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18 February 2010

Premier on the mend – office breaks “sacrosanct” privacy shroud

Despite the official claims that the Premier’s health is a matter which ought not be discussed whatsoever, both CBC news and VOCM – known derisively to some to stand for Voice Of the Cabinet Minister – have very similar stories about the Premier’s medical condition.

Not only did he have surgery in Florida, but we are now told that he is recuperating at his home in Sarasota.  Interestingly, scuttlebutt in Ottawa had him at the Mayo Clinic.  Turns out the Mayo has a site in Florida and it does the sort of surgery scuttle butt has it the Premier went to Florida to have.

And on top of that the stories from these local news sources include the detail that the surgery took almost three times as long as expected because there was more damage to the Premier’s heart than previously believed.

So much for sacrosanct.

So much too for the bile hurled at the CBC by every planted Cultist they could drag out of the greenhouses.

Apparently, though, the Prem is on the mend, which is very good to hear.

But notice that there are no stories from NTV on this nor does the Telly have a little blurb on its website that runs along the same lines.  You may recall that NTV actually broke the story and had some added details in the first few days that the Premier’s Office wasn’t releasing.

Nope.  NTV’s big story for the 18th on their website is about some mysterious creature sighted somewhere in the province. There’s something about a snow storm, ferries and the Humber Valley Resort.

Zippo about the Premier.

Seems that the Premier’s Office is turning to their usual trusted conduits to float out stories they want people to have.

The Thot Plickens After Midnight Update:  Seems this story is a little more curious than it first appeared.  NTV did indeed have Fred Hutton live from Florida – as noted by “Abel” in the comments – and they covered all the details everyone else is reporting.

But on top of all that NTV has an exclusive interview coming with DW from his home in Florida.  Among other – and obvious  - things related to Williams’ recent surgery, Fred Hutton will be asking the Premier about his political future.

So, let’s take back the CBC/VOCM angle entirely.  First appearances were wrong.

But in place of that we have the strangeness that NTV has been able to run with this story  - if not drive it  - by being consistently ahead of everyone else.  They clearly threw the Premier’s crew off stride at the beginning.  As if that wasn’t enough, NTV has been able to  gain an exclusive interview with the Premier on top of everything else.

The political future question is going to be a very interesting one to get answered.

 

-srbp-

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