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Globe
and Mail Reveals Bryant's PR Firm As Source for Stories
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More coverage at BRYANT WATCH
Mess Media, September 4, 2009
Michaels Bryant’s killing of Allan Sheppard has
garnered a vast amount of media attention but how much of the media
coverage is generated by Bryant’s PR firm. Rick
Salutin of the Globe and Mail reports on the PR campaign to contoll the
media message.
The firm turned out to be Navigator Ltd.,
which acted for Brian Mulroney during the Karlheinz Schreiber operetta.
This muddies
everything that follows.
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Salutin reports that
Bryant's second phone call in custody
was to hire the PR firm. From that moment the facts of the story have
been crafted by those employed by Bryant.
But
there's one element that irritates me severely. It's the presence,
since very early, of a public-relations firm aiding Mr. Bryant. Globe
reporter Timothy Appleby says he was told outside the jail that morning
that a PR firm was involved. Even Sherman McCoy [in The Bonfire of the
Vanities] didn't use his second call to phone a publicist
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Remember Bryant is a skilled politician with ten years
of experience in holding press conferences, public self-promotion and
political campaigns. And that's what this story is turning into -
political campaign by Bryant and his PR firm, only in this campaign the
"opponent" is dead.
Another aspect of Bryant's campaign is to flood the media with
speculation, rumour and in some cases outright lies. The Globe asks:
When a
news story says, “We have new information from a source …” is that
source Navigator? Or someone egged on by Navigator? We won't know
because Navigator “prefers to be inconspicuous.”
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In this case the Globe knows of what it speaks. It's Canada's national
newspaper and has dealt with Bryant's PR firm on this campaign and
others. The inside information revealed by the Globe is no surprise but
it is surprising that the newspaper would allow it to be revealed.
"Canada's National Newspaper" is obviously concerned and discouraged by
the campaign.
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talking to them have to agree that everything is off the record.
Why? Ms. Reisler of Media Profile says her team urges clients “to speak
for themselves.” Why couldn't that be the end of it? Tell them to get
out there and tell the truth, especially if they're politicians who've
already faced the news media incessantly. Then the PR mavens could shut
up, go home and watch the rest unfold on TV with everybody else.
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And it's not just this story, it's a problem with media coverage on
many stories.
And a
depressing quantity of news stories, especially in areas such as
medicine, now come from well-produced PR packages sent on behalf
of pharmaceutical firms and the like. Caveat
viewor.
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See also:
Spinning the
first week of Michael Bryant's new life
- Toronto Star, September 5, 2009
Video:
Eyewitness
accounts of Sheppard's death
Former Ontario attorney-general
charged in road rage death of bike messenger - Mess Media,
September 2, 2009
What started it all - Mess
Media, September 3, 2009
Globe and
Mail Reveals Bryant's PR Firm As Source for Stories - Mess Media,
September 4, 2009
There is an
online
form to send a message to the Attorney
General of Ontario at this
address
The Toronto Bike
Messenger Association (TOBMA) will be holding a fundraiser,
September
19th to help cover burial costs. More information can be found on
facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=125621767851
The Toronto
Bike Messenger Association (TOBMA) has opened an account at TD
Canada Trust for donation to help pay for Darcy Allan Sheppard's burial
arrangements and for his children. If you should wish to donate you can
go into any TD branch and donate into account number 06906676860 for
Darcy Allan Sheppard. Or you can go to tobma.com and donate via pay pal"
Cyclist's
troubled life recalled - Toronto Star, September 08, 2009
In
Toronto, Bike-Car Road Rage Escalates - NPR, September 7, 2009
Spinning
the first week of Michael Bryant's new life - Toronto Star,
September 5, 2009
How
do you prosecute your former boss? – MacLeans, September 4, 2009
Cyclists
entitled to whole lane, bicycle cop says - Toronto
Sun - September 4,
2009
Making
sense of the Bryant - Sheppard tragedy - Examiner.com,
September 4, 2009
B.C.'s
Peck picked to prosecute Bryant - Toronto Sun, September 4, 2009
Cyclist
to be buried in Alberta - National Post,
September 4, 2009
Bryant
ordered not to drive, surrender passport - CBC, September
4,
2009
Statistics
help explain cyclists’ anger - Metro News,
September 1, 2009
Cyclists
ride in support of dead bike courier - Toronto Sun - September 3,
2009
Car vs. cycle:
Road war shifts to higher gear - Toronto Star -
September 3, 2009
John
Moore: In their conflict with cyclists, motorists have to give -
National Post, September 03, 2009
The
road to `reputation recovery' - Toronto Star -
September 3, 2009
Brain's
'rage system' cuts rational response - Globe and
Mail, September 3, 2009
Bryant's custody
stay rapped - Toronto Star - September 3, 2009
Angry
cyclists stage protest - Toronto Star - September
2, 2009
Canadian
Politician Charged in Death - New York Times, September 2, 2009
Michael
Bryant's
deadly duel - Toronto Star - September 2, 2009
The
world was
Michael Bryant's until one fateful instant - Toronto Star,
September 2, 2009
Charges
could snuff out promising future for Bryant - Winnipeg Sun, September
2, 2009
Couriers
share
their `mutual hardship' – Toronto Star, September 2, 2009
Bike
courier
'troubled spirit' who battled his addictions - Toronto Star -
September 1, 2009
Tension
grows side by side - National Post, September 2, 2009
In
a city of drivers and cyclists at odds, the one on the bike is always
right - Globe and Mail, September 2, 2009
It's
us against them - Toronto Sun, September 2, 2009
Cyclist
may have grabbed Bryant, wheel: police - CBC, September
2, 2009
An
overachiever's supreme self-confidence shattered - Globe and Mail ,
September 2, 2009
Bike
messengers pay tribute to fallen comrade - Globe
and Mail , September 2, 2009
Death
on Bloor: Bryany Enters a World beyond Political Spin - Globe
and Mail , September 2, 2009
Bryant
resigns Invest Toronto - Toronto Star, September 2,
2009
Bikes
versus cars, Searching for a detente - Globe and Mail,
September 2, 2009
Bike
couriers 'in a daze' after Bryant charged in cyclist's death - Metro
News, September 1, 2009
Former
Ontario AG Bryant charged after bike courier dragged by car and killed -
Metro News, September 1, 2009
Former
Ontario attorney general Bryant faces two charges after fatal crash
- National Post, September 1, 2009
Details
of the charges - Toronto Star, September 1,
2009
Michael
Bryant: Tenacity and a flair for publicity - Toronto
Star, August 2,
2009
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