Those of you of a certain age will remember the lovable Sgt. Schultz from the TV show Hogan’s Heroes.
Although he was a soldier in Hitler’s Nazi Germany, he was the most likeable character on the show. The “prisoners” at Col. Klink’s POW camp – and I use the term prisoners loosely (if you’ve seen the show, you’ll know) – could get away with virtually anything they wanted to because Sgt. Schultz did not want to cause any trouble.
“I know nothing… nothing!” he would often say when coming across one of Col. Hogan’s many schemes.
That phrase certainly comes to mind in our line of work when it comes to certain situations.
Take last week in Listowel, for example. There was a two-vehicle crash at a busy downtown intersection. Our intrepid reporter, Melissa Dunphy, made her way over to the scene to get the scoop.
As she approached, she overheard an officer speaking with a passerby, who had asked if anyone was hurt.
In her words, the officer told the passerby that one person was sent to hospital with minor injuries, but that they would be OK.
Hearing the officer mention this, she made her way over and introduced herself as being a reporter with Midwestern Newspapers. She wondered if she could ask some questions about the incident.
The officer politely declined to comment, directing Melissa to speak with the Perth County OPP media relations officer.
In other words, “I know nothing… nothing!”
When contacted, the OPP media relations officer said it was a minor collision, with no injuries to report.
Again… “I know nothing… nothing!”
Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have heard a story like this.
Each year, Ontario Community Newspaper Association members will gather for conventions – or in the case of the past few years, will meet on Zoom – to discuss industry issues and learn from each other. One of these conventions is for independent publishers, like Midwestern Newspapers. At last year’s convention, we had the opportunity to speak with Bill Dickson, then acting manager of media relations with the OPP. Several publishers shared stories with Dickson about similar incidents, where officers were not willing to talk to the media.
Dickson, and I am paraphrasing as this was seven months ago, said he encourages officers on the scene to tell media what they are able to share – the who, what, where, when of the incident.
For instance, Dickson said an officer on the scene should be able to tell you how many vehicles were involved in a crash, if anyone was sent to hospital, etc.
Apparently, many officers did not receive the memo.
One of my favourite stories of police not wanting to divulge information came from a former colleague who was making a presentation to journalists at a company training session. This journalist works for a Toronto paper, and told us the story of interviewing an officer at a scene downtown.
He asked the officer if he could confirm some details.
The officer would not.
“Well, I see the K-9 unit is on scene. Can you tell us what they are searching for?”
“I cannot confirm that the K-9 unit is here,” replied the officer.
I kid you not… the K-9 unit was operating mere feet from the officer, who refused to confirm their presence.
“I know nothing… nothing!”
Another popular TV show, Letterkenny, has a saying that many in these parts can relate to: “Bad gas travels fast in a small town.”
As a journalist, I can understand if police are wanting to withhold certain pieces of information to protect their investigation. However, to blatantly give a “no comment” on every question is tough to swallow… especially when a resident walking down the street can get more information out of an officer than an accredited member of the media.
In an age when many complain about misinformation or “fake news,” it’s actions such as the above that only add fuel to the fire.
All we ask is that police help us get timely and accurate information to our readers. Is that too much to ask?
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Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. Comments and feedback can be sent to mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
