It is municipal election day but I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that last week’s sad events in Ottawa are overshadowing the delivery of democracy in Ontario cities and towns today. Oh we’ll vote, but there are bigger things on our minds. Â Meanwhile, on Friday we learned that Jian Ghomeshi of CBC is leaving his job. Then further into the weekend we were told it wasn’t his idea. Then he posted a very long and personal account of a relationship he had with a woman and their particular sex practises that he says are at the heart of his dismissal. All Sunday afternoon, my phone jumped like a teenage girl in a haunted house. Ghomeshi has hired a lawyer and says he will file a $50-million wrongful dismissal suit. As of this moment I don’t see how his sex life is anyone’s business. If you want the sordid details you’ll have to look elsewhere. I’m waiting for both sides to speak their pieces.
Earlier last week a freelancer hired by Sun News Network (so let’s not confuse him with a real journalist) was gathering footage at the Canadian War Memorial after the murder of Nathan Cirillo. Â Vandon Gene saw Anderson Cooper who had flown in to do reports for CNN< and asked if he could take a picture with him. Cooper refused. “No I will not take a photo with you on a day when someone was killed. It seems wildly inappropriate. Have a little respect.”
Gene, obviously embarrassed but not introspective enough to reconsider his actions, went a little nuts on Twitter, accusing Cooper of exploiting the story by coming to Ottawa. (What?) Cooper rightly fought back, calmly telling the guy how inappropriate his behavior was. A Sun News Network executive apparently apologized to Cooper, Gene apologized on Twitter and now no longer works for the Network. His website is also offline.
What have we learned today, media students? Asking for a selfie with a famous person at the site of the murder is a bad idea. Anderson Cooper has class. Vandon Gene doesn’t understand the job or to whom he is broadcasting. Media pros have long memories and love to recount stories of our less-than-brilliant brethren so you can bet it will be a while before Gene is employed again. Going to the scene of a story is a fundamental of news reporting. Calling Anderson exploitive or unethical for doing so was ridiculous. Welcome to the digital age, Vandon, your name is now synonymous with bad judgment.
O