BEWARE THE PRESS THAT JUST MIGHT HOUND YOU

One of the purposes behind this latest blog blitz in Gravenhurst, is to re-establish some important hallmarks about our right to elect representatives, and your right to interpret our messages, and then our right to remind you we kept notes.....your right to change your opinion, and our right to pursue our democratic privilege by holding you to account.

But as we wind down this municipal election campaign, I want to leave you with an old reporter’s perspective about how you should be prepared, as elected officialS, to deal with the media. And while you’ve undoubtedly spent all your time trying to get elected, surely you must have had a daydream about actually winning the vote. So here’s an important reality check every candidate should be aware of, but seldom believe they should put the cart, as they say, before the horse. On this one occasion, it’s okay. Being proactive with the press means you’ll be ready for a microphone in the face, a camera catching your shock and awe, or a notepad being scribbled upon by an eager scribe inches from your nose.

The biggest shortfall of the election process, is the preparation for a successful outcome. Those candidates who have served a term or more are indeed better prepared, in some ways, a little too cocky in others, when it comes to dealing with the press. An example of this is when a councillor decides after several terms, to run for mayor or a regional chair. While the councillor didn’t have a great deal to do with one-on-ones with local or regional reporting staff, a mayor or chairperson could be thrust in minutes (in the case of a disaster or major event) out onto the main stage without a script......or any one to toss them a life-ring. I’ve witnessed it many times when all of a sudden, an elected official with very little public relations training, is unceremoniously a media personality. My point is it pays to learn how to deal with the media in all kinds of situations, even before you find out the tally of votes.

Up until a few years ago, the press in Muskoka had particularly sharp teeth, and wouldn’t show mercy on any elected official who couldn’t answer their questioning. I think it was a period when elected officials were better prepared for a reporter’s scrutiny than today, as news-hounding is somewhat gentler than in a previous decade. Every council representative was well aware that they could fall somewhere beneath the bold face, banked headlines, and that if they weren’t up-to-speed, or had made a mistake one way or another, press day was going to be a bummer. If however, you were an elected official who understood freedom of the press, and the public’s right to know, and maintained a good and fair relationship with local reporters, there was much less chance of also winding up in a scathing editorial. Of course, there were a few poor sods who didn’t believe the public had the right to know anything more than what they were prepared to state, and they paid dearly for their opinions.

I was editor of The Herald-Gazette in 1980's through one of the toughest newspaper battles in Ontario, and it was a time when getting a big scoop for the front page, kept you on the payroll. Local politicians were sitting ducks, and both papers didn’t flinch from investigative forays into their bastions. Most co-operated as best they could. A few others flipped us the bird and we set about to make their indifference to democracy a front page debate.....sometimes for weeks at a time.

If council-hopefuls have consumed my many diatribes on this blog-site, and then spit and fumed about “Who the hell is this guy anyway,” well then you’ve been stirred-up and that’s a good thing. If you want to have a good term of office, and survive media scrutiny from many potential outlets, you should pay attention to these suggestions.....spit and fume all you want.....but pay attention anyway.

1. Place yourself, via imagination, in the media focus, because there has just been a local disaster, or major event, and you, by circumstance and availability have become an immediate spokesperson......eg., a reporter finds you helping others after a bad storm, and wants you “take” on the scope of the disaster. You can’t get away with fobbing off because you can’t find the words. Prepare for such a circumstance, so that you won’t be caught off guard. Speak honestly and sensibly, from what your position allows, (if you’re not the mayor, don’t speak on matters you aren’t legally entitled, such as declaring a state of emergency), and speak of the actuality around you. This is what a reporter is looking for.....an honest appraisal from the hip, not from a book of prepared responses.

2. When you find yourself in an impromtu interview situation, think carefully about the questions, and never, never, go “off the record,” because you remember it from the “Lou Grant” television show. If you suspect it’s “off the record” material, and sensitive for whatever reason, you are better to run it past council associates in the chain of command, and get proper legal advice. While it is true that many reporters will follow the protocol of keeping “off the record” information out of print, it is very risky for you to take this chance. This isn’t always a case of blocking access to information but rather a heads-up to you that this information must be dealt with fairly and responsibly, in a keen appreciation of legal obligations to accurate and documented situations. I could have crushed many elected officials with information I had off the record. While most reporters stick to this commitment, courts can make it awfully difficult for scribes to protect their sources in a court case.

3. Return calls from the media. Don’t think you can avoid them by not returning calls, or sneaking past them after a council meeting. Face up to your responsibility, as an elected official, and be ready, willing and able, to discuss what you can, when you can, with a reporter trying to do their job. We always doubled our interest in any government official who tried to evade interviews or make comments on the day’s events. It was a sure sign to us that there was a big story somewhere in this avoidance, and most times we eventually tracked it down. Don’t fear the media but rather, become comfortable with the fact, they are important components of democracy.