Jim Brown, the host of the Calgary CBC Radio One morning show the “Calgary Eye Opener” does a professional job today in interviewing Paul Jackson of the Calgary Sun. It is all about Mr. Brown trying to get a rational explanation from Mr. Jackson over certain events and some clarity as to where he actually stands on supporting Mr. Chandler's political aspirations.
The interview topic is how Mr. Jackson was apparently the victim of a crank call from the office of the Premier of Alberta. Mr. Jackson, a seasoned journalist, says he received a phone call from some one who did not give him their name. Mr. Jackson says he did not recognize the voice as anyone he knew from the Premier's office. The anonymous caller claimed to be from the Premier's office was apparently calling Mr. Jackson asking him to support a candidate in the Calgary Egmont PC nomination. That candidate was not Mr. Chandler.
The interview topic is how Mr. Jackson was apparently the victim of a crank call from the office of the Premier of Alberta. Mr. Jackson, a seasoned journalist, says he received a phone call from some one who did not give him their name. Mr. Jackson says he did not recognize the voice as anyone he knew from the Premier's office. The anonymous caller claimed to be from the Premier's office was apparently calling Mr. Jackson asking him to support a candidate in the Calgary Egmont PC nomination. That candidate was not Mr. Chandler.
Mr. Jackson acknowledges writing a column supporting the "other" candidate but "as a courtesy" he sent an email to Mr. Chandler advising him of the "call" from the Premier's office. Mr. Chandler jumps on this "opportunity" and goes to the media claiming interference by the Premier's office in his nomination bid. It gets even sillier and there is more, but best you listen to the whole radio interview and form your own opinions.
Putting the two events together and you are left wondering how a seasoned journalist like Jackson could become woven into such a tangled web of circumstances. Trying to square Mr. Jackson’s circle as he explains on the CBC what really happened and where he really stands on Mr. Chandler as a political candidate is a tad challenging to follow. Given the events, you can understand Mr. Chandler's astonishment at these events and what appears to be Mr. Jackson's inexplicable personal expression of cognitive dissonance. And these gentlemen share the same ideological base - way out there on the far right.
Mr. Jackson notes he has been in the media business for 43 years. Based on these performances and his explanation of events the kindest comment one can come up with is to suggest at the very least Mr. Jackson needs some serious media training.
Mr. Jackson notes he has been in the media business for 43 years. Based on these performances and his explanation of events the kindest comment one can come up with is to suggest at the very least Mr. Jackson needs some serious media training.
Thanks for the link Ken. My opinion of both Chandler and Jackson went down another notch. One is conniving, the other clueless.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say? Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken for bringing such a bizarre and twisted series of events to our attention. This is definitely one for future case studies: "How not to play the political, media or even the PR game."
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice ...
Clearly Jackson is not a journalist but a stenographer, writing what the government tells him to write.
ReplyDeleteJackson liked and supported Chandler. The Premier's office called Jackson and told him to back off the story. The PC party has reigned for so long in part because the Alberta media is weak, maleable and lazy. If you doubt it, ask Ralph Klein who has also said the same thing.
ReplyDeleteHolly and Anonymous 9:38PM,
ReplyDeleteI guess you are going to believe what you want to believe. But as Ken Chapman would say "you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts".
The point of the story is that Jackson DID NOT get a call from the Premier's Office telling him to support another candidate for nominee. Jackson may have got a call (which he now says "was probably a prank"), and did not know the identity of the caller.
For you to imply that the Premier's office did in fact call Jackson, despite even Jackson now disavowing the call, is to repeat the same smear.
If you are a regular reader of the Calgary Sun, you will know that Jackson is no friend of Stelmach, or of anything that smacks of a more "progressive" agenda.
So Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI don't give Jackson much credit, but you're saying that a man who has worked that long in media didn’t bother to determine whether he was speaking with a government staffer or a Jonathan Denis volunteer making a prank call?
Wow. If that’s true, think of the havoc that could be created with columnists prepared to take any anonymous comments as belonging to the Premier.
He's backtracking because he's trying to save his own ass after betraying the confidence of both Chandler and Stelmach. Jackson claiming it was probably a prank call at this point is hardly a fact; it's a desperate supposition (at best) from a man who has already given us plenty of reasons to doubt he's ability to assume anything.