Region to debate merits of media rules
Niagara regional council is set to debate how it treats the news media, two months after the unlawful seizure of a reporter’s computer and notes in December.
A report scheduled to come before council this evening includes several recommendations purported to “develop stronger relationships with the media.”
The staff report was published online Wednesday, a day after Regional Chair Alan Caslin accused The Standard of playing “gotcha politics” and of refusing to publish “positive” news about Niagara. He also refused to answer questions about his expenses because the paper did not participate in a meeting to discuss media protocols in December.
Among recommendations in the report is a plan to require all members of the public attending council meetings, including journalists, to remove all their belongings from council chambers when politicians move behind closed doors.
Until the Dec. 7 incident, when the computer and notes of Standard reporter Bill Sawchuk were confiscated, journalists at the media table in chambers could leave their materials behind when they left the room to wait for the open session of council to resume.
Other recommendations, based in part on a report commissioned by the Region from the public relations firm Enterprise Canada, include hiring a sergeant- at- arms and acknowledging the freedom of the press before going into a closed meeting.
The full Enterprise Canada report is not included in documents being presented to councillors Thursday night. Instead, a summary with commentary was prepared by Region chief administrative officer Carmen D’Angelo.
The report says that Enterprise sought input from a dozen media outlets to provide recommendations for a new regional media policy.
The Standard and its sister papers the Welland Tribune and Niagara Falls Review are listed as the only media outlets to decline to take part. The report makes no mention of CKTB 610 AM, which also did not take part. Kalvin Reid, author of the Enterprise report, said CKTB did not respond to his requests for a meeting and he noted that in his report.
Region spokesman Jason Tamming said CKTB was excluded from the regional document because the radio station did not reply whereas The Standard “actively declined.”
The Standard submitted recommendations to the Region on a media protocol in December following the confiscation of reporter Bill Sawchuk’s computer by Region staff after he was falsely accused of recording an in- camera meeting. Sawchuk was also ejected from the building and was not first permitted to call his manager or lawyer.
In a letter from The Standard’s lawyer to Caslin and every member of council, the paper asked Caslin to make an “unreserved apology” to Mr. Sawchuk and The Standard in an open meeting of council.
The apology should also acknowledge the seizure was unlawful and constituted a serious infringement of freedom of the press.
Caslin has not made that apology. He did apologize personally to Sawchuk and in a December interview with The Standard said the Region has no legal authority to seize anyone’s equipment.
The letter says that the Region should make the requested apology before any discussions about council’s media protocols.
“The newspaper is concerned that discussions about the protocol are unlikely to be constructive unless the Region first acknowledges the serious consequences of its actions,” the letter said.
The Standard also recommended that before the Region takes any action that interferes with the news media it must first consult its lawyers and allow a reporter to call his or her manager.
The Region responded to The Standard’s letter by saying it could not comment while it was subject of an ongoing Ontario Ombudsman investigation into the incident.
Not long afterwards, Enterprise was hired to gather input for the Region for a new media policy.
The Standard’s recommendations were not included as part of the proposed new media policy in D’Angelo’s report to council. Tamming said The Standard’s letter was not shared with Reid who was provided a “high- level” summary.
He said details of The Standard’s recommendations were not shared with Enterprise and not included the Region report because of lawyerclient privilege.