Manitoba reporter fired from her job for "biased" reporting on federal politics
On a rainy afternoon in October, Jill Winzoski, a 38 year old reporter at The Selkirk Record, walked into her boss' small office and took a deep breath. That morning, Winzoski's editor had told her over the phone that she'd received an email from a Member of Parliament with harsh words about Winzoski's "biased" reporting.
James Bezan, the Conservative MP for Selkirk-Interlake, included as proof part of an email petition about a China-Canada investment treaty Winzoski had sent him the day before.
Her editor said that Brett Mitchell—one of the owners of the The Selkirk Record, and Winzoski's boss—had gotten the email as well.
Mitchell told Winzoski that she would no longer be employed at The Record. He cited her email petition to Bezan's office.
Winzoski was confused. Was she was getting fired for expressing her views as a private citizen to Bezan?
Mitchell denied that it was her signing the petition.
"To this day, I question James Bezan's ethics in forwarding that email to my employer," she said. "But Brett has told me that no politician should know how you feel."
"Perhaps it was a lack of good judgment on my part, but I wasn't aware of other newspaper policies."
In a recorded interview on November 2 between Bezan and journalist Jim Mosher, Bezan admitted to contacting her employer, complaining about the bias in her reporting.
Winzoski said she doesn't know which stories in particular were biased in Bezan's view. She knew she had reported stories that made her a little nervous before she wrote them, the ones that caused people to write letters to the editor. The stories about the Canada-Europe trade agreement. The protest outside a Consertive MP's—not Bezan's—office protesting the omnibus budget bill C-38. The stories she wrote about robocalls during the 2011 federal election. She had also written two op-eds, one of them critical of the Conservatives' dismantling of the Wheat Board.
Winzoski came home that day to find that she couldn't log in to her The Selkirk Record email account.
Two and a half weeks later, Winzoski was still wondering whether she was fired for doing her job.
"We discussed at length what a journalist can do, and I said I do find it that it doesn't add up that a newspaper-- say, your editorial board-- can endorse a party during an election, and somehow how is that, anything but a blatant display of bias, right there? Why can't an editorial board endorse any party at all?" she said. "I don't know-- I'm naïve."
While getting fired rattled her, Winzoski said she wasn't completely shocked.
Winzoski recalls Mitchell once asking her to do a glowing profile of Bezan, to smooth things over. Maxwell vetoed the idea, immediately recognizing the conflict of interest. But Winzoski's political reporting was a growing concern to the management.
One night in January or February, Maxwell had invited her out for a drink, to talk about Winzoski's stories.
"I was told to rein in any bad stories about federal politics or James Bezan, and to focus on more local issues," Winzoski said. She agreed, reluctantly.
It's a temporary thing, Maxwell told Winzoski. Winzoski asserts that Maxwell was not the one who wanted her to rein in her stories. The orders came from the paper's owners.
Then the 2011 federal election robocalls scandal story broke in May 2012. Winzoski called Bezan for comments. Bezan gave a lengthy response, but not all of it made it into the article.
After the story was published, Bezan called Winzoski while she was driving home. He told her that from now on, he didn't want to answer any more of her questions over the phone.
During this time, Maxwell warned Winzoski that Bezan pulled his advertisements from the paper, and was contacting Mitchell about Winzoski's so-called "biased" reporting.
When contacted by The Vancouver Observer, Mitchell said Winzoski was not an employee, just a freelancer. He did not comment on why she was fired, nor did he comment on his communications with Bezan.
While Mitchell dismissed her as a "freelancer", Winzoski produced over half of the original content for the paper every week.
Jim Mosher, Winzoski's friend and a Manitoba-based journalist, said that he was also shocked by what happened.
"Among my friends, the people who know Jill—it's appalling," Mosher told The Vancouver Observer, with Winzoski sitting next to him.
"But do people really care? These sorts of things are happening in increasing frequency. That's the government— 'Oh well, she shouldn't have done that.'"
Mosher, 57, was also fired from his job as a freelance editor and reporter at another local paper, the Interlake Enterprise. He was fired for speaking up on Winzoski's behalf in an iPolitics article, and for differences of opinion with his employers.
