The Glass Palace is Not Very Transparent
Photo Credit Kelly Allard
Submitted by Kelly Allard
Colleen Graham, Director and COO of Corporate Communications for the City of Medicine Hat has informed Community TV that
”…it is in the best interest our organization to adopt a corporate stance of non-participation with Community TV in our media relations. As both you and Mr. Fougere are residents of Medicine Hat, we will respond to inquiries and requests for information just as we would any member of the community. However, we will not have staff participate in interviews or provide other media opportunities to your organization.”
Here’s her reasoning -
”Through our engagement with media, we endeavor to be both responsive and transparent while still adhering to any confidentiality provisions that may be in place. We work with employees throughout the organization to ensure they understand the importance of strong media relations and how important their role is in keeping the public informed.
Equally important, we have the expectation that the media outlets we work with will operate with integrity, respect, and professionalism. If we feel that understanding is not in place or that we can’t be confident those principles will be upheld, we are comfortable declining involvement.”
NB - Both Thomas Fougere and I are designated as Accredited Media by both the Alberta Court of Justice and the Court of King's Bench.
Here’s the definition of Accredited Media on the Alberta Courts Website
To be considered as “Accredited Media,” by the Court of King’s Bench and The Provincial Court of Alberta (“the Courts”), a person or organization must
(i) satisfy the definition of “professional media”
(ii) meet the standards of professional conduct, and
(iii) provide a written undertaking to comply with the law, Court orders, and Court policies.
The Courts’ acceptance of the written undertaking gives the person or organization the status of Accredited Media.
Professional media” is defined as including persons or organizations who in the practice of journalism regularly gather, assess, and accurately present news and information using print, broadcast or electronic means. Personal or non-commercial blogs or websites do not qualify as professional media.
When assessing whether an applicant meets the standards of professional conduct as defined by the Courts, it will be considered whether the applicant has a prior history of misconduct including failing to comply with Court orders or Court rules, disrupting Court proceedings, misrepresenting Court proceedings, or being held in contempt of Court.
As of the last update June 29 there are only three members of the media in Medicine Hat on the list, Tom and I are 2 of them. (Since COVID the courts have made everyone re-apply, I'm guessing the other local media either just haven't done the paperwork yet.)
The History
I interviewed Interim City Manager Glenn Feltham in August and that went well. Later that summer I started trying to get an interview with the mayor. I got jerked around for months.
Sep 12 2022 I asked to interview the mayor on her first year in office. My request was denied as the subject matter would be “redundant”, they already had plans.
Oct 16 2022 I reached out to the mayor herself; she said Rachel St Jean (Public Relations Advisor) would be in touch. I heard nothing from St Jean.
Nov 14 2022 I sent another interview request, this time via the City website. I requested up to one hour on the past year. The response was - they were working on an internal Year in Review.
They offered me half an hour to talk about addiction, housing and mental health in our community on Dec 6 from 1:00-1:30pm, that was the ONLY spot they offered. Fortunately that worked for me; I accepted. (I serve on the board of Palliser Friends of Medicare (PFOM); our organization is very concerned about these exact subjects.)
Dec 1 The December 6 date was cancelled as Council had an all day meeting. (The deadline for passing the 2023 budget was coming up.)
I understood; stuff happens.
I kept asking for a new date but my requests went unanswered. It took me FIVE tries before I got this answer from Rachel St Jean Dec 21 2022.
“We are working on a few large items for Mayor Clark’s calendar and I will be in touch when we are able to confirm a date. “
I said I would be out of the country until January 19 2023 and to please contact Tom with a new date. Meanwhile, Mayor Clark had done interviews with at least 2 media outlets in December 2022. Coincidentally, Kelli Ireland, one of the IMH/ Orka Six, started a job with the City in December 2022 as a Corporate Communications Specialist.
Jan 23 2023 I sent an e-mail to St Jean – no response
Jan 26 2023 I sent an e-mail to St Jean – no response
Feb 2 2023 St Jean e-mailed me, effectively killing the interview 143 days after the original request, with this response.
”I appreciate your patience on this matter. After consultation with our legal department, we will be declining this interview with your organization until the outcome of the charges involving a City Employee have been resolved.
We encourage you to submit any questions in writing, and we would be happy to answer them to the best of our ability.
Thank you for your understanding, and like you, we hope this is resolved as soon as possible.”
She is referring to an incident that occurred in December 2021, months before I joined Community TV. A criminal harassment charge was laid against Tom in February 2022, almost a year before. On January 31 2023, a trial date of June 26 2023 was set. I was being punished for something that someone else allegedly did.
(Hmmm, timing is a wee bit suspicious. To me it seems like they were looking for an excuse to make me go away. It makes me wonder if they were in contact with the Crown about this issue?)
I requested more information including the City Policy on this subject.
Feb 8 2023 I got a response from Colleen Graham, Director and CCO of Corporate Communications, about how they believe we violated multiple “professional ethics” but no details on how we allegedly violated said ethics. She answered none of the questions I asked.
Recent events
May 24 2023 Charges against Tom are withdrawn.
June 19 2023 I requested information through the city website using my newest e-mail address - kelly@comtv.ca. The standard is for someone at the City to acknowledge it by the end of the day; anything they received after 3pm would be acknowledged the following day, see screenshots. I received no acknowledgment.
June 20 2023 I sent another media inquiry on a different subject in the morning. Again, no acknowledgment by end of day to this or my other inquiry.
June 23 2023 I sent yet another media inquiry asking why I had not received an acknowledgment for the two previous inquiries.
Later that day Ms Graham sent this to a different e-mail address, the one I was using at the beginning of the year - kasosumh@telus.net
“The request for information you made on Monday, June 19 indicated you were hoping to get an answer by end of day on June 26.
