In Those poor, poor reporters, Ted Byfeld relates how prime minister Harper has limited the medias access to his cabinet.

First, he decreed that all public communications from his cabinet ministers – everything from speeches, to press releases, to policy statements, to letters to the editor – must have the prior approval of the Prime Minister's Office.

Second, he ruled that the meetings of his cabinet will no longer be announced in advance, and press access to the chamber outside the cabinet room will henceforth be closed to the media. This meant that reporters could no longer waylay ministers as they left cabinet meetings for on-the-spot televised "scrums," which occasionally result in unbecoming and often-incoherent shouting matches between reporters and cabinet ministers.

Of course, the press went hysterically livid but as the press did everything possible to defeat him, Harper has little reason to be beholding to them.

He knows that he owes journalists no thanks whatever for his election, and that during the remarkable five years when he gained the leadership of the right, and unified it into a force capable of forming a minority government, the media in general jeered and deplored him at every step.

Indeed, Harper is no doubt gratified by the media's loud outrage. That is, he may be trying to turn their own weapons against them. Every time they write an anti-government story, the public will be inclined to conclude: This just demonstrates their hatred of the man and all he stands for. So instead of hurting the government, bad publicity will have the effect of vindicating him

Although public reaction has been mixed, Harper is not without his supporters, one which wrote to The Natonal Post.

Oh those poor, poor reporters. They are shunted aside and ignored – no more self-absorbed men and women with an exaggerated sense of self-importance to breathlessly report out-of-context snippets and ministerial misstatements. How our understanding of the world will suffer, without the scrums, the jostling, and the total disregard for substance. Now these poor wretches may actually have to do some serious analysis.

If all this seems familar to Americans it's only because the American press has had a similar 'hate' fest for our leader. On that basis, one might assume that would justify any opportunity the administration has of forcing the 'poor wretched reporters to actually do some serious analysis'.