Trust comes from transparency, not reputation management

Last week, Crowsnest Pass council deferred discussion of a proposed media policy after councillors said they had not received the draft in time to review it properly. The matter will return. See full story on page 9.

When introducing the policy, Mayor Pat Rypien said it was needed to “protect Council’s reputation, administration, support transparency, and build public trust.” She also said media have a responsibility to be fair, accurate and to “inform rather than influence.”

Those statements require clarity.

If there are examples of inaccurate reporting in this newspaper, they should be identified specifically and publicly. What, precisely, has been reported incorrectly? What fact has been misstated? What vote has been misrepresented? What quotation has been fabricated?

General references to reputation are not evidence of wrongdoing. 

Criticism in an editorial is not inaccurate reporting.

Reporting on disagreement is not influence.

Publishing recorded votes and public debate is not undermining council.

Discomfort with coverage does not make it false.

The Pass Herald has reported on this community for 97 years. I have personally done this work for 27 of those years. I understand the role of media. I understand the role of governance. And I understand the necessary distance between the two.

This newspaper has operated through different councils, different mayors and different political climates. We have covered prosperity and decline, disasters and recovery, consensus and conflict. We have been here longer than any current member of council. There is a reason we are still here.

We report what is said in open meetings. We report how votes are cast. We report when residents raise concerns. We report when council succeeds. We report when council faces criticism. That is not advocacy. That is accountability.

A municipality may establish internal communication guidelines. It may define who speaks officially on behalf of the organization. It may reinforce confidentiality rules. Those are legitimate governance matters.

What a municipality cannot do is regulate independent media or set expectations for how journalism must be framed.

Journalists are not governed by council policy. They are protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which in Section 2(b) guarantees “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.” That protection does not depend on whether coverage is favourable. It does not disappear when reporting is uncomfortable. And it does not yield to municipal preference.The suggestion that media must “inform rather than influence” misunderstands the nature of democratic discourse. Information informs citizens. Informed citizens form opinions. Opinions shape democracy. That is not improper influence. It is the foundation of self government.

This discussion does not occur in isolation.

Our very own Nick Allen now reports under the federal Local Journalism Initiative, a federal program designed to strengthen reporting of local government and civic institutions. Stories produced through the initiative are made available for republication by news organizations across Canada.

That means coverage of municipal governance in Crowsnest Pass is not confined to our local pages. It is available to newspapers across this country. As this proposed policy returns to council, its wording and intent will not exist in a vacuum. It may be read, examined and assessed well beyond our municipal boundaries.

That is not a threat. It is simply the reality of modern journalism and the broader platform through which this reporting now moves.

Transparency should welcome that scrutiny, not resist it.

Council is new. Council is learning. That is understood. But clarity about roles is not optional.

Elected officials govern. They debate. They legislate. They are accountable to the public.

The press reports. The press questions.The press examines.

Those roles are separate by design. In a free society, governments do not write rules for the press.

They answer to it.

Public trust is not protected by insulating reputation from scrutiny. It is earned through transparency, consistency and accountability.

The residents of Crowsnest Pass deserve open government.

They also deserve an independent press guided not by municipal policy, but by facts, accuracy and the public interest.