Yes my deadline was June 26 for the first information request but I did not receive an acknowledgement. That is what I was asking about.
I’ve requested the information from others in the organization, but I have not yet received a response.
For your info request on June 20, I do apologize. I was under the impression that you had been responded to, but staff was waiting on me to assist and I missed the cue.
But her job title literally includes the word Communications.
Here is a response to your fountain inquiry…
I posted the update already on the Riverside Veterans Memorial Park Fountain. They don’t know what’s wrong or how much it will cost to fix, nor do they have any plans for the fountain. IMH however once had plans to move the cenotaph, they had plans to develop Riverside Veterans Memorial Park. Here’s Ian Parkinson talking about it.
I have also recopied the note that I sent you on February 8 of this year. We have not changed our stance since that time.
Here are the specific ethics she said we violated and my response to each one.
“We give people, companies or organizations that are publicly accused or criticized an opportunity to response before we publish those criticisms or accusations.”
(The City has repeatedly refused to respond in a timely manner, they‘ve flat out ignored questions. Meanwhile, other news outlets are given information while excluding Community TV, including the announcement of a press conference with Premier Danielle Smith on November 22 2022. I was at the November 21 2022 City Council meeting where the other outlets were handed the information, I was ignored. They could have also sent it to our e-mail address; they did not.
In the future we will add the caveat “The City has not yet responded to requests for comment.”)
“We gather information with the intent of producing stories and images for public consumption. We generally do not share unpublished information – such as notes and audiotapes of interviews, documents, emails, digital files…”
(A large part of this was left out.. Here is the entire quote.
“We gather information with the intent of producing stories and images for public consumption. We generally do not share unpublished information – such as notes and audio tapes of interviews, documents, emails, digital files, photos and video – with those outside of the media organizations for which we work. However, sometimes such sharing may be necessary to check facts, gain the confidence of sources or solicit more information.”)
“We do not allow our own biases to impede fair and accurate reporting.”
(Please cite an example.)
“Editorial boards and columnists or commentators endorse political candidates or political causes. Reporters do not.”
(Community TV consists of exactly two people, Tom and myself. We are the Editorial Board. Tom and I have never endorsed any political candidate or party. We belong to FB groups of various political parties so as to keep up with them. Neither one of us has ever donated to any political party nor have we ever belonged to one.)
“We carefully consider our political activities and community involvements – including those online – and refrain from taking part in demonstrations, signing petitions, doing public relations work, fundraising or making financial contributions if there is a chance we will be covering the campaign, activity or group involved.”
(I’m likely guilty of this one.
If I’m covering a powwow, I’m very likely to join in the Round Dance.
I’m on the board of Palliser Friends of Medicare (PFOM); I’m also on the Medicine Hat Family, Fun and Flight (MHFFF) committee. Tom is part of the Cycle Guild of Medicine Hat and was involved with Pop-Up Parks. We’re going to promote these causes every chance we get.
If I see an example of homophobia or other examples of hatred, I am absolutely going to Speak Out and Speak Up against it. I might even “like” or “love” a comment on social media.
Yup, I signed the petition for the TNR in Medicine Hat; I also signed the petition for fixing the Riverside Veterans Memorial Park Fountain. I won’t apologize for that.)
“If a journalist does choose to engage in outside political activity or espouse a particular viewpoint, this activity could create a public perception of bias or favouritism that would reflect on the journalists work.”
(Yup, I wear my bias on my sleeve. I despise lies, sneakiness and willful stupidity. I will expose these things at every turn.)
“We independently corroborate facts if we get them from a source we don’t name.”
(Again, please cite an example.)
“We do not allow anonymous sources to take cheap shots at individuals or organizations.”
(Please. We take our own cheap shots.)
“We report to our audiences any biases that could be perceived to influence our reporting.”
(I do it all the time. I tell people I am on the Board of Palliser Friends of Medicare (PFOM) and that I am on the Medicine Hat Family, Fun and Flight (MHFFF) committee; I also tell them if I know the person/people involved. Tom announces that he is part of the Cycle Guild of Medicine Hat; he was previously on the board of Pop-Up Parks.)
“We clearly identify news and opinion so that the audience knows which is which.”
(Like using parentheses?)
“We don’t re-post rumours.”
(Yes, I have inadvertently re-posted something that was untrue. I deleted it as soon as I found out and created a post admitting my error. When a rumour has gone viral, we will talk about in order to refute it or say why it is not proven.)
In Conclusion
This stance directly affects our ability to gather local news and earn a living. News organizations rely on timely responses to inquiries. The City cannot whine about not being asked for a response when they refuse to respond in a timely manner.
Again, unless we are told exactly what our alleged transgressions are, we can only speculate as to why we are being shunned.
Being a journalist means shining the Light of Truth to dark places, even when the Powers That Be don’t want them exposed.
Tom and I plan on continuing to do what we do, to expose local greed, corruption and nepotism wherever we find it, no matter who it pisses off.
Tom and I wear this shunning as a Badge of Honour.
It seems that we scare Corporate Communications so much, they’re pretending we don’t exist. This may not bode well for them, they may be losing control of the communications.
I have tried my best to work with them but I don’t need them.
I will continue to cultivate my own contacts at City Hall
Freedom of the Press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose.
George Orwell
What else do we have to expose and investigate corruption and maintain informed citizenry? When all levels of government and justice system are abusing power, where can people go with claims of that abuse? Only the press.
JoeAnn Hart, Stamford '76: A True Story of Murder, Corruption, Race, and Feminism in the 1970s
#yxh #medicinehat #comtv #communityTV #corporatecommunications #media #accreditedmedia #glasspalace #cityofmedicinehat #yxhmayor
