Altered States - WYSIWYG

Former press gallery dean Douglas Fisher is about to turn 90 this summer. Sadly, the mention of his name in Ottawa doesn't quite bring back the nostalgia it used to. The capital has become a hard place and people, perhaps especially those in the media, have moved past the yearning for a better kind of politics and journalism to a steely kind of pessimism that sucks the air out of the place.Not that they don't have a reason; politics has become a blood sport to the degree that it demeans the entire country. But rather than challenging the prevailing winds, the media itself has been worn down by all the negativity and flowed with the current. This trend has caused Douglas Fisher, his mind still acute and prophetic, to bemoan the loss of "objectivity" with the Parliamentary Press Gallery. And he knows of what he speaks. Prior to his stint as a national columnist, Fisher was a parliamentarian, a good one, so he understands both sides of the decline.There is a subtle distinction between honesty and truth, and Fisher knew the difference. Honesty is the act of holding our faces to the mirror but it is also subjective and is at times wrong. Ottawa breathes this kind of stuff right now. Truth, on the other hand, is an enabler, a kind of moral force that propels us towards more meaningful lives, whether institutionally or individually. It's more holistic. In its pursuit of the failings of politicians and governmental bureaucracy, the media often forgets to tell some of the more profound successes within Parliament.Sometimes in this blog, I will write about a discussion I had with another politician that reveals a personal bias. Often, others link to the blog in order to prove politics is a bungled occupation. But when I write about an MP like Todd Russell, the representative for Labrador, and all the remarkable work he does, it gets nary a second look. And this is because it isn't news. It's also not the kind of material journalists are looking for. There are those rare occasions when I mention the great work done by members from other parties that a certain interest is created, but that's only because it's seen as different or rare. But it's not; it's the truth and it goes on every day in Ottawa.I've been one of the many that speaks about the hyper-partisanship in Parliament, and I think that more politicians should speak out against it. One of the best ways of doing so is to show those moments when it actually does work and where politicians work together for the sake of an achievable end. But political types are hesitant to do so because they might be disciplined by their own party. Perhaps more importantly, their more non-partisan actions leverage little support from the media.This is what worries Fisher and others like him, who believe that Parliament should be a hall of great debate, leavened with statesmanship and respect. He understands well enough that as politicians we fail this test, but he also maintains that the modern media has failed in similar fashion. Will they accept this from one of their historical sages? Unlikely. It is true in politics right now that What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG). If journalists continue to ignore the less glamorous stories of where politicians are effectively doing their jobs, then the public only sees from the media what it sees in Question Period, and that doesn't tell the whole story. Moreover, it feeds the culture of disdain rippling through Ottawa at present. It's not the media of old; its more effective state has been altered.Honesty and truthfulness. Modern media has to take the same strong medicine it offers the political system. Be as honest as you want, but the result is often brutal, dispiriting and sometimes wrong. It must be balanced with a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of Parliament. That will require journalists to get past the "money shot" and pursue government in its more boring but efficient dimensions. This is what made Douglas Fisher's career so seminal and it waits to be replicated.