We have seen over the past year at what attempts the CRA has been making at trying to put themselves in a good light in the general public’s eyes. The government in general spends a lot of money on their what we would call promo or “pat me on the back” advertising.
Of course the CRA is headed by the government body, so when the news media takes a run at this division then in part they are taking a run at the political party running this country.
It would seem that in their view the news media doesn’t always get things straight, and to be fair we as the general public have to acknowledge this. Unfortunately the news media is often following up on some action albeit change of rules or information released, and if this follow up isn’t favorable the CRA has no recourse to retort. So, they are thinking that maybe via a new website would be the solution to this.
Now this isn’t information that was released in general to the public, but was discovered under the freedom of information, that referred to a briefing note follow up concerning discussions about positive messaging that isn’t being reflected properly by the media.
It would seem that the pros and cons to this type of website are being considered. The CRA sees it as a way of the media picking up the news the CRA wants to draw attention to, but at the same time don’t want to interfere with the media freedom in a sense. The CRA believed that constructive media relationships are important.
Cost of the website is also a factor that needs to considered as there may be a need for translation requirements. One possible suggestion was the addition of a new section to the CRA newsroom on their website. While this seems to have received the green light for go ahead, it also looks like it is still being considered and as of yet is not appearing on the current site.
While we may all have our opinion on this, overall it may be a really healthy approach when it comes to conflict of information that could appear between the CRA and the media. It makes one wonder though, if it could end up being a mud slinging match between the CRA and the media over content. It could also end up in a rather lengthy debate, but could quite possibly draw a keen interest from the general public.