Although @kennedystewart calls this a “weird story to follow”, it isn’t at all. This afternoon, one of the @CityofVancouver’s ~40 communication department members responded to @GlobalBC’s request for what should’ve been easily accessible information—more than 24 hours later. /1 https://twitter.com/globalbc/status/1266164037999525889">https://twitter.com/globalbc/...

But not before the same @CityofVancouver communications team released a statement to “correct misinformation”—later confirming to @GlobalBC that @jarmstrongbc’s reporting was accurate. The statement was apparently in response to a tweet and a radio report from another network. /2 https://twitter.com/cityofvancouver/status/1266057914101440512">https://twitter.com/cityofvan...

In its response to @GlobalBC, the @CityofVancouver insinuated the data journalists had been seeking was publicly available, directing us to a tweet from @j_mcelroy—but, just yesterday, the same communications team told @jarmstrongbc that data had changed due to #COVID19. Why? /3 https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy/status/1266093316082249729">https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy...

In the grand scheme of things, as @kennedystewart said, a $95,000 salary is a drop in the bucket of the @CityofVancouver’s $1.8 million budget—but the bigger story is the principle of allocating funds to a hire that, to critics, seems exhorbirant amid #COVID19 revenue losses. /4

Obfuscation and stonewalling by some communications professionals and teams (including those paid for with taxpayer https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💴" title="Banknote with yen sign" aria-label="Emoji: Banknote with yen sign">) has become a frustratingly common strategy that seems designed to waste journalists’ time, and prevent the public from accessing information—and the truth. /5

That’s a slippery slope: a lack of transparency and accountability threatens the principles of democracy. A journalist’s job is to hold power to account—and especially so in times of crises. The @CityofVancouver’s response seems to have raised more questions than it answered.

That should read $1.8 billion*—typo on my part.