We, the undersigned, call on the City of Hamilton and the Mayor’s Office to adopt a policy of openness and transparency that recognizes the right of ordinary Hamiltonians to access information and speak to local officials, in the spirit of democracy and civic engagement that is one of the hallmarks of this city.
We, the undersigned, represent a number of local independent media entities, whether as media professionals, citizen journalists, independent bloggers or as engaged citizens.
Recently, statements were made in local press regarding the relationship between City Hall and media, and how the current policies may change in terms of how people in media access City Hall. These statements were made largely by Peggy Chapman (a member of the Mayor’s political staff), who states she is working closely with the City Manager’s office to revise and develop these policies.
While we recognize the city’s interest in developing a comprehensive media policy, we have concerns about its purpose and objectives. A media policy should be geared toward ensuring citizens and the media have access to information that ought to be public and transparent.
It should be seen as a concern that political staff would have influence on the development of that framework- it is not hard to imagine how policies could be developed that would result in influencing how information is gathered by media, and how that information is accessed.
“What I’m trying to bring in is a press gallery. What that means, and it’s going to bother a few people… is I will recognize you and give you as much access to the mayor, as need be, or information that I have – and especially at council, if you have a boss. If you’re a journalist that has a boss that I can complain to, if I think that information is incorrect. If you don’t have that, it’s, you know- how do we control, um, the information? I don’t mean control like I want to control what’s being said, but my first priority is the public. I would hope in media your first priority is the information to the public too. But that’s not my responsibility. My responsibility is information coming from City Hall, to the public. And how do we get that?”
- Peggy Chapman on The Bill Kelly Show, CHML, Wednesday May 25th 2011
The statements above by Ms. Chapman seem to suggest that at Hamilton’s City Hall, private media companies will be given preference over citizens who are engaged as independent media, perhaps simply because there is a perception that one group is more responsible than the other.
In making these statements, Ms. Chapman is making an implied accusation that independent media are less accountable than media owned by private companies. In fact, many citizen journalists are far less legally protected than media professionals who can access legal services at no cost to themselves, but rather the private companies they work for.
We believe firmly that any attempt to restrict access of the media to City Hall, whether professional or independent, would result in restricting the flow of open and transparent information to the general public, and inappropriately give political staff the unilateral ability to pick and choose who has access to information.
In the absence of a formal procedural framework, access to media seats in City Council chambers has been a confusing issue- some media outlets have gained access to the resource of a media desk when others have not, or have been dissuaded by the City clerks department to access those seats.
We are asking that Council and Staff develop a formal policy on media relations which is fair, clear, and does not allow political staff to unduly influence the free flow of information at City Hall. We would also ask council to make this dialogue public, by council and by civil servants who can be held accountable by the public. We believe that this issue should not be handled by political staff, who may be motivated to develop these policies in a way that is favourable to their employer rather than in the interest of informing the public.
We would like to request that the City Manager’s office, and/or the Mayor’s office publicly respond to these concerns promptly, offer clarity on what our rights are as engaged citizens and independent media and how those rights will be protected going forward, should any new policy be enacted at City Hall.
Sincerely,
Joey Coleman
Journalist www.joeycoleman.ca
Teresa DiFalco
Publisher, The Hamiltonian www.thehamiltonian.net
Adrian Duyzer
Associate Editor, Raise the Hammer www.raisethehammer.org
Martinus Geleynse
Editor and Publisher, Urbanicity www.urbanicity.ca
Matt Jelly
Blogger, www.mattjelly.com
Dave Kuruc
Publisher, H Magazine www.hmag.ca
Ryan McGreal
Editor, Raise the Hammer www.raisethehammer.org
James Tennant
Program Director, CFMU 93.3 FM http://cfmu.msumcmaster.ca/
Matt Thompson
Community Organizer
Additional signatories:
Roz Allen
Freelance Writer, Director
www.therozblog.com
James Arlen, CISA
Infosec Geek, Hacker, Social Activist, Author, Speaker, Parent. (http://jamesarlen.net)
Founder, think|haus (http://thinkhaus.org)
Carmela Bozur
The Hamiltonian
www.thehamiltonian.net
Daniella Bozur
The Hamiltonian
www.thehamiltonian.net
Adrianna Bozur
The Hamiltonian
www.thehamiltonian.net
Marty Ann Burrowes
Freelance Journalist, Engaged Citizen
Orazio Caltagirone
Administrator & Editor
http://www.youtube.com/905Hamilton
Laura Cattari
Writer, Business Owner, Community Advocate
www.advocacyhamilton.com
Graham Crawford
Contributor to Raise the Hammer, Urbanicity and HMag
Owner, Hamilton HIStory + HERitage
Isabella Daley
Engaged Citizen
Kojo “Easy” Damptey
Music Producer/Songwriter
Richard Degelder
Member of Think|Haus
Member of Open Hamilton
Lane Dunlop
Engaged Citizen
Peter Graefe
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
McMaster University
Elizabeth Gosse
Owner, Miss Lizzie’s Art and Design
http://misslizzies.blogspot.com/
Jeremy Freiburger
Engaged Citizen
Ray Fullerton
Engaged Citizen
Gordon Harrop
Engaged Citizen
Jim Harvie
Engaged Citizen
Brian Henley
Local Historian
Quintin Hewlett
PhD Candidate
Communications and Culture
York University
Dan Jelly
Engaged Citizen
Tom Kelly
Editor in Geek at Copydog.ca
Cody Lanktree
Director, HamiltonSeen
www.hamiltonseen.com
Darlene MacNeil
Engaged Citizen
Wayne MacPhail
Journalist
www.w8nc.com
Sarah Matthews
Lawyer and Engaged Citizen
Tyler McIntyre
Owner/Developer Steel City Music (steelcitymusic.ca)
John Milton
Freelance Journalist / Blogger
Sarah Moir
Entrepreneur
Shirley Molinaro
Engaged Citizen
Susan Moore
High School English Teacher
Marie Mushing
People In Connection
Larry Pattison
Local blogger, artist, musician, father and engaged citizen.
www.shakingthetree.ca & www.saveivorwynnestadium.com
Daniel Penn
Director of happeninghamilton.ca
Stephanie Seagram
Engaged Citizen
@seagrams
Sean Ramsay
Engaged Citizen
Owner, Inchroma Digital Media Inc. / LILT Films
www.inchroma.com
Vanessa Crosbie Ramsay
Engaged Citizen, Freelance Writer
Owner, Inchroma Digital Media Inc. / LILT Films
www.liltfilms.com
Mark Richardson
Citizen Journalist
Raise The Hammer
http://www.raisethehammer.org/authors/168/mark_richardson
Jim Rudnick
Engaged Citizen
Jordan Russell
Engaged Citizen
Tim and Tanya Ritchie
Engaged Citizens
Danya Scime
Engaged Citizen/Business Owner
Stephanie Vegh
Visual Arts Critic and Blogger
www.stephanievegh.ca/blog
Yvonne Woodley
Freelance Writer and Editor
Alex Zafer
Engaged Citzen
Managing Director for Gallery 205
http://www.imagegallery205.com
Engaged citizen, educator and taxpayer who likes to benefit from the viewpoints of those who work in traditional media alongside those who engage in new media journalism.