Just when you thought things couldn’t get any crazier…
Typically we reserve our opinion pieces for the once-a-week allotment in the pages of the newspaper, as well as space on our website.
But given the events of the last 48 hours, I felt it necessary to weigh-in on the public spectacle of Brock Frost vs. Jamie Gilcig, and our reasons for printing some of the material.
If you haven’t heard by now (have you been living under a snowbank for the last 36 hours?) the rookie city councillor and local website owner have locked horns in what has to be the biggest urinating match to plague the city in…well, a long time.
Things took a turn for the bizarre Tuesday afternoon, when Frost issued what had to be the most intensely shared correspondence since the 10 Commandments, alleging sexual harassment on the part of Gilcig.
Like I said on Facebook Tuesday night, you can’t write this stuff, folks.
Or, maybe you can.
Our newspaper thought long and hard about running with the material. We asked ourselves questions about news value, the public’s right to know, Gilcig’s right to privacy and Frost’s status as a city councillor/public figure.
It can be difficult, especially in small-city media circles when access to company decision-makers isn’t as simple as walking down the hallway. Sometimes it takes a while to formulate a strategy that does the newspaper, readers and principles justice.
Ultimately our decision was to run the story, omitting Gilcig’s name. The reason for the omission laid in the fact that Gilcig had not been charged by police, and had not responded to a request for comment on the issue.
When he acknowledged the material on his website, defended himself, and quite frankly jumped into reporting on the subject we added his name to our coverage.
Our decision to run the story was also based on Frost’s newfound status as a city councillor. When was the last time a Cornwall city councillor publicly accused someone of sexual harassment? I don’t know if one ever has – and that’s news, folks.
It’s our job to report such an event, with responsibility. I think we did that.
Like I said before, small-city media often gets the finger pointed at it during such events.
“Haven’t you got anything better to report?”…”Don’t you ever publish positive news?”…”Why are you giving these guys so much space?”
All good questions – and we accept the criticism. In fact, every newspaper should welcome feedback on the material it produces.
The catch-22 we are often caught in is this – if we report the material we are labelled poop disturbers.
But if we don’t, then readers ask us why we are covering things up…sometimes you can’t win, so we try to report what we have in a professional manner and accept the fact that not everyone will be pleased with the message.
It’s a fact of life in our business, and we’re more than happy to accept it as such.
Are people sick and tired of the show? You bet they are…and to be honest it’s starting to lose its polish in our office as well.
We’re no fan of Gilcig’s ‘reporting’ style, and to be honest if I hear ‘Gonzo’ one more time I think I’m going to strangle a Muppet. That media style died years ago and clearly doesn’t translate into a successful business model in small cities.
As for Frost, I can tell you he is doing more harm than good to himself in recent days. The River Kings ownership saga didn’t help his cause, but instead of quietly taking up the mantle of a city councillor his public attacks on Gilcig are creating a sideshow (gong show?) this new city council clearly does not need.
Councillors are privately telling me that somebody, maybe Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy, needs to pull Frost aside for a little talk about how elected officials in a small city need to conduct themselves.
For those looking to get the man removed from office – good luck. I think Frost is here for a while. To be fair, in the incredibly short time he has had in office, his conduct in the council chambers has been professional and well-reasoned. He has asked intelligent questions and even tried to save us some money (if for only one year) during a budget meeting this week.
But…he also got escorted from city hall by the cops Monday night, who feared for his safety in the wake of the River Kings ‘thing’.
Not exactly an auspicious start.
The good news? He’s got lots of time to right a whole bunch of things that have gone wrong.
