Sue's Blog

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Investigative Journalism needed following O'Brien affair

People need to know - and our real democracy needs the answers.

The Kevin O'Brien - Breakfast with Tiffany's Only - fiasco is the tip of the iceberg.

Right now every journalist worth their salt will dig in and find out how widespread this behavior is.

Every municipal councillor, every mayor, all Chambers of Commerce members and all volunteers in community organizations should be given an opportunity by our media to have a confidential conversation with them.They should use their journalists right to keep sources confidential and give us - the public - an overview of how vindictive this government really is.

We need to know if Cabinet members are abusing their authority and using inappropriate influence for political gain. We need to understand how much pressure community leaders are put under and whether they believe their community would suffer by actually losing support for infrastructure, employment programs, or development.

We also need to know if business owners or individuals have been coerced in the same fashion.

While the O'Brien story is sensational and headline grabbing - it has greater legs than what we've seen.

I - as one citizen and consumer of news in Newfoundland and Labrador - wants to know if this government should be investigated further and real action be taken.

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