Douglas Todd: It’s not only Donald Trump filling top positions with personalities from Fox News. The swing of media and public-relations figures into politics is also happening in Canada.
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The latest thing in politics is that more and more candidates are rising out of journalism, public relations and entertainment.
And it’s not only incoming U.S. president Donald Trump, the star of The Apprentice TV series, who is filling his top positions with high-profile personalities from Fox News, reality television and even World Wrestling Entertainment. Some have called his appointments “a made-for-TV cabinet.”
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The media swing into politics has also been happening in Canada, at both the highest and local levels, though with less flash.
For instance, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s long-term finance minister and deputy prime minister until December, was once a noted newspaper columnist.
And one of the rising stars in the federal Conservatives is a pundit. Jamil Jivani attracted audiences while at the Huffington Post, Postmedia and as a radio talk-show host for Bell Media, before winning a federal byelection in 2024. His online profile gets huge boosts from his friend, U.S. vice-president-elect J.D. Vance.
In the city of Vancouver, meanwhile, no fewer than three of 10 council members come out of journalism and public relations.
They are Peter Meiszner, formerly of Global News and UBC media relations; Sarah Kirby-Young, a communications and marketing expert, and Mike Klassen, a public relations official, podcaster and columnist with The Vancouver Courier newspaper until it ceased publishing in 2020.
Other Metro Vancouver civic politicians from the realm of journalism include former Global News TV anchor Steve Darling, who is now a councillor in Port Coquitlam, and Craig Hodge, once of Postmedia, who is on Coquitlam council.
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Before examining the reasons for this development, plus its pros and cons, it’s worth pointing out other prominent B.C. examples of the trend.
Before being elected B.C. premier, Christy Clark was a columnist and talk-show host at CKNW. And former B.C. Liberal MLA Jas Johal was once a prominent journalist at Global News who, after losing his seat in 2020, is now heading a show on CKNW.
The B.C. NDP also have a high-profile ex-journalist in their ranks, in this case yet another from Global News, after Randene Neill won election in October in Powell River-Sunshine Coast.
What does it all mean? And how might it affect politics?
At the least the trend suggests that journalists and media personalities can have a distinct advantage when they get onto an election ballot: Name recognition.
They start their political careers with a public profile, which is huge in politics — whether it comes come from being active in TV, radio, newspapers or on social media, including podcasting, X, LinkedIn, Facebook or Tik Tok.
By definition, journalists, public relations officers and marketing executives are also experts in getting across a message, often in compelling ways.
Only some politicians have a natural talent for the gift of the gab, also known as promoting their brand — like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre. Many others struggle to communicate simply, directly and effectively.
Most journalists and public relations specialists, on the other hand, have developed the skills of capturing and obtaining an audience, which they translate into appealing to voters.
To be accurate, it’s not as if the last decade marks the first time in North American history that journalists, public relations officers and entertainers have gone into politics (as lawyers continue to do at a high rate).
The most famous example from the U.S. is movie actor Ronald Reagan, who served as president from 1981 until 1989. In Canada, the late former Vancouver Sun columnist Pat Carney went onto become a Progressive Conservative finance minister and senator.
Still, the career shift out of journalism and public relations into politics now seems to be occurring at a faster pace.
Darling, the former Global News anchor who is now a councillor in Port Coquitlam, said the trend is not surprising because journalism is a public service and politics is similar.
“Journalists are looking to keep the public informed about decisions that affect them, while on the other side (politicians are) making those decisions,” said Darling, who first ran unsuccessfully in 2017 to be a B.C. Liberal MLA.
While agreeing that many journalists have the privilege of entering the political game with a ready-made public profile, plus soft-marketing skills, Darling maintained both careers also require looking at all sides before making a choice. And, he said, both careers are exciting.
Journalists, I should add, also tend to be quick studies. Yet that can also be the case for people from many walks of life who enter politics, whether from business, the non-profit sector, health care or social activism. All are expected to learn a lot of complex and hard realities about society, governing and mostly budgets while on the job.
There could be another factor at play when journalists go into politics, which touches on how the media business has been flailing since the explosive expansion of the digital era. And that consideration is that achieving public office, while no easy feat, can prove a nice parachute career for one-time toilers in the media industry.
Indeed, while media wages can be quite tepid, politicians’ salaries and perks can be quite high, particularly in provincial and federal politics. And many mayors and councillors, at least in Metro Vancouver, earn decent salaries and significant extra per diems by serving on public committees, including regional governing and regulatory bodies.
Indeed, there might be some painful truth to the observation that for many elected officials today, including those who have transitioned out of journalism or public relations, politics is the best gig they’ve ever had.
Peter Ladner, founder of Business in Vancouver newspaper and a former Vancouver council member, agrees many journalists, as he did, enter politics with a pre-existing public profile. Yet he’s convinced they can also be well-suited to the game.
“I thought, ‘I have spent a long time writing and taking stands on public policy questions: And if I’m so smart, I should be willing to prove it by becoming a politician myself,’” he said.
All in all, it’s probably mostly fine that more journalists and communications specialists are going into politics. All that voters can do, as with every politician, is try their best to keep them honest.
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