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Depending on the market, reporters, broadcasters, photojournalists and other travelling media members sometimes fly on team charters, which can be more timely and convenient than commercial flights. The Citizen, like most outlets, pays employee transportation costs when charters are used.

In an email, a team spokesman said the Senators were not available for comment. Warren declined comment Friday afternoon, referring questions to Richardson.

“He’s still going to make it for the game,” Richardson said from Ottawa. “Just a little bit of a delay.”

Earlier this week, the newspaper flatly rejected a legal notice from the NHL team, saying a video shot surreptitiously by an Uber driver was circulating on social media when the paper decided to report on it.

In the video, seven players can be seen ridiculing Senators assistant coach Martin Raymond and scornfully discussing the team’s penalty-killing performance. The video was shot without the players’ knowledge by the driver of the Uber vehicle they were riding in while on the road in Phoenix.

The players later apologized for their remarks.

The video shared by the Citizen also appeared on websites of other publications owned by Postmedia Network Inc., the paper’s parent company.

“We’re committed to being fair and accurate,” Richardson said. “We’re committed to giving everybody a chance to respond and to being really impartial in our coverage. Our duty is to report on the facts as we know them and that doesn’t change.”