Potter more style than substance
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January 15, 2010 8:19 PM
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Andrew Potter's keynote last night was likely one of the most quiet — lacking the tink from coffee cups and leftover plates sure to be heard for the rest of the weekend — but it still caused a stir, as politics are apt to do.
The speech dealt with the media's representation of politicians, and that it's the desires of consumers that pushes the way the media frames them.
Grumblings of disagreement could be heard from many tables at times, but Potter also managed to entertain and engage the audience, eliciting laughs for his descriptions of Stephen Harper looking fat in a gold golf shirt, and looking like someone's “slow brother” in a fishing vest.
In a conversation after the speech, delegate Jordan Hartshorn noted the topic of politics might have been better suited for a seminar.
“At a journalism conference, I felt a little disconnected,” he said, noting not all journalists are interested in politics. “If he would have delved into more new media, like he did at the end, I would've liked it more.”
Ishmael Daro, a political science student at the University of Saskatchewan, said he agreed with most of what Potter said, but pointed out the talk might have been more interesting to students studying politics.
“For a political guy like me, I found it interesting, but even I recognize that it's shop talk.” Hartshorn noted that although Potter wasn't firm about his beliefs — he didn't know the answers to some of the audience's questions and even admitted his views were still evolving — the speech made for an interesting debate.
“It was more of a thought exercise,” he said.
Despite the conversation and ideas generated thanks to the keynote, Daro still seemed to think Potter could have made some more concrete criticisms of the role of journalism in politics.
“I found it interesting that as much as he didn't have a role for the media in the political landscape, he didn't have any criticism of the media either,” Daro said.
“And, there is so much to be criticized about political journalism.”