The Publisher Writes: Russell Mills
by Gottmar-Adolf Delapeau, publisher, NEW IMPROVED HEAD, and associate vice-president, Pancelerate Group Transnational
Our Canadian readers will know of the current controversy about the dismissal of Russell Mills from his position as publisher of the Ottawa Citizen. Claims have been made that Mr. Mills was fired for writing, against the wishes of the owner of his newspaper and of the chain to which it belongs, articles critical of the prime minister.
Like all right-thinking journalists, we are heartened that other Canadian newspapers have rushed to Mr. Mills' defence. We of course are aware of the absolute freedom which reigns at these papers, which is of course why so many of them endorse the New Democratic Party and take forthright stands against globalization.
Of course we here at NEW IMPROVED HEAD also support freedom of the press. We will now exercise it by suggesting to Mr. Russell Mills that he quit blaming Jean Chrétien for his problems, get off his fat honky ass, and find himself an honest job for a change.
So Mr. Chrétien followed the great Canadian tradition and distributed a few favours among his cronies. What prime minister hasn't done that? At least his cronies earned their favours the hard way, by donating large sums of money to the Liberal Party of Canada. All Mr. Mills had to do to maintain his cushy job was to pucker up when any Asperian ass hove into view, but no! – even that modest duty was beyond Mr. Big Shot!
Whose money did Mr. Mills think paid his salary, anyway? Paul Godfrey's? Phillip Crawley's? Was he under the impression that "Lord" Black was still paying the shot? Whose money did Mr. Mills think paid to print and distribute his half-baked ideas about politics? His own? Sorry, I didn't mean to make you laugh.
Here at NEW IMPROVED HEAD we are firmly committed to freedom of the press. However, the freedom of the press to which we are committed is not some fairytale idea dreamt up to score some cheap points against Mr. Izzy Asper. We believe in the real ideal of freedom of the press.
Your belief in freedom of movement does not imply that you believe that your employees can use their company cars to pick up prostitutes. Your belief in freedom of assembly does not imply that you believe your employees can hold crap games in the supply room. So why should freedom of the press imply that your employees can disseminate opinions you find harmful and immoral?
The real ideal of freedom of the press is simple. It holds that freedom belongs to the person who owns the press. Did the many great men and women to whom we owe our modern democratic freedoms struggle and suffer so that Mr. Russell Mills could take cheap shots at the Prime Minister on someone else's dime?
No, those brave men and women suffered and struggled so that giant media corporations could spend huge sums of money to enlighten the public with the latest information about soft drinks, body hair removal products, and the latest automobiles. We at Pancelerate Group Transnational accept the torch which has been handed down to us by generations of champions of democracy, and we know that our staff are smart enough to understand that if they mess with our torch they're going to get burned.
June 2002
The Publisher Writes: Russell Mills © Coolth, 2002
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