Josh Morrow is used to taking some heat.

The 33-year-old Prince Albert mayoral candidate has been the topic of editorials in the city’s paper for weeks, but now he says two freelance writers who worked on his website have gone too far.

“I’m concerned about the misconceptions irresponsible journalism can create,” Morrow said Thursday.

Morrow claims he hired a freelance journalist who writes for The Prince Albert Daily Herald to edit material on his website, and that he did not know, but she had brought in a co-worker to help.

The freelancers wanted $500, which Morrow believed was too much for the work, and he offered to pay $250. Payment terms had not been worked out in advance.

He says the disagreement over the bill eventually led to an email from one of the writers suggesting that Morrow had a choice: pay and the writers will publish a positive editorial, or don’t pay and the writers will publish a negative column.

“Pay us before midnight tonight (at least in part, via e-transfer) or suffer the potential consequences,” part of the email reads. “You have messed with the wrong freelancers.”

One potential column shed a positive light on Morrow’s campaign, but the other called him a “clown,” a “bozo,” and referred to his plans for the city as “laughable.”

He held a press conference Thursday to discuss the matter.

“I don’t think anybody, whether running for council, or mayor, or anything else, should be given the ultimatums I was given in that write up,” Morrow said.

The Daily Herald’s managing editor, Tyler Clarke, says he doesn't think there is a clearly defined threat being made and notes nothing was published in the paper.

“If there were a threat being made here, we certainly didn’t follow up on it. If you’ll notice, we never wrote anything about this. We’ve completely avoided this issue in our coverage,” he said.

Clarke admits the paper has been critical of Morrow's campaign, but says the coverage has been fair and balanced.

But Morrow says he wants to see the writers held accountable.

“Stuff like this sure doesn’t encourage anyone to get involved with the political process. That’s a big concern of mine,” he said. “This stuff really should be held accountable.”

In an effort to solve the situation, Morrow says he paid the freelancer $250 and made a matching contribution to a charity of her choice.

CTV News reached out to the writers, who declined comment.

Morrow says he’s made a complaint to police. His lawyer says the outcome of a police investigation will determine what next steps they take.

--- based on a report from CTV Prince Albert’s Rebekah Lesko