Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs has raised concerns about Dougall Media's coverage of his activities in recent months.
While it is not our normal practice to respond publicly to complaints of this nature, allegations raised about the impact those coverage decisions have had on other groups and organizations compel us to explain the editorial decisions we have made.
Earlier this year, the mayor took issue with a comment posted on tbnewswatch.com that he suggested attacked the integrity of council. The mayor demanded that we have the comment removed from the website.
As is our practice with all complaints, a review was immediately undertaken. That review determined that, while contentious, the comment did not violate our clearly stated guidelines for postings and we did not have adequate grounds to disallow it.
When informed of our decision, Mayor Hobbs expressed his displeasure by informing us he would no longer speak to Dougall Media representatives.
That decision has created concerns for our organization on a number of levels. The prohibition imposed by the mayor effectively created a major roadblock for informing our various audiences of his perspective on issues of community importance. While this is regrettable, we were left with no option but to respect the mayor's wishes.
In his comments this week, Mayor Hobbs has asserted others have been disadvantaged by this dispute. He cites four specifically: The Thunder Bay Boys and Girls Club, Recovery Days, the Merchant Marine flag raising and the Community Safety Award nominations.
It must be noted all the events mentioned were indeed covered by all four Dougall news entities -- television, radio, print and web. It is true however that Mayor Hobbs was not included in that coverage as, in the absence of any resolution to this dispute, we continue to observe his edict.
The current situation has not however prevented us from covering developments involving the mayor that we believe are critical to our audiences. A recent example is Mr. Hobbs appointment to the MPAC Board.
In the mayor's absence, we have also continued to provide complete coverage of issues affecting the city using a wide array of council, administration and community representative who are available to us.
Since this situation arose, there has been communication on both sides about a normalization of relations. We at Dougall Media have indicated we would be happy to enter into such discussions if the concerns this has created for us can be addressed. So far we have had no formal response from the mayor in regard to that offer.
Barry Third
Director of News & Public Affairs
Dougall Media
