Medium, message...what's the difference?

[CHIMO]

On several occasions, the Inside Politics blog and its predecessor have mentioned the latest front in the runs-hot-and-cold battle between the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Parliamentary Press Gallery: the distribution from the PMO of "photo releases" -- professional photographs from the prime minister's official photographer sent via email to anyone who wishes to use them for news or other promotional purposes.

The photographs, naturally, are flattering to the prime minister, and they are deliberate -- selected and distributed in a fashion consistent with the PMO's desired message(s) of the day.

Just as the idea of printing the text of a press release verbatim is abhorrent to most professional print journalists, the prospect of media organizations using these carefully-managed photographs is equally appalling to professional photojournalists.

This week, the PMO went one step further: issuing video press releases at the start of Stephen Harper's trip to China.

http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/author/author0b70f/