A national press watchdog has ruled a small-town Ontario newspaper wrongly implied a local Facebook activist was convicted of a crime when in fact all charges against him were dropped without trial.Blacklock's Reporter says ahe National News Media Council faulted the Manitoulin Expositor over an April 9 story that claimed Bill Concannon of Gore Bay was awaiting sentencing on criminal harassment charges. “Court cases are often sensitive and complex matters that should be handled with appropriate care,” the council wrote. It called the error “significant” and said the paper failed basic standards of accuracy..Concannon, who runs the Facebook page “What’s Doin’ On The Manitoulin” with 6,800 followers, celebrated after prosecutors threw out the charges. “Charges dropped! The truth wins!” he posted online.The Expositor had described him as a persistent critic of Billings Township. He previously clashed with councillors after they filled a seat by drawing names from a hat and was once threatened with arrest for filming a council meeting.The harassment charges came from township employees who said they felt “intimidated” by Concannon’s posts. But the case never made it to court. “The original version of an article incorrectly reported he had been scheduled for sentencing when in fact the allegations made against him had yet been tested,” the Council ruled.
