A Poke in the Public Eye: Media Manipulation for Aspiring Politicians and Other Undesirables

Les Harding is the author of The Voyages of Lesser Men: Thumbnail
Sketches in Canadian Exploration and The Journeys of Remarkable Women:
Their Travels on the Canadian Frontier.

This book should be required reading in every political science class
and newsroom in the nation. (Voters should flip through its pages as
well.) Its basic premise is that the average journalist is stupid and
lazy. Unfortunately, it is through these stupid and lazy people that we,
the public, obtain all our knowledge of public affairs. By following a
few simple techniques (which the author is only too happy to supply) any
aspiring politician, company president, or publicist, can manipulate the
ladies and gentlemen of the fifth estate to his or her advantage. The
author, who has written for a number of daily newspapers and has served
as a public relations adviser for two provincial governments, writes
with authority—and dry humor—on such topics as understanding the
media, preparing effective news releases, leaking, and cultivating
“pet” reporters.