By Kelly Allard

For well over a year, the City of Medicine Hat has ignored many of Community TV /The Trash Panda’s requests for communication. This previous article relates the history of how the City ceased communication with us as a media outlet.

Background

Director of Corporate Communications Colleen Graham said Feb 8 2023

…”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.

…

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.”

It is interesting to note that until this point, they were quite responsive to me when I used the media portal, getting back to me often within hours.

Feb 7 2024 City Manager Ann Mitchell starts her new role at the City of Medicine Hat
Feb 8 2024 Community TV /The Trash Panda is told they will not be responded to as media.

It is entirely possible the timing was merely a coincidence.

Recent Events

E-mails originating from City Hall are now being revealed where it appears that we are a hot topic of conversation at the Glass Palace and have been for some time. The Director of Corporate Communications even said

“...They (Community TV / The Trash Panda) monopolize my thoughts”

This e-mail was sent to us by a source. It says they will not include us in or invite us to media opportunities.

E-mail from Director of Corporate Communications Colleen Graham to a resident sometime after Stephen Campbell sent a complaint to Council about Community TV.

When the City plays favourites with the media
it directly interferes
with our ability to earn income

I Finally Received a Response

Friday July 26 2024 Before I published my last article I reached out to Councillor Shila Sharps and City Manager Ann Mitchell for comment; I cc’d the rest of Council. Tom even called Councillor Sharps and left a message.

I gave them time to respond.

Nothing.

I gave them an extra 24 hours.

Still Nothing

2:40pm Saturday July 27 2024 I published my article.

3:52 pm Saturday July 27 2024 I received an e-mailed response from Councillor Sharps.

The very first line of her e-mail said

”Good evening, please find attached some factual information that you may find helpful. I recommend researching and finding actual information rather than speculating. There is more to this email that apparently you were not provided. I'm sure that wasn't intentional. and I have attached a screenshot for your reference.

I actually defended community tvs right to operate without government or political overreach. ( CITY administration wholeheartedly agreed) ”

Sharps starts off talking about facts but then cites a falsehood from someone who complained about us allegedly live-streaming from the media table without confirming if we ever actually did that.

“Regarding your inquiry about not sitting in the media booth, your speculation once again is inaccurate; as you are aware, and as you referenced someone else wrote Council an email citing complaints and concerns , one of them being people such as yourselves live streaming and commenting simultaneously from the media booth, which was disruptive to the audience. I agreed with him that this behavior would indeed be disruptive and conveyed my agreement.”

Fact check - we did not.

Another part of her response was

”I do believe there's been some liberties with the emails and removing and removal of content and then possibly blaming other people... I'm sure you verified all your sources. I urge you to continue to do so on some of the latest stories that are being shared.”

I tried to verify with the City but I was ignored. She sent a screenshot of an e-mail but left out part of the e-mail chain.

Sharps said

”Perhaps reaching out and asking questions with some inquisition and integrity instead of making accusations would be beneficial.”

So I must pose my questions in a form she approves of? That’s not how it works.

Independent Media is just that - Independent.

Nobody dictates to us as to what questions to ask or how to ask them.
We will not be censored.
We will not be silenced.

Sharps also said

“I look forward to hearing about your redaction as well as of course the apology you would be issuing for the false information given to the community.“

I will provide updates but there is nothing to redact, nothing to apologize for. The information we gave to the community was true. Once again, Sharps and Mitchell were given the opportunity to respond but chose to ignore the request. If they refuse to tell the whole story, then they cannot complain that the whole story is not being told.

We are entitled to analyze and comment on the actions of others, it is called “Fair Comment”. The City might not like our coverage but that does not give them the right to suppress the Free Press.

Here is the entire Email chain. I will add to it if I receive any further communication.