This is an interesting broadcast meet internet kind of series of moments.

Anyone who deals with traditional media can’t expect a free pass, while it’s nice to have a pre-broadcast interview, it’s foolish to assume anything is off the record or that the conversation isn’t being taped. That is for the broadcaster/reporter’s benefit and it’s useful for the person being interviewed.

It started when CPAC did a riding profile of Halton Liberal candidate Garth Turner. They need fill in video to go along with the story line. One thing Turner is known for is his door-to-door campaign style.

Okay. Then a blogger recognizes the home owner used in the clip as the son of Garth Turner’s campaign manager. The information gets posted at Conservative blogs and put on YouTube.

Enter the CBC’s Susan Ormiston who is covering how the internet and blogs are covering the election.
Here is where I have a problem.
Garth Turner is media savvy, and I find it difficult to believe he expected an off the record conservation with Ormiston. It may be what he wanted, but it isn’t what he got. Reporters and candidates get testy with each other, election campaigns are grueling and everyone is scrambling to get what they need.
The CBC interviewed a couple of the conservative bloggers and CPAC was left scrambling. They pulled their information together well and went to air. It looks like an ambush interview but it isn’t. CPAC is doing it’s job, and whether it’s convenient for a candidate or not, the job gets done.

The question for Conservative bloggers and the broadcasters  became: was CPAC aware (told) the  video filler home owner was a friendly?  CPAC spoke to the people involved; their reporter, the homeowner, Turner’s campaign manager and Garth Turner.
The next question became whether Garth Turner had talked to the CBC.
He had, and Susan Ormiston left a comment at Garth Turner’s blog.

Bloggers got broadcast attention for catching the clip, CPAC and the Turner campaign cleared up the ‘I don’t knows’ and Garth Turner posted an apology.

While I don’t see the CBC or CPAC ‘going ballistic’ as a conservative blogger puts it, the bottom line is political candidates don’t get to blame media for a lack of communication.

Turner got it together in his apology and explained why friendlies are used.

So, my campaign arranged for this to happen on a street where my manager’s adult son and his family live – at least that way there would be one person unafraid of the camera, the reasoning went.

This was a mistake. I did not pay enough attention to what was going on, and was too distracted by the confusion of opening day. I did not grasp the potential for conflict of interest.
At the time of the shoot, it was raining and everyone was anxious to get it over with. I canvassed a block, and sent a volunteer ahead to warn people of the camera. Nobody was home in a row of 15 homes, except my manager’s son. He later insisted that while walking his dog five minutes earlier, he had informed one CPAC member that his mother was on my campaign.

Garth Turner has the advantage of having a consistant personal online presence.
He also knows testy exchanges with reporters happen on the record of off it.
He has been going head to head with Conservative bloggers since the day he left The Conservative Party, and that’s not going to change. It’s colourful because it’s personality driven, not issue driven.

Now that this Liberal misstep is cleared up I think Susan Ormiston points out something reasonable.

The Conservative candidate for Halton (Lisa Raitt) who was parachuted in by the party was also on TV being shown doing a campaign stop. Bloggers haven’t mentioned the shop owner in the Raitt clip is a friendly - the wife of the riding association director.
The Conservative Halton site isn’t mentioning it, nor is her blog.
There are no comments at Ms. Raitt’s blog asking if that is what happened.
Conservative bloggers are quiet. Of course.
Most people get it, don’t care, it’s a few seconds of campaign video.

How information gets out in an election cycle, how it gets dissected and disseminated continues to change; even media-wise internet smart incumbents find themselves re-learning old lessons.

The internet and campaigning