Postmedia paid by UBC to let them write opinion pieces

[Argus]

The problem is the Vancouver Sun and the Province didn't identify them as paid content. And I'm wondering if other media are doing the same. There have been a number of opinion pieces in the Globe and Mail lately, for example, that I and others have found baffling. Tons of comments to the effect of "What is this doing in a national paper?" and similar.

Opinion pieces carrying bylines of senior officials at the University of British Columbia have been featured prominently in the print and online platforms of the Vancouver Sun this fall. There have been four op-eds in the newspaper in September about either UBC’s Covid response or, in one instance, the university’s new Indigenous Strategic Plan. Each has been identified simply as “opinion.”

What was not disclosed to readers was that the op-eds were published as part of an arrangement in which UBC agreed to purchase between $10,000 to $15,000 in advertising from Postmedia Inc., which owns the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers.

The arrangement also covered the placement of “news content” and seems to have resulted in the reporting of at least one positive news story about UBC, which also ran with no disclosure.

A UBC document obtained by Canadaland outlines the terms of the “Media Partnership Strategy — Back to School 2020” between the university and Postmedia. In addition to the op-eds, a news report about the benefits of online education, published on September 2 in both the Sun and Province, fits with the topic and date suggested in the UBC document.

Under the heading “UBC expectations,” the document described “five op-eds placed and three stories produced and published in Vancouver Sun/Province during the first two weeks of September.”

https://www.canadaland.com/vancouver-papers-sold-news-coverage-to-ubc-documents-reveal/

[Michael Hardner]

That's over the line.  Paid content must be identified or there's no integrity.  It figures that someone squealed to Canadaland.

 

That's why I support them financially.

[Moonlight Graham]

We would be very naive to think puff pieces like this haven't existed for awhile.  No reason buying ads in a paper or magazine can't come with other "entitlements".

[Michael Hardner]

6 hours ago, Moonlight Graham said:

We would be very naive to think puff pieces like this haven't existed for awhile.  No reason buying ads in a paper or magazine can't come with other "entitlements".

Of course, but others have pointed out the degradation of the free press is happening in drips and droplets.  That's no reason to say "oh well".... there used to be news bureaus in foreign cities, comprehensive local coverage etc.  The Post Millennial, The Rebel and North 99 do not fill this void adequately.

[Moonlight Graham]

10 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

Of course, but others have pointed out the degradation of the free press is happening in drips and droplets.  That's no reason to say "oh well".... there used to be news bureaus in foreign cities, comprehensive local coverage etc.  The Post Millennial, The Rebel and North 99 do not fill this void adequately.

Postmedia owns more Canadian news publications than anyone as far as I can tell.  And they're taking bribes for op-ed space.  This is extremely problematic and should be illegal.

Postmedia is 66% owned by a US media conglomerate.  This should be illegal.  They don't care about our democracy.

Where is the competition bureau when Postmedia owns both the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun, the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun etc?  There's no other city newspapers in these cities.  Plus they own the National Post, and Global News.  If they owned the Globe and Mail what other newspapers could anyone receive in cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa besides a Postmedia paper?

[Michael Hardner]

1 hour ago, Moonlight Graham said:

 This is extremely problematic and should be illegal.

Postmedia is 66% owned by a US media conglomerate.  This should be illegal.  They don't care about our democracy.

Where is the competition bureau when Postmedia owns both the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun, the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun etc?  There's no other city newspapers in these cities.  Plus they own the National Post, and Global News.  If they owned the Globe and Mail what other newspapers could anyone receive in cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa besides a Postmedia paper?

All of your points are valid and concerning.