On Non-Partisanship and Anonymity in the Internet Era

by Nick Charney

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By now you ­ – if you are a federal public servant – you are likely familiar with the (infamous?) ‘Harperman’ YouTube video.  If you aren't, feel free to read any of the following (and I'm sure I missed some):

Ottawa Citizen

• Folksinger to folk hero: 'Harperman' makes PS an election issue
• Union says suspended 'Harperman' scientist has same charter rights as all Canadians
• Letters: Three views on political protest song Harperman
• Ottawa vs. Springfield. When life imitates The Simpsons

National Post

• ‘Harperman’ protest song singer could make role of an impartial civil service into an election issue

Macleans

• Newsmaker: Tony Turner, the scientist turned ‘Harperman’ star 

Globe and Mail

• ‘Harperman’ singer investigated for alleged conflict of interest

CBC

• Harperman case: Can public servants be political activists?
• Donald Savoie: Duffy trial reveals how public service 'lost its way' (mentions the issue at the end of the interview)

The issue was top of mind for a few days (in Ottawa at least); the view counter on the video went from about 40k to over 500k views on the back of mainstream media attention and sharing via social media, a website was stood up, and a crowdfunding campaign launched.

Now, I don't plan on wading into dangerous waters on this one but I did want to table a couple of issues that I think are worth thinking about:

• This isn't actually all that newsworthy, especially to those outside the Ottawa bubble; blame journalism's broken business model that rewards emotive, sensationalistic reporting and our propensity for scandal.
• The attention brought on by the investigation made this more of a story than it should have been; blame the Streisand effect.
• None of this would be possible without the Internet; blame Vint Cerf.

Basically - the web is acting as a solvent to some of Westminster's oldest conventions (in this case non-partisanship and anonymity). All that said, Daniel Blouin posted a series of Tweets about the issue from his own perspective, I've assembled them in a storify that I've embedded below. It's worth reading.