Mayors in a snit present a challenge
If you think you have problems dealing with the politicians
on the Hill, try City Hall for a day. Dealing with mayors who won’t
cooperate with journalists is part of the beat. Reveal uncomfortable facts,
and you stand accused of being ‘too
negative,’ tantamount to high treason in most cities. (Witness the ongoing war
of words between Maclean’s and Regina mayor Pat ‘It’s-Not-That-Bad’
Fiacco.) On the other hand, you can end up accused of being in bed with
the mayor. The easy road is to just focus
on the hair, although mayoral hairstyle coverage also gets critiqued
(and rightly so).
Indeed in the fishbowl of city politics, there’s no worse piranha
than a scorned mayor. But, as this reporter
discovered, just stay focused and keep your line in the water – the
stories will bite.
If you think you have problems dealing with the politicians
on the Hill, try City Hall for a day. Dealing with mayors who won’t
cooperate with journalists is part of the beat. Reveal uncomfortable facts,
and you stand accused of being ‘too
negative,’ tantamount to high treason in most cities. (Witness the ongoing war
of words between Maclean’s and Regina mayor Pat ‘It’s-Not-That-Bad’
Fiacco.) On the other hand, you can end up accused of being in bed with
the mayor. The easy road is to just focus
on the hair, although mayoral hairstyle coverage also gets critiqued
(and rightly so).
Indeed in the fishbowl of city politics, there’s no worse piranha
than a scorned mayor. But, as this reporter
discovered, just stay focused and keep your line in the water – the
stories will bite.
Patricia W. Elliott is a magazine journalist and assistant professor at the School of Journalism, University of Regina. You can visit her at patriciaelliott.ca.