IN-DEPTH: CBC's the National shows hours of political conventions in the US, but only minutes of Canadian gatherings

Multiple political conventions have happened across North America in the last one-and-a-half years, and journalists have been busy covering them. While CBC's flagship nightly newscast the National devoted loads of coverage to US conventions, it spent mere minutes on Canadian ones.The 2024 United States election will be held in November, prompting the Democrats and Republicans to hold their conventions to select their presidential nominees. The Conservatives and Liberals held their conventions in 2023, which saw their leaders argue why they should be trusted. While people might expect there to be balance with the National, certain perspectives were platformed more at the most recent conventions. During the DNC, the National reported on it for 1 hour 28 minutes 42 seconds. The DNC ran from August 19 to 22. The day receiving the most coverage was August 22, which saw the DNC covered for 32 minutes 6 seconds. There was 18 minutes 31 seconds allocated to a panel about key moments from Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ speech. CBC News reporter Paul Hunter lauded Harris’ speech as a show. “I’m pretty sure that I heard the crowd chanting ‘yes, we can, yes, we can,’ off the top, which kind of takes us back to Barack Obama days,” said Hunter. “It felt like that kind of celebration.” .Hunter asked Atlanta Journal-Constitution Washington correspondent Tia Mitchell for her take on the DNC. Mitchell responded by saying Harris did what she needed to do. “Kamala Harris is not the most amazing speaker,” said Mitchell. “She is not a Barack or Michelle Obama or a Bill Clinton in his prime.” However, Mitchell said Harris had enthusiasm behind her. She added she thought her speech was good. After August 22 was August 19 (25 minutes 32 seconds). August 21 came in third place (22 minutes 40 seconds), and August 20 was fourth (Eight minutes 40 seconds). While August 19 came in second place, this was because of a long section The National did about a series of topics pertaining to US President Joe Biden’s appearance at the DNC that ran for 17 minutes 12 seconds. This section was a Breakdown panel that covered elements such as Biden’s speech being a key moment at it, the end of his political career, and its timing and length. CBC News host Adrienne Arsenault said Biden was fiery. “So Tim [Naftali], talking about defending democracy there,” said Arsenault. “What’s your initial reaction to not just what he said there, but the whole experience of that speech?”.In response, Naftali said this speech did well at reflecting Biden’s political career. “He’ll remain president for five months,” said Naftali. “He’ll be a public figure for the rest of his life, but tonight, he gave an I gave my best speech to explain his career and his presidency, and he did it in a remarkably fiery, vibrant way.” He said his speech was poignant because of the context. It had been a terrible two months for him. It became official on August 2 that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would face Harris in the US presidential election on November 5. READ MORE: Kamala Harris secures Democrat nomination for presidentA virtual roll call to nominate her as the Democratic presidential nominee kicked off on August 1, with her securing enough delegates to obtain it on August 2. “I am honoured to be the presumptive Democratic nominee,” she said. The National spent one hour six minutes eight seconds covering the Republican National Convention (RNC). The RNC ran from July 15 to 18. The day receiving the most coverage was July 18, which saw it spend 24 minutes 40 seconds on it. There was 18 minutes 32 seconds spent on a Breakdown panel about Trump’s RNC speech and the next steps for the Democrats. Arsenault had downplayed Trump’s speech, saying it lacked energy. “Because looking at it from afar, it seems super quiet in the arena,” she said. “But the whole speech was sombre at the beginning but still vintage Trump at the end.”.While Trump had spoken about surviving the assassination attempt, Mitchell dismissed it by emphasizing most of it was like his typical rally speech in recent months. “But at the beginning he was sombre,” said Mitchell. “But he didn’t really talk about his personal emotions, any personal reflections that he has after going through a threat on his life.” Since he did not express much emotion, she accused Trump of caring more about theatrics and pulling emotions than sharing them. That was what struck her with his retelling. After July 18 was July 17 (21 minutes 24 seconds). July 15 finished in third (15 minutes 58 seconds), and July 16 was fourth (4 minutes 3 seconds). July 17 had greater length than some of the other days because the National did a Breakdown panel about Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s speech that lasted for 14 minutes four seconds. This panel portrayed Vance in a more positive light than Trump, showing him as a politician Americans could relate to more because of his upbringing in Ohio. Arsenault said Vance can relate to voters in the Midwest. “I don’t know how many times we heard him repeat Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio,” she said..To echo her perspective, Vanity Fair special correspondent Brian Stelter said the Democrats need to hold onto the Midwestern states to win the election. “JD Vance is going to be deployed in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan,” said Stelter. “And you heard him reference those states because honestly there are so many Americans that feel like the elites in Washington, the government, does not know what they feel, does not know what they experience." For example, Vance spoke about the opioid epidemic and drug abuse to resonate with these Americans. Stelter said he was struck by him talking about his grandmother having 19 loaded handguns in her house. While the CBC is based in Canada, the National only covered the Conservative Convention for 4 minutes 3 seconds. The Conservative Convention ran from September 8 to 10. The only day the National put in stories about the Conservative Convention was on September 8. CBC News host Ian Hanomansing described Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as forceful, saying he hammered the Canadian government on affordability and the housing crisis. “Kate McKenna is in Quebec City, where Poilievre delivered a message he hopes will resonate to the whole country,” said Hanomansing..McKenna portrayed Poilievre as beloved by Conservative members, saying his speech was the main event for the attendees. “Pierre Poilievre and his wife Ana taking the stage nearly a year after he was elected leader before turning the focus on the current prime minister,” said McKenna. “But Poilievre’s main focus is affordability.” She was accurate by saying he cares about addressing the cost of food, fuel, and housing. At the time, she said he had momentum because of his lead in the polls. It did not put in any content on September 9 because it does not run on Saturdays. It chose to cover other stories on September 10. Pierre said at the Conservative Convention in 2023 the worst part about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is what he thinks of average Canadians. READ MORE: Poilievre says Trudeau's wrong about his life being tough“Recently in Charlottetown, he said everyone should stop picking on him, because it is a really tough time to be a politician,” he said. “No, Mr. Trudeau.”The National dedicated no time towards covering the Liberal National Convention (LNC). The LNC ran from May 4 to 6, 2023. It spent the most time on May 4 doing an At Issue panel about expelling Chinese diplomats (13 minutes 23 seconds). Meanwhile, its top priority on May 5 was a segment about five details to watch for with King Charles III’s coronation (Eight minutes 52 seconds). No segments were run on May 6 because it does not do episodes on Saturdays. Trudeau did not get any direct mention in segments except for one on May 5 about him departing for London for King Charles III’s coronation. Hanomansing said Trudeau would be among the hundreds of leaders, dignitaries, and guests attending his coronation. “His plane has now left for London,” he said. “He’ll be attending with Canada’s delegation, including youth and indigenous leaders and Canada’s flag bearer astronaut Jeremy Hansen.”.Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said in April the Conservatives “want to ‘Defund the CBC’ (AKA fire everyone), resulting in ‘cruelly cutting’ paychecks to thousands of workers.”READ MORE: War of words breaks out on Twitter ("X") on defunding CBC“@RachaelThomasMP, your outrage is disingenuous,” said St-Onge. “Seventy-five percent of Cdns want a strong public broadcaster.”

IN-DEPTH: CBC's the National shows hours of political conventions in the US, but only minutes of Canadian gatherings

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