Are City Council Using Ad Dollars as Weapon of Control in Cornwall Ontario by Jamie Gilcig – MARCH 2, 2015

CFN – Is your council using ad dollars as a tool to control media in Cornwall?   It’s a valid question.    For three years now City Council and its tentacles have boycotted this newspaper.  CFN has the largest audience in the city and are the only media outlet to consistently (if at all) publish real live raw numbers.

The City in 2014 refused to disclose how much they spent with The Freeholder and its parent company and the Seaway News and its parent company.

That could be why you didn’t see a headline story about Gilles Latour allegedly ripping off his own mom or the nature of coverage of the Chem Tanks.

This is where it gets blurry and fuzzy and it becomes hard to see the lines.

Since this election only 4 out of 11 elected officials in Cornwall have responded professionally to CFN.   While some may have issues with me personally, like Councilor Brock Frost making wild allegations about me making a pass at him and worse, there simply is no reason for Council to not answer questions related to issues like the budget.

They are paid by tax dollars and the public has a right to have answers to questions.    Is this the Kilger mess all over again?  Shouldn’t any company have the right to compete equally for any service or product and be based on merit and value?  In this case we have a larger audience and clearly offer more bang for the dollar than either the Seaway News or Freeholder.

Here are a list of questions that were sent to the Mayor and Council over the last few months.

February 28th

Hi Everyone,

If you can spare a few moments via phone this afternoon or Sunday we are doing a piece on the budget and seeking feedback and comment.

CFN is the largest newspaper in your community and our viewers would like some answers to some questions.

Please email a time that we can discuss budget issues.

Thanks,

Jamie