TORONTO, Ontario, April 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dubbed “right-wing” and “Fox News North” by its critics, Canada’s brand-new and controversial TV news source, Sun News Network, launches today.
According to Sun News, the station will provide the “fair, factual and thought-provoking news coverage” its leadership claims Canadians are sorely missing.
While launching in the middle of Canadian federal elections was never in the plans for Sun News, the timing has many opponents questioning what kind of effect the new media source will have on Canadian voters.
“The pace will be different from what people are used to seeing in Canada. It will be personality-driven, prime-time programming. It will be less politically correct and we will focus on what people are talking about around the water cooler or at the dinner table,” said Luc Lavoie, the network spokesman.
The cast line-up includes free-speech champion and Western Standard producer Ezra Levant, well-known Winnipeg-based talk-show host Charles Adler, and politically incorrect Sun columnist Brian Lilley.
Lilley told LifeSiteNews that Sun wants Canadians to experience something new in news.
“We hope to offer Canadians something different,” he said. “For my show specifically I know that I’ll touch on issues that social conservatives care about but that are often not covered or are covered from a definite bias on other outlets, be it life issues or education.
“Sure I’ve got my own bias, every person not just every reporter or columnist does. What is different is that I wear my on my sleeves while others try to hide theirs. Yeah in some ways I’ll be standing athwart history yelling stop!”
Sun News begins broadcasting today at 4:30pm EST. While still securing network agreements, Sun News is available on Bell TV, Shaw, Rogers in Toronto and Ottawa, and various cable networks. For a complete listing and updates, click here.
A product of the Sun Media newspaper chain, under the ownership and management of Quebecor Media, Sun News Network is the answer to the desire for a “fresh perspective” on Canadian news.
Quebecor President and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau and Vice President of Sun News Kory Teneycke, a former spokesman for Stephen Harper, say Sun News will be a new voice like no other in Canadian media. They claim Canadians are not watching CBC and CTV, but turning to American channels instead. They hope to change that.
Sun News promises to deliver “hard news by day, straight talk by night.” Claiming to be “populous, irreverent, close to our viewers” Sun News says they will cover the “the stories no one else will even touch” with “unapologetically patriotic” and “less politically correct” reporting.
“A lot of people said that we could not do it and others said we should not do it — they were and are and will continue to be wrong,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau at the April 1 official launching. “We’ll be very confident that we’ll be the best chain in Canada. It will put more emphasis on news because of what is taking place in the political landscape.”
Evening programs include “The Source” with Ezra Levant, “Daily Brief” with political voice David Akin, “Caldwell Account” on business with Theo Caldwall, the “Charles Adler” show, and “Byline” with Brian Lilley for prime time news roundup.
Levant, former publisher of the conservative Western Standard magazine, kicks off the evening Sun News with his show “The Source” airing at 5:00 p.m. EST.
“My deep hope for the Sun News Network is that we are less self-indulgent [than existing media] and that we actually talk about things that matter — not our own Twitter apps, or our own iPads, or our own Facebook pages, or how many questions the prime minister did or didn’t answer,” Mr. Levant said in an interview with Postmedia News.
“To at least talk about issues, like taxes or jobs or the American debt or what our foreign policy in Libya is. Can we not talk about substance and not process? That’s my hope.”
Well-known Winnipeg-based radio talk-show king Charles Adler said Sun News will be “much more people oriented.”
“It won’t have an Eastern focus or Eastern Bias. … Much less Ivory Tower. Much less political chattering class. Much fewer professional lobbyist talking heads. Much more personal. Much more like the Talk Radio our listeners love to hear. Spontaneous, Real, Passionate, and pro-Canada,” said Adler.
“I won’t be advocating that we take all our cues from the United Nations before our country decides to get involved in helping people in another country. That’s an interesting Canadian Elitist position espoused by the Liberal Party leader among others. It’s not my idea of the Canada that citizens of Adler Nation feel so strongly about.”
“We are proud of what we have accomplished and can’t wait to see the results. We want people to watch and see our product for themselves,” said Luc Lavoie.
For more information, click here.