Statement on Covering City Hall in Light of Recent Allegations by City Council – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 19, 2017
The Public Record will continue to record public meetings, record Council votes, and continue to practice responsible independent journalism.
Since the 2015 Basse Report into the Ferguson assault incident, my journalism work has been categorized as “eavesdropping” and I’m no longer considered media by City Council and City Hall.
The Ontario Ombudsman publicly criticized the report for its poor quality and unsupported allegations. The City says the findings of Basse Report are supported by this edited partial security video.
This week, Councillor Whitehead is accusing The Public Record of being “fake news“, “attacking the integrity of staff“, “favouritism“, “reporting out of context“, “deleting ‘questionable’ tweets“, and taking favours. Other than the security video above, neither Whitehead or City Hall have released any evidence to support their various allegations.
Mayor Eisenberger and Councillor Skelly have both stated The Public Record is a false news site, fake news. In each instance, the full recordings released by The Public Record prove their allegations false.
I’ll continue to plug into electrical outlets and use the public wi-fi at City Hall. The City made changes to the public wifi in fall to prevent live video streaming in the building, which is their right. I continue to record public meetings, and post the full videos as quickly as possible after meetings.
The reporting of The Public Record will be judged by the supporting documentation, and video, that accompanies reporting on this site.
I wish to thank all of you who believe in and support original local independent journalism. In the era of post-truth politics, knowledge-based journalism is more important than ever.