TTUESDAY UESDAYY
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK Tuesday, July 23, 2013 X Volume 26 No. 58 Tu www.kamloopsthisweek.com
KGHM looking to build trust with hires, expert says
COMMUNICATION
BREAKDOWN
By Andrea Klassen STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
Will transparency suffer r when RCMP goes digital? By Tim Petruk STAFF REPORTER tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
T
HERE IS A VERY real possibility the local news you read and hear and watch in Kamloops will have a different feel in 2014 than it does today. That’s because the Kamloops RCMP is about to begin the process of switching over to a digital encrypted radio system — meaning reporters and local scanner nerds will no longer be able to listen in on the men and women keeping the Tournament Capital’s streets safe. It’s part of a cross-Canada move by the RCMP to digital encryption, and Kamloops radios are expected to be converted within seven months. In Kelowna, the switch was made on April 30. “I’m sure they [reporters] are bummed,” Kelowna RCMP Const. Steve Holmes told KTW. “Now they don’t have that instant idea of what’s going on. “From a practical perspective, I get a lot less phone calls now. It used to be if the media heard something on the scanner they were all phoning.” Scanners used to be rare and prohibitively expensive — something you’d only see in the hands of reporters and technologically inclined civilians.
‘‘ ” I can’t say it’s helped the public orr ou our th he pu p b ic o bl ur newsroom terms news ne wsro room ro o in te om term rrm ms of getting gett ge tttin ing g information. in nfo f rm mattion. ion io
— Carla Ammerata, Amme m rataa, Hamilton Hami Ha miltlton Spectator
Now, with the proliferationn of smartphone apps and websites bsites streaming scanners from m across North America, everyone eryone with an iPhone or a computer mputer — crooks included — is a few clicks away from listening tening in on police. police Holmes made the argument encrypted radios mean bad guys can’t track police actions, but Mounties — including those in Kamloops — have had separate encrypted channels at their disposal for years. Locally, RCMP use their encrypted radio channel for tactical situations like standoffs and hostage-takings, and in the execution of drug warrants and undercover operations. In some communities where municipal police services have moved to encrypted radios, there were consultations with media beforehand and even changes made in some cases to try to keep reporters — and, through them, the public — in the loop. That’s not the case with the RCMP.
In Ham Hamilton, mil i toon, ilto n Ont., muni municipal ici c pal cipa paal police switc switched ched to encrypted radios earlier r earlie e er this year af after fter a series of meetings bbetween etween law enforcement media enforcemennt and medi iaa outlets. outlets Hamilton Spectatorr city editor Carla Ammerataa said the move has changed the way crime is covered. “It absolutely has ch changed hanged things for us,” she said. d d. “In fact, it’s changed e the ed atmosphere in the newsroom. wsroom sroom. We still actually have the equipment on our desks, ks, but they’re more doorstopss now. “It’s also changed the way we obtain information from police. I can’t say it’s helped the public or our newsroom in terms of getting information.” Hamilton police set up a secure web portal for “mainstream media,” Ammerata said, to keep reporters up-to-date on police activities. But, it’s not all that useful. “I can probably think of a handful of times when there has been useful information
for us to glean [from the portal],” Ammerata said. “The information is just not there. there In fact, fact we’ve we ve developed a reliance on social media and relying on Twitter accounts.” In Fort Collins, Colo., police switched to encrypted radio earlier this year — but not before striking a unique deal with the local newspaper. “The agreement we struck was they would lend us a radio for a nominal fee and we would be responsible stewards of that,” said Josh Awtry, executive editor of The Coloradoan newspaper. X See ‘MEASURE’ A2
A business expert says two high-profile hirings by KGHM Ajax likely will make the company appear more trustworthy to the community. In addition to former RCMP Supt. Yves Lacasse, the company behind the controversial proposed copper and gold mine has hired Kamloops Daily News editor Robert Koopmans as a senior communications strategist. Deborah Lawton, chair of marketing, international business and entrepreneurship at Thompson Rivers University’s School of Business and Economics, said hiring some of Kamloops’ big names could pay off for the company. She said trust Koopmans and Lacasse have earned in their former roles could rub off on KGHM. “Whether consumers will sit back and think ‘are they really trying to con me?’ is questionable,” she said. But, while she thinks some people will question a company’s decision to hire big names, Lawton said most won’t. “People, I just think it kind of rubs off,” she said. “I don’t think they really analyze it
that much.” For some mine opponents, however, the KGHM’s newest hire was already a source of some controversy. Donna Sambolec, who is a member of the mine-opposing Kamloops Area Preservation Society — but was not speaking on behalf of the group — said she has detected a pro-mine approach to the Daily News reporting. “Anything opposing KGHM has been buried in the back pages,” she said. The bigger question, she said, is whether a prominent hire has the right kind of credibility for a company’s target market — in this case, the citizens of Kamloops. “If I’m Huggies diapers, for example, I’m not going to hire an old man as my spokesperson,” she said. “You want someone who is a mother.” Koopmans did not return KTW’s calls for comment at his Daily News office. By midday on Monday his outgoing voicemail message had been changed to say he had left the paper. City editor Tracy Gilchrist, who the message directed callers to phone, was not able to comment on Koopmans’ departure. X See CALLS A5
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