Of the hundreds of headlines that ran in The Reminder last year, one of my favourites was this: ‘Armed’ man was not armed: Mounties.
The accompanying article described how an RCMP news release stated that an “armed male” had been arrested at a residence in Cranberry Portage.
Except that upon further inquiry, that wasn’t true. While the man had been suspected of possessing a gun, no firearm was found and no charges were laid. Simply put, he was not “armed.”
With due respect to the RCMP, they should have been more careful. Although the unarmed male was not identified in the news release – given that he was never charged, he couldn’t be – surely this had the potential to harm his reputation in a fishbowl like Cranberry Portage.
In the sense that it was completely inaccurate, that release ranks as one of the most unusual to make its way to the Reminder newsroom over the years.
But most amusing are releases disseminated by governments, particularly governments that know their goose is cooked.
In the dying months of Lorne Calvert’s NDP government in Saskatchewan, the province sought to distance itself from the unpopular NDP brand by using the phrase “the Calvert Government” ad nauseam.
We were treated to release after release touting “the Calvert Government” spending millions on good stuff here and “the Calvert Government” fighting evil there.
Unfortunately, in the middle of it all the province green-lit an electricity rate hike and was compelled to issue a news release about it.
Suddenly the happy, shiny, bursting-at-the-seams-with-purity “Calvert Government” was nowhere to be found. As the release noted, “Government” approved the rate hike.
Darn you, shadowy “Government”! Surely the “the Calvert Government” would do no such thing!
Another entertaining release coincided with a visit to Flin Flon by Premier Greg Selinger five years ago.
In mid-February 2011, several months ahead of that year’s election,
Selinger was in The Pas for the famous Trapper’s Festival and decided to swing by Flin Flon as well.
Trouble was, there wasn’t much for Selinger to do here. No ribbons needed cutting and no babies needed kissing.
So Selinger staged the most manufactured political event imaginable. He went to the Flin Flon Public Library to “announce” nearly $59,000 in provincial funding for the book-lending facility.
We’ve all heard the teaser, “And now a man who needs no introduction.” Well, this was funding that needed no introduction. It was the province’s normal annual allotment for the library, made as a matter of course, not because of some special intervention by Selinger.
After Selinger wrapped up, some members of his audience, including myself, were puzzled. Not to make anyone sound ungrateful, but we had anticipated that a visit from the premier would entail something more than, “Hey, you know that money we give the library every year? Well, we’re giving it again this year.”
I don’t believe there was an attempt to mislead on the part of the government, however. The release stemming from this “event” made no claim to anything special, as it was headlined: Province Maintains Financial Commitment To Flin Flon Library Service.
My inbox receives dozens of news releases every week, and a few still trickle in by fax. Most are mundane and irrelevant, a rare few are newsworthy and some are wrong, funny or just plain unnecessary.
And as odd as this may sound, in the news business, we appreciate receiving each and every one of them.
Local Angle is published on Fridays.
