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Well that era has passed, as eras do. The old rules don’t apply well on Twitter, nor online. Pixels are too cheap, and so much more white space finds itself in need of filling. And, perhaps, we’re all better for it. Because now it is so much easier to point out that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s increasingly bizarre and petty attempts at message discipline have gone beyond all sense and reason.

This government has used our old Gentlemen’s Codes against us, to effectively shield itself from public accountability.

This habit was on full display here in Calgary this week. This is his home town, mind. We’re months away from an election and Harper is ostensibly campaigning not just to maintain his mandate as prime minister — he’s also trying to keep the confidence of the people of Calgary Southwest.

Yet, when he rolls through town, we get this:

Staffers from Canadian PM Harper’s office instruct media not to record audio from photo op with Premier Notley. 1/2 #cdnpoli — Mike De Souza (@mikedesouza) July 6, 2015

Staffers from Cdn PM Harper’s office instruct reporters not to take cellphone pics of photo op with Premier Notley #cdnpoli #abpoli — Mike De Souza (@mikedesouza) July 6, 2015

Despite getting credentials, eight print reporters told they can’t take photos of PM Harper and Notley because iPhones don’t count. — Justin Giovannetti (@justinCgio) July 6, 2015

And then reversals like this:

Waited for a half hour before being told by PMO staff that earlier instructions phones are considered a tool of journalism was reversed. — Justin Giovannetti (@justinCgio) July 6, 2015

Which highlighted problems like this:

The photo-op kerfuffle yesterday wasn’t a big deal What is a problem is that the PM was in #yyc for six days – no questions allowed. — James Wood (@JamesWoodHerald) July 7, 2015

The latest (in which reporters were not allowed to so much as witness a photo op with an iPhone or notebook in hand, and were then shuttled away from the Prime Minister) is no surprise for the press corps in Ottawa.

I don’t mean to be too predictable with my complaint: Every leader has the right to decide his own media strategy. If Harper’s team finds value in picking fights over cellphone pictures — if playing that card appeals to an electoral base that sees the media as some kind of monolith of centralized cultural power and corrosive progressivism, well heck.