When bunfights turn sinister

The continuing, and evolving, bunfight on Geoff Meeker's Telegram blog, Meeker on Media, starting with a mis-communication over a letter by Simon Lono, had been an amusing bit of inside baseball.

Until now.

Today, Craig Westcott posted a lengthy rejoinder to comments by Peter Jackson of the Telegram. In his comments, Westcott makes the following assertion. He readily and properly admits it's just one side of the story, and he can't verify it... but still:

Because of some columns I wrote regarding the premier's handling of the FPI matter and his lowering of the Canadian flag during the Atlantic Accord debate, his press secretary has blacklisted me from having any interviews with Danny Williams. As well, a representative of one of our advertisers told a representative of The Business Post during the OTC oil conference in Houston in May that someone from the premier's office had called his company asking that it pull its advertising in this paper. I never checked the veracity of that claim and cannot vouch for it. But as readers of The Business Post know, there has been a glaring lack of government advertising in the paper.

Wow.

The darkest sides of Joey Smallwood and Maurice Duplessis yet walk the earth.

And as for the incumbent in office? Well.... he is on record as having said:

Mr. Speaker, I respect freedom of the press, and I respect the opinions of any columnist who sees fit to write and express an opinion on anything that we are doing.

If that is the case, and if Westcott's story is true, then surely Mr. Williams will deal appropriately with that "someone from the Premier's office".