or is there something appropriate in the actor - (Kevin Noble, right, not exactly as illustrated) - who made a career impersonating Joe Smallwood (Below left, not exactly as illustrated, either) now spending his days calling talk shows and using lines spoken - virtually word for word - not so long ago by the current Premier?
If the Premier's publicity department is sending out scripts, it must make sense to have an actor deliver them.And while, we are talking about it, The Telegram editorial makes some choice observations about recent goings-on in the world of talk radio:
Even open-line hosts will admit that few of their callers are everyday people anymore. The shows have become political soapboxes, free political broadcast time for both cabinet members and the opposition.
And when the official politicians hang up, they hand the phone lines over to imaginary man-on-the-street supporters - supporters who are just as organized as FakeMySpace's twice-weekly fake e-mails.
Recognizing this - and not happy to be a tool in someone else's political machine - radio hosts are becoming chippier. The seasoned ones know that when they hear someone parroting the official "messaging" - "Forget about that fibre-optic deal, Bill. I'm just glad we have a leader like Danny Williams with vision ..." - it's time for the gloves to come off.
Let's hope some of the hosts see the value of unmasking those callers who are little more than models with scripted messages. Otherwise, the value of having a public radio forum will be severely diminished.
