On cover-ups

Rob Wipond follows up on the Victoria Times-Colonist's firing of a reporter, Vivian Smith, who dared to encourage readers to enjoy free entertainment rather than patronizing the newspaper's advertisers. While Smith is now back with the paper, that seems to be based purely on public outcry which went beyond the reach of the paper, rather than any internal commitment to providing thorough information to readers:

Features writer Janis Ringuette and University of Victoria writing professor and regular columnist Lynne van Luven quit the Times-Colonist in protest. Then the Canadian Association of Journalists started probing, and issued a formal complaint.

When B.C. newsweekly Monday Magazine and online magazine The Tyee also started asking questions, CanWest Global vice-president David Asper stepped in and reassured everyone the company “vigilantly” protected “unencumbered” journalism in their media empire. CanWest Global president Dennis Skulsky ordered Smith's re-hiring and issued a statement saying, “We value the editorial independence of each our news outlets and under no circumstances should advertising influence the content of newspapers.”

McKenzie then assured his T-C staff in an email that “we do not allow advertisers to influence the content of this newspaper”, and admitted his “error in judgment” in firing Smith. Both van Luven and Ringuette were also invited back; all of them with promises their writings would only be constrained by whether they were newsworthy and “fair and accurate.” ...

(S)o far no CanWest Global media outlets, let alone the T-C itself, have yet covered the events or even included comments about them in opinion-editorials. Meanwhile, front-page T-C stories over the last several weeks have included a gushing welcome to a visiting U.S. battleship's sailor-tourists, extensive glowing coverage of Victoria's “Symphony Splash” tourist attraction, and a damning attack on panhandlers for hurting tourism.

But the Smith story was a natural choice for van Luven. Her commentaries for the T-C have regularly explored social and economic issues surrounding Canadian books, media and writers. Van Luven also felt it was crucial that loyal T-C readers, the people for whom the events were most relevant, should hear about them.

“I think it's important for T-C readers because they need to have a sense that they're being respected as readers, and that if there is a controversy, if it's in the paper's management of news and public affairs, that they know about it,” she explained to rabble.

But editor-in-chief Lucinda Chodan said she would not be allowed to discuss the story in her column. And much like in the Smith firing, Chodan uncharacteristically did not provide any reasonable editorial reasons...

So why is the T-C resolutely refusing to let its journalists cover or discuss the story?

Chodan notably did not take the opportunity to suggest to rabble that there were any legitimate concerns about newsworthiness, reader interest, editorial space or fairness and accuracy involved in the decision. “I have no comment,” she said. “It's an internal matter.”

It shouldn't be too much surprise to see CanWest apparently prioritizing advertiser relations over either the reporting of real news, or general principles of journalistic integrity. But as noted by Wipond, the bigger question is the degree to which similar policies have spread throughout the CanWest chains - and what important stories might be under wraps for similarly arbitrary reasons. And unfortunately, there's no way for the public to find out just what its large media outlets are trying to suppress for their own gain.