Canada, alla radio il partito detta la linea

La stampa canadese denuncia le tecniche propagandistiche utilizzate dal Partito conservatore del premier Stephen Harper per creare consenso tra i propri elettori e possibilmente conquistarne di nuovi. Cosa che, presumo, fanno tutti i partiti politici. La tecnica coinvolge Internet e le stazioni radio in un modo che i giornali sembrano trovare scorretto. Andando sul sito Web del partito è possibile trovare un link al servizio MyCampaign, "il tuo ufficio elettorale virtuale". Una delle sezioni Call Talk Radio, contiene una sorta di kit per i partecipanti ai "phone in" delle stazioni che commentano la politica. L'iscritto virtuale al partito inserisce il suo codice postale e vede apparire l'elenco delle talk radio della sua con una serie di tematiche. Per ogni tematica vengono elencati dichiarazioni, cifre e argomentazioni da utilizzare quando si telefona alla stazione. Lo scopo, dice MyCampaign (ho provato a cliccare sul servizio ma in questo momento la home page di MyCampaign porta solo a pagine 404, forse hanno momentaneamente staccato in seguito alle polemiche sui giornali), è di formare una piccola squadra di "militanti informati", capaci di intervenire al telefono e replicare agli avversari politici. In effetti lo strillo in Web page chiede: Siete stanchi del coinvolgimento dei liberali nei media e dello specifico interesse del partito democratico (NDP) nel far passare attraverso la radio e altri mezzi i loro messaggi? Schieratevi in prima persona, telefonate alle stazioni e replicate con i fatti! La partecipazione ai talk show sarebbe insomma non spontanea e pilotata. Sembra che il conduttore di uno di una tribuna politica in una tv locale, insospettato da un ascoltatore che telefonando si era visibilmente impappinato gli abbia chiesto: "scusi, ma lei sta leggendo degli appunti?" Alcuni esponenti del partito democratico hanno protestato nei confronti di quella che viene definita una manipolazione che può minare il senso stesso della democrazia.

Devo dire che a parte un certo disagio nei confronti di una affermazione come "lo specifico interesse nel far passare attraverso i media i loro messaggi" (che significa "specifico interesse"? Certo che un partito ha tutto l'interesse nel far passare i suoi messaggi attraverso la stampa e la radiotelevisione!), non penso che il "kit del partecipante ai phone in" possa essere equiparato a una forma di manipolazione. Molti anni fa, quando non c'era Internet, nelle sezioni di qualsiasi partito gli iscritti venivano istruiti proprio per poter sostenere i dibattiti con gli avversari, non c'è niente di male nell'essere pronti a ribattere sulle proprie idee politiche. Certo, il rischio è che il dibattito si riduca a un semplice scambio di slogan preconfezionati e questo non è mai un bene quando si discute di politica, l'arte di arrivare a compromessi e, quando si deve, modificare le proprie idee. Mi sembra di capire però che la situazione in Canada non è la stessa che negli USA, dove le talk radio sono quasi tutte schierate radicalmente a destra (tanto da contestare perfino i candidati repubblicani). Se il partito di Harper sente il bisogno di esortare i suoi sostenitori a farsi sentire alla radio, forse è perché sente di essere sottorappresentato.

Callers to radio phone-in shows scripted by Conservative headquarters

OTTAWA — Next time you're listening to your favourite radio phone-in show, those pro-Conservative opinions you hear from callers might not be as spontaneous as they sound.
Some of those apparently ad-libbed musings are actually being choreographed at the Conservative Party of Canada's national headquarters. The governing party has produced talking points for grassroots supporters on a variety of issues, feeding them lines on everything from climate change to child care.
For Conservative supporters, the process is as simple as 1-2-3. Surf the party website. Type in your postal code. Click on a topic you'd like to discuss on the radio.
And the website spits out the times, phone numbers, and names of local talk shows to call - along with a handy list of good things to say about the Conservatives and bad things to say about their opponents. The website includes similar advice for letter-writers to newspapers. The system has been in place for months but an Ottawa-area talk show host first raised it with listeners Tuesday after learning about it.
"We want people to phone in and express their own opinions. We don't want people phoning in and reading from a script," said Mark Sutcliffe, who hosts CFRA's The Chatroom.
"(But) I don't think we get a ton of calls like that." The Conservatives describe the practice as state-of-the-art politicking. A party spokesman said the practice offers enhanced transparency, and is used elsewhere in the world.
"This is part of campaigning in the Internet age. Party activists are increasingly becoming virtual volunteers," Conservative spokesman Ryan Sparrow said. "And just as rank-and-file investors want the same data as market professionals, grassroots activists want the same info and (talking points) as party strategists and spinners."
The Conservative talking points on taxation, for instance, list details on the GST cut, the child tax credit, and tax cuts to seniors.
The same talking points contrast Conservative achievements with the Liberal sponsorship scandal, gun-registry boondoggle, and failure to cut the GST. They also suggest the Bloc Quebecois could never achieve real tax relief because it's perpetually in opposition and describe the NDP as tax-hikers.
All parties produce speaking notes for elected MPs, staff members, and lobbyists or activists who serve on their behalf as unsalaried, unofficial spokespeople.
Liberal and NDP websites also include phone numbers for radio shows or tips for getting on the air.
But the Tories appear to take it one step further: their site offers speaking points for members of the general public to pass off as their own musings to fellow radio listeners.
The headline on the Tory web page with the call-in instructions says: "Tired of hearing the vested interests of the Liberals and the special interests of the NDP get their messages out via the media? Call in to a show yourself and fight back with the facts!"
A Liberal party spokesman says it's a new extreme for a government that has already placed an unprecedented gag order on its elected members, political staff, and civil servants. In one famous incident during the last election campaign a Conservative MP was stuffed into a restaurant kitchen by a Stephen Harper staffer when approached by the media.
That strict discipline has survived their two years in government: requests to speak publicly are routinely vetted by the Prime Minister's Office, scores of MPs will recite identical sound bites on any given topic, and the government often allows only one person to make public utterances on a given issue.
"This undermines our democracy," said Liberal party spokesman Daniel Lauzon. "It's not up for someone in Ottawa to tell someone in Blind River what they should think. . . All we tell our supporters is, 'Speak your mind. Get out there and talk.'
"Never do we dictate messaging."
The Conservatives do pay more attention to talk radio than some of their rivals, seeing it as a more useful barometer of public opinion than other media. Upon taking office, a Harper strategist famously told prime ministerial staff he didn't need to see daily clippings from the major national newspaper - he wanted talk-show transcripts.
But the attention to detail in messaging has occasionally raised eyebrows. On a recent CPAC television call-in panel, host Dale Goldhawk interrupted at one point when a caller appeared to be stumbling over a list of written notes. "Are you reading from something?" the frustrated host interjected.
The radio-host who reported the practice to his listeners Tuesday noted that even if callers phone in with a script, they still need to be able to engage in live conversation. As Sutcliffe says, they're not speaking to an answering machine but a radio host whose job it is to ask probing questions.
Still, the system for distributing government talking points through the general public does strike him as somewhat strange - and certainly more elaborate than what other parties do. "What I think is unusual about this Conservative website is just how systematic it is," he said. "The process for the Conservative one is a little more automated: punch out your topic and your postal code, and we'll spit out a script for you to follow."