A Moose Jaw Times-Herald reporter has resigned over her article being killed by the paper. It alleged that Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski called a woman an “NDP whore,” but he claims he used the word “horde” instead.
Mickey Djuric said she wanted to write a story about a video she took at a rally, but after assuring her the piece will be published, the Times-Herald staff changed their mind.
Djuric said she knew she was going to resign as soon as she was told the story will never see light of day. Djuric originally pitched it Thursday and said her higher-ups had no problem with the idea. But when she came in on Tuesday to file it, plans have already changed.
At first she was told the story was pushed back to avoid getting lost in the coverage of Brad Wall’s refugee announcement, but then it was killed altogether.
“I told him the public has a right to know that this video exists, let the public be the jury on this matter,” Drujic said in a phone interview. “We all heard in our newsroom that he said, ‘NDP whore.’ There were 30 people who listened to it and we all heard the same thing. I told him that if we felt uncomfortable about being sued, if we appoached it in the right way we wouldn’t be liable.”
We were unable to get comment from the managing editor of the Times-Herald, but CANADALAND has obtained an email outlining reasoning for the decision.
“I kind of knew in that moment that my ethics and morals as a journalist were asked to be compromised and I didn’t want to be part of that,” she said.
She came in early this morning to clean her desk and get everything ready for her resignation. She told Managing Editor Craig Slater that she is quitting, effective immediately. “And he was like, ‘Wow, ok’ and that was it,” she says. You can read the resignation letter in its entirety on Djuric’s website.
When the video was taken Tom Lukiwski, who has made homophobic comments previously, was speaking in support Greg Lawrence of the Saskatchewan Party. Lukiwski told Djuric he said “horde” not “whore.”
CANADALAND has reached out for comment to both Tom Lukiwski and Craig Slater. The phone calls and emails were not returned as of time of publication.
