Canwest buys into 2010: Everything's fine
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 by David Eby
Canwest, the owner of the only two daily Vancouver newspapers, the Sun and the Province, has announced that it is the "Official Newspaper Chain of the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Games."
This must rankle the Globe and Mail, who probably figured that because Bell Globemedia, their parent company, paid $200m to VANOC and the IOC, that they were the official newspaper, and best placed to reassure taxpayers that they aren't getting screwed.
The official result, however, is bad news for journalistic independence in Vancouver around the Games, with all Vancouver newspapers in some form of official business relationship with VANOC. While the Sun and Province's coverage of Olympic issues hasn't been great, it hasn't been bad either. The Globe and Mail's Olympic coverage has been stank, see here and here.
I don't look forward to articles like "IOC praises VANOC's social conscience" on the cover of the Sun or the Province, but expect that's where we're headed. Huge drag. That leaves 24, whose coverage has been great, but who limit their stories to 100 words, and Metro, whose coverage has been ok, but has the same space limitation.
Everybody over to the Tyee!
This must rankle the Globe and Mail, who probably figured that because Bell Globemedia, their parent company, paid $200m to VANOC and the IOC, that they were the official newspaper, and best placed to reassure taxpayers that they aren't getting screwed.
The official result, however, is bad news for journalistic independence in Vancouver around the Games, with all Vancouver newspapers in some form of official business relationship with VANOC. While the Sun and Province's coverage of Olympic issues hasn't been great, it hasn't been bad either. The Globe and Mail's Olympic coverage has been stank, see here and here.
I don't look forward to articles like "IOC praises VANOC's social conscience" on the cover of the Sun or the Province, but expect that's where we're headed. Huge drag. That leaves 24, whose coverage has been great, but who limit their stories to 100 words, and Metro, whose coverage has been ok, but has the same space limitation.
Everybody over to the Tyee!
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They write about his oligopoly like it is something new or like they never saw it coming.
I've been writing about this unethical marriage for years in both my blog and book, and a number of times have illustrated to my readers how biased Jeff Lee's reporting at the Vancouver Sun is respective of the 2010 Olympics. He often reports primarily the Olympics side of the Olympic story and leaves out information that is critical for citizens in a host region. He is so intimidated by my writing that he has permanently banned me from posting on his blog.
In 2006, based partially on his biased reporting of the 2010 Olympics,
I published in my book, www.LeverageOlympicMomentum.com
that the Vancouver Sun would eventually become the official Olympics newspaper booster. In mid 2007 they tried to broker a deal with a number of other publishers, and according to recent reports it fell through, but you would have never known it according to a story The Sun published in July of 2007. According to them at the time it was a done deal. Now, finally, in April of 2008 they admit that VANOC inked a deal directly with the Sun.
Don't let them fool you into thinking this is something new or innovative. It is not. It happens in almost all Olympics regions, and it causes huge problems. So much so that in Sydney Australia in 2000, the government had to step in twice to force their official Olympics newspaper boosters to report information fairly. They were actually charged with defrauding the public regarding an Olympics ticketing scam. I noticed in the recent Sun announcement that they too will be integral in managing the ticketing system.
If you'd like to learn exactly why this marriage is so dangerous to our community check out www.OlyBLOG.com.
One of the most detailed articles can be found by scrolling down the left hand column under the
2007 Articles
entitled;
Official Paid Booster
Newspaper Out of Closet
Actually David, I doubt very much that it rankles the Globe and Mail at all.
You can't put a paper the quality of the Globe and Mail in the same category as The Sun or Province. Two very different animals respective of ethical journalism.
At one point they might have considered becoming an official sponsor, but I'm sure that when they took a look at how they would be expected to cater to Olympic whim, that they gracefully bowed out. I covered this point at length in my book and blog, and initially placed them in the running too, but after careful consideration changed my mind. I just can't see them stooping that low.
Even though all newspapers are struggling economically, I don't think The G&M is desperate enough to risk the downside. Reputation for the Globe and Mail is of primary importance when you consider how revered they are in the financial sector. I was at a news media seminar at SFU a couple of years ago and someone in the audience stated during question period, and in a room peppered with local journalists, that The Vancouver Sun was the worst newspaper in the country, and surprisingly, not one person stood up to defend the paper. I'm sure if they would have said the same of the Globe and Mail the walls would have come down. There were about 300 people in the room.
One of the challenging aspects of becoming a paid Olympics booster is that The Sun now has a legal obligation to protect the reputation of the Olympics brand. It has been part of the deal the IOC has forced other newspapers in this position to agree to in writing, and I see no reason why they would let The Sun off the hook, nor have I seen any indication from The Sun that they were released from this duty. I'm sure if they were able to wiggle out of this obligation they would be singing it to high heaven, but I haven't heard a squeak from them in this regard. Read their announcement very carefully and you'll see there is no reference to legal obligations from a corporate perspective.
More importantly, NO ONE in the CanWest camp has used the phrase report in a timely manner. This is a big deal, because public perception can be easily swayed when you hold back information until a time that you feel it will have less impact to generate negative feedback regarding Olympics announcements. Timing is very important. Just imagine the difference in public perception today if The Vancouver Sun had ran the series of homeless articles they ran last week, but instead did it three years ago when it would have made a difference. What were they waiting for? Many of the "Letters to the Editor" today (04/28/08) in The Sun were actually complaining that the homeless are a bunch of lazy bums. Whose fault is it for that prejudiced perception? It can't be you or I David, because we've been complaining about it for years. NOW? the Sun decides to get in the game? Thanks in part to The Sun, Vancouverites are misinformed, and it's a little late now to try and straighten folks out. Social compassion and understanding take time, and unfortunately, time has run out in this respect.
Telling half truths is the same as lying, and holding back information and revealing it when it serves VANOC or the IOC is also lying, but it happens all the time here respective of news reporting regarding 2010. Ethical journalism does not assign a timeline on information. When you learn about it, you have an ethical obligation to report it. Not look the other way. When a member of VANOC tells a half truth, or hides information, is evasive or just out and out lies, a journalist has an ethical responsibility to challenge the statement, and not look the other way or release it when it serves their, or their partner's economic position.
I would love to see the agreement The Sun signed with VANOC. We tried last year to use the FOI act to deliver the first one to us, but they refused to even do a search saying it does not qualify as public access information because the IOC is protected and CanWest is a private company. Considering you're a lawyer, maybe you know how to get a copy? I'll pay for it.
Maybe Jeff Lee can sneak us a copy, but you'll have to ask because he won't even talk to me anymore, however, Kirk LaPointe does have a blog and maybe if enough people went to it and asked him, he might cough it up. It's like a ghost town over there so it's not like he's busy - www.TheMediaManager.com
It's hard to believe, but this morning, Friday, May 2, 2008, according to a report by Jeff Lee in the Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail also became an official Olympics booster and partner with VANOC.
So much for their respect as non partisan news communicators.
Now that they are on the payroll there isn't anyone let to trust in the country, but yourself and good old common sense.