Please don’t shut up, Rex Murphy.

Mr. Murphy’s latest column, in which he touches on the ethical questions I and other journalists have been asking about his paid speaking engagements in the private sector, has only made the hole he and the CBC have dug for themselves much, much deeper.

Too busy digging, the CBC and Murphy have missed the billboard-sized point. It’s about disclosure.

At every turn, I’ve encouraged the CBC and Murphy to address the conflict between his paid speaking engagements in the energy sector and the opinions he offers about the oilsands and climate change as a ‘journalist’. Indeed, I have asked the CBC and Murphy to debate the seminal journalistic issues I’ve raised in recent columns in a cogent and substantive manner. Instead, Murphy has resorted – regrettably – to playing the victim card.

He has even employed the canard — promoted by the CBC’s unimaginative PR flaks and The National’s “chief correspondent” — that the ethical questions Murphy and the CBC face are principally the product of “vicious” bloggers and their co-conspirators at the Sierra Club of Canada. And so, the hole gets deeper.

Now, Murphy and the public broadcaster are getting an assist from the least likely of sources: The Toronto Sun.

It’s true. The tabloid’s editorial board has accused me and iPolitics of engineering a “smear” and “conspiracy” against the CBC and Murphy. Stupefying. Still, I’m convinced that Murphy will take solace in the-little paper-that-could rushing, incoherently, to his side.

I’m not sure, however, that Peter Mansbridge or the CBC’s editor in chief, Jennifer McGuire, will return The Sun’s unexpected, if qualified embrace. But you never know — they also appear convinced that enemies abound. Ezra Levant and Brian Lilley may yet offer a hallucinatory headline for these troubled times: Sun Defends CBC.

Now, Murphy and the public broadcaster are getting an assist from the least likely of sources: The Toronto Sun.

I urge Murphy to keep speaking — since he still won’t agree to be interviewed by me and other reporters interested in this issue, despite the fact that he continues to describe himself as a journalist prepared to resist any assault, from any quarter.

And, by all means, I hope he persists in braying against the calumny of a pesky reporter who dares to ask questions. It’s instructive to note that, like Murphy’s allies at the Sun, he didn’t mention those three key words — conflict of interest — in his column.

As readers may recall, at the behest of the CBC, I asked Murphy 19 questions about this conflict and his failure — and the CBC’s failure — to disclose it to its viewers, listeners and readers.

Still, Murphy has confirmed that he was paid for his late November 2013 gig in Lake Louise. How much was he paid? Who covered his hotel, airfare and other expenses? These questions, and others, remain unanswered.

In his column, Murphy also failed to address the CBC’s clear, undeniable double-standard in its treatment of journalists’ freelance duties. Dale Goldhawk, Murphy’s predecessor at Cross Country Check-Up, was told to give up his union presidency over a perceived conflict of interest.

But I suppose Goldhawk is part of the cabal, right? Those scheming, vindictive Sierra Club types who are determined to muzzle Murphy — as if that were remotely possible.

Murphy also doesn’t address why his current CBC “freelance” colleague — On Point panelist Bruce Anderson — was recently required by the CBC’s editorial leadership to disclose his family conflicts of interest while he apparently remains unencumbered by such demands.

In the end, given Murphy’s exculpatory response, the ball is now squarely in the CBC’s court. Ms McGuire has been publicly musing about making changes to disclosure rules governing so-called “freelancers” like Murphy in the near future.

I don’t hold much hope that she or the CBC will act on the idea. I think this is a PR pantomime designed to offer the impression that she’s doing something about the brewing ethical conundrum the CBC faces.

And I’m certain Mr. Murphy already knows this, too.

Andrew Mitrovica is a writer and journalism instructor. For much of his career, Andrew was an investigative reporter for a variety of news organizations and publications including the CBC’s fifth estate, CTV’s W5, CTV National News — where he was the network’s chief investigative producer — the Walrus magazine and the Globe and Mail, where he was a member of the newspaper’s investigative unit. During the course of his 23-year career, Andrew has won numerous national and international awards for his investigative work.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.