When our Mayor revealed his affair with his then-Deputy Mayor, we – as a news organization – were called names and overwhelmed with texts and social media postings about how awful we were to report it. Keep in mind that Matt Brown had gone from news organization to news organization on what I now refer to as his “apology tour”, and there were many questions about whether this affair affected city hall business.Â
A few months later, after a Freedom of Information request was granted for one of our reporters, it appeared that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor (now councillor) had some exchanges via email that led to her pushing out a colleague from a prime position on a board. Plus, city councillors have said on our show that things are different at work now. Communication has been affected. The Mayor isn’t as accessible as he used to be. Not as much is getting done. In other words, it was proven to be news.
Ken and I learned a little while ago that the Mayor and his wife had separated. We chose not to say anything on air. It was something we carefully considered and decided not to pursue. Our afternoon talk show host did act on the information which is his choice, and it made for some exciting talk radio. But from our standpoint, and from our News Director’s point of view, it didn’t meet the test. We already know he was unfaithful. We know he ran on a platform of integrity and transparency, with promises to end the era of scandal at London City Hall. How would his separation add or subtract from any of that? We didn’t think it did. It was personal fallout.
Some listeners and social media followers want to know why we aren’t talking about the breakup of the Mayor’s marriage. For one thing, our latest off-the-record information is that there may be another reason for the separation beyond his long-over affair with Maureen Cassidy. For another, it’s gossip, pure and simple. There’s nothing to gain from exploiting this development, in our view. Those who complain that we took the high road might even be the same people who thought there was no story there at all.
London is a strange market for news. Here’s a prime example: A report from ABC will arrive about a recall of food items. I’ll do an Internet search and find that these items aren’t sold in Canada and, in fact, aren’t even sold in border towns in the US. So, I’ll decide not to run the story because there’s no one likely at risk in our listening area. However, our competition will run the story and by doing so, make it sound as if it’s relevant to our listeners. So who’s right? I am, of course! It’s called editing and we do it all day every day. We make decisions about what we will and won’t talk about and share on the air. It’s the same with the Mayor’s marital status. We felt that on its own, it was a tabloid gossip story. If he was also quitting politics or charged with a criminal offence, it would be news. But this story isn’t over yet. And I’m waiting for an apology from all of those people who pounced on us when we reported it in the first place. Waiting….