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Manitoba reporter fired from her job for "biased" reporting on federal politics speaks out | Vancouver Observer
On a rainy afternoon in October, Jill Winzoski, a 38 year old reporter at The Selkirk Record, walked into her boss' small office and took a deep breath. That morning, Winzoski's editor had told her over the phone that she'd received an email from a Member of Parliament with harsh words about Winzoski's "biased" reporting.
James Bezan, the Conservative MP for Selkirk-Interlake, included as proof part of an email petition about a China-Canada investment treaty Winzoski had sent him the day before.
Her editor said that Brett Mitchell—one of the owners of the The Selkirk Record, and Winzoski's boss—had gotten the email as well.
Mitchell told Winzoski that she would no longer be employed at The Record. He cited her email petition to Bezan's office.
Winzoski was confused. Was she was getting fired for expressing her views as a private citizen to Bezan?
Mitchell denied that it was her signing the petition.
"To this day, I question James Bezan's ethics in forwarding that email to my employer," she said. "But Brett has told me that no politician should know how you feel."
"Perhaps it was a lack of good judgment on my part, but I wasn't aware of other newspaper policies."
In a recorded interview on November 2 between Bezan and journalist Jim Mosher, Bezan admitted to contacting her employer, complaining about the bias in her reporting.
Winzoski said she doesn't know which stories in particular were biased in Bezan's view. She knew she had reported stories that made her a little nervous before she wrote them, the ones that caused people to write letters to the editor. The stories about the Canada-Europe trade agreement. The protest outside a Consertive MP's—not Bezan's—office protesting the omnibus budget bill C-38. The stories she wrote about robocalls during the 2011 federal election. She had also written two op-eds, one of them critical of the Conservatives' dismantling of the Wheat Board.
Winzoski came home that day to find that she couldn't log in to her The Selkirk Record email account.
Two and a half weeks later, Winzoski was still wondering whether she was fired for doing her job.
"We discussed at length what a journalist can do, and I said I do find it that it doesn't add up that a newspaper-- say, your editorial board-- can endorse a party during an election, and somehow how is that, anything but a blatant display of bias, right there? Why can't an editorial board endorse any party at all?" she said. "I don't know-- I'm naïve."
While getting fired rattled her, Winzoski said she wasn't completely shocked.
Winzoski recalls Mitchell once asking her to do a glowing profile of Bezan, to smooth things over. Maxwell vetoed the idea, immediately recognizing the conflict of interest. But Winzoski's political reporting was a growing concern to the management.
One night in January or February, Maxwell had invited her out for a drink, to talk about Winzoski's stories.
"I was told to rein in any bad stories about federal politics or James Bezan, and to focus on more local issues," Winzoski said. She agreed, reluctantly.
It's a temporary thing, Maxwell told Winzoski. Winzoski asserts that Maxwell was not the one who wanted her to rein in her stories. The orders came from the paper's owners.
Then the 2011 federal election robocalls scandal story broke in May 2012. Winzoski called Bezan for comments. Bezan gave a lengthy response, but not all of it made it into the article.
After the story was published, Bezan called Winzoski while she was driving home. He told her that from now on, he didn't want to answer any more of her questions over the phone.
During this time, Maxwell warned Winzoski that Bezan pulled his advertisements from the paper, and was contacting Mitchell about Winzoski's so-called "biased" reporting.
When contacted by The Vancouver Observer, Mitchell said Winzoski was not an employee, just a freelancer. He did not comment on why she was fired, nor did he comment on his communications with Bezan.
While Mitchell dismissed her as a "freelancer", Winzoski produced over half of the original content for the paper every week.
Jim Mosher, Winzoski's friend and a Manitoba-based journalist, said that he was also shocked by what happened.
"Among my friends, the people who know Jill—it's appalling," Mosher told The Vancouver Observer, with Winzoski sitting next to him.
"But do people really care? These sorts of things are happening in increasing frequency. That's the government— 'Oh well, she shouldn't have done that.'"
Mosher, 57, was also fired from his job as a freelance editor and reporter at another local paper, the Interlake Enterprise. He was fired for speaking up on Winzoski's behalf in an iPolitics article, and for differences of opinion with his employers.
more
Manitoba reporter fired from her job for "biased" reporting on federal politics speaks out | Vancouver Observer
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