Sandra Buckler's advice on dealing with media

The Globe's Jane Taber reports on a lecture Sandra Buckler (pictured), Harper's former communications director, gave to conservative-minded municipal candidates in Toronto:

"For me, if you have a bad story on the front page of the Globe and Mail, it’s a bad day for you,`` she replied. ``If you have a bad blog about you, it’s probably not so bad if you can deal with the blog right away. But if the story is already printed on the front page of the Globe, now you are in a defensive, reactive, totally fighting rear guard, not happy, off message program. So I think social media is here to stay, yes, but I think print, TV, radio are not going anywhere and soon we will have a new TV station in Canada called Sun Media, so there’s hope yet. . . .`` Buckler is quoted as saying.

"For the most part, she advised the aspiring politicians to treat reporters professionally," Taber reported.

"And she reminded them to always be on guard. “It’s very important,`` she said, ``that even when you’re out shopping, or you’re at an event, you’re always on, people always listen to you, they may be tape recording you, they may be videoing you,” Taber wrote.