The new Sun TV “news” Network seems to be lacking credibility from top to bottom.

In Pierre Karl Peladeau’s (PKP) startling April 27 column he mentioned that Patrick Muttart was the Conservative Party operative who tried to feed Sun Media a fake photo of Michael Ignatieff in military fatigues but he didn’t mention that Muttart was also on his/Sun Media’s payroll just a few months ago and continued to give Sun TV ‘expert’ advice, on a pro-bono basis, until last week. Further, PKP’s column, which he has since refused to answer questions on, only dealt with the “fake” photo that a high school newspaper wouldn’t have run. It did not deal with the wildly speculative anti-Ignatieff article that Sun Media did run that was debunked by Ottawa Citizen reporter Glen McGregger and other reports (rabble article and  Canadian Press article). PKP’s commentary was an attempt to prevent “damage” to Sun Media’s as yet unearned “credibility” by saying that “If any proof is needed to dispel the false yet still prevalent notion that Sun Media and the Sun News Network are the official organs of the Conservative Party of Canada, I offer this unfortunate episode as Exhibit A.” If anything, the real and full truth behind this sorry episode — namely that Muttart did work for both the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) and Sun TV “news” at the same time — served to directly prove what he set out to disprove: that Sun TV indeed seems to simply be an organ of the CPC.

Late Friday night Sun TV “news” host Krista Erickson interrupted regular Sun programming to bring viewers a special Sun TV “exclusive” story alleging that Jack Layton had received an extra special massage sixteen years ago.  During this broadcast Sun TV flashed (small and illegible) “police notes” on the screen provided by an anonymous source, which was said to be a retired police officer. As the basis for this anti-Layton story is a unnamed, single source, Sun TV might have felt that flashing small and unreadable images of the alleged “police notes” on the screen would lend the story some much needed credibility. I and others have asked Sun Media to post the “police notes” online but Sun Media, and the reporter who “broke” the story, Sam Pazzano, have not responded. It is as if Sun Media is acting like an amateur magician playing a parlour game, or a shell game. Now you see it, now you don’t — the “police notes” that is. Sun Media offers selective quotes from these “police notes,” and seems to be attempting to mislead the court of public opinion into treating these “police notes” (which we haven’t seen) as “bullet-proof” evidence, even though any court of law would not do so even if they were actual police notes (and don’t forget no charges were ever laid against Layton). Do they simply expect the public to just trust Sun TV’s interpretation of these “police notes” as the only valid one? Sun Media should post these “police notes” or stop running the story.

Sun TV likes to ask hard questions of others (except Stephen Harper or members of his team). Now it’s their turn to be asked hard questions. And if they answer, it will not be enough if they answer with more parlour tricks.