox News North”

The CanLit giant’s public opposition to a proposed right-wing TV network has led to accusations of selective censorship.

Margaret Atwood has made a career out of imagining dystopian futures, but apparently among her worst fears is a Canadian version of Fox News. Atwood’s drawing considerable fire for signing a petition that alleges Sun Media’s attempts to expand into Canadian television would result in a “Fox News North” that spews “hate speech.” The petition says that Sun Media is attempting an end run around the CRTC, pointing to the fact that the head of the venture is a former aide of Stephen Harper’s, and Harper is allegedly trying to remove the current CRTC chief to pave the way for the channel.

That former aide and current Sun Media VP, Kory Teneycke, used Sun op-ed space this week to blast the petition, writing “Despite the fact Sun News has not broadcast a minute of content,” it’s being accused of bringing “‘American-style hate media’ to Canada.” Impossible, says Teneycke, because “Last time I checked, hate speech was illegal in our country.” Sun Media is in no way affiliated with Fox News, he writes, and the media’s poor coverage of this issue “underline(s) the need for Sun TV News. Canadians deserve better from their media.”

The National Post isn’t impressed with Atwood either, whom Post editor Kelly McParland says “stands for good stuff like freedom of speech and freedom of the press, except when it comes to the case of people who don’t agree with her.” Her Post colleague Chris Selley argues the petition is disingenuous, and “clearly opposed to the existence of Sun TV News, not just to the Prime Minister’s hypothetical meddling in the CRTC.” Besides, he argues, “hate media” is a little harsh: “If the ‘straight talk’ on Sun TV News is anything like it is at the Sun newspapers, the worst you’ll be able to call it is “drivel.”

Some of that “drivel” reads a lot like the Post at the moment however. The Toronto Sun’s Peter Warmington writes “Atwood believes in freedom of speech for her own works. But she doesn’t seem as enthusiastic about the concept for others espousing views she apparently doesn’t like.”