12 Jun What the Irvings think about what you think

Patricia Graham, who serves as ombudsman of Irving-owned Brunswick News, criticized here last week for refusing to lift their paywall during the Moncton shooting crisis, has published a defence of that ethical lapse.

Possibly I missed it, but I didn’t see anyone demanding the print edition for free….

[S]ome raised the issue of public interest, specifically, in the Moncton case, the public safety. This could certainly be a valid reason and it is perfectly reasonable to assume at the outset that such a necessity existed. But editors are paid to pause and think things through. In management’s view, this was not a case of catastrophic necessity; public safety issues were being adequately handled via social media through Brunswick News journalists as well as the RCMP and other media. The RCMP were doing a great job on social media and Brunswick News journalists were consistently retweeting their public safety tweets. New Brunswick is a small place that is well served by print, digital, radio and television media. It was certainly not difficult to get information, whether locally or elsewhere within Canada, whatever one’s choice of delivery.

A friend who has life-long experience with the Irvings, offers a simpler explanation:

You don’t understand the Irvings. They don’t give a fuck what you, or anyone else, thinks of their paywall.

On reflection, Contrarian will go with Door 2.