CALGARY — A columnist who penned an article about Arthur Kent during the 2008 Alberta provincial election says he held no ill will toward the former journalist who was running for office.
Don Martin has told a defamation trial that he knew very little about Kent when he heard of problems erupting during Kent's campaign to win a seat in the Alberta legislature for the Progressive Conservatives.
Kent, who became known as the Scud Stud for his Gulf War reporting on U.S. television, is suing Martin, the National Post and Postmedia over the article, which was headlined "'Scud Stud' a 'Dud' on the Election Trail."
The column portrayed Kent as an egocentric celebrity candidate who had thrown his own campaign off the rails by speaking out against his party and its leader.
Martin was taken line by line through his article and asked where he received his information.
He said some of it came from Google, other parts came from articles written by other reporters and he used emails from campaign staff and party insiders.