Monday, May 10, 2010

RE: Victoria Times Colonist's incorrect reporting on Saturday's wild salmon migration


To: Victoria Times Colonist

Dear editor,

The statement in the Times Colonist’s columns that “nearly 1,000 people crowded Government Street on Saturday” to support Alexandra Morton’s wild salmon migration is outrageous.

I have seen first hand that between half and three quarters of the Legislature’s lawn was packed solid with people. This amounts to at least 4,000 to 5,000 people. The Globe and Mail agrees with my assessment.

By printing such incorrect statements in your columns, your paper is tampering – whether intentionally or not, I leave that to you – with the democratic process.

It also contributes to ruining the Times Colonist’s long-term reputation as a trustworthy source of information. Let me explain you why.

4,000 to 5,000 thousand people can directly attest that you got your numbers wrong. Those people are angry at you right now, because they feel at a personal level that their efforts to show up on Saturday to support Ms. Morton’s cause have not been recognized.

They are now talking or writing to perhaps 10 other people about their sentiment of frustration. [I, for example, am posting this letter on my Facebook which has 150 friends].

That’s 40,000 to 50,000 people who have heard first-hand from a source which they trust that the Times Colonist has either lied, or does not know how to report a story. They, in turn, will tell other people what they have heard from someone they know.

Also, tens of thousands of other people will have read both your report and that of the Globe and Mail, and will be left wondering why there is such a blatant difference in your two papers’ assessments of the numbers.

Finally, as we speak, tens of thousands of people are reading, hearing, or watching on the Internet reports from independent media and blogs about Saturday’s event which all confirm that several thousands of people – not “nearly 1,000” – were standing on that lawn on Saturday.

Perhaps you don’t realize that the format of media has changed. People (this may come as a shock to you) don’t need to rely on the Times Colonist for their news as much as they did a decade or two ago. For one thing, they can now cross-reference any of your statements.

By allowing such sub-standard reporting to seep into your columns, you are accelerating the decline of your industry. A correction in tomorrow morning’s edition of the Times Colonist may be a first step in restoring your paper’s compromised reputation.

Yours truly,

Ivan Doumenc
Vancouver

(PS: I realize that my letter is over 200 words, but I don’t expect you to publish it either. Consider it "for your internal use" only.)

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4 comments:

  1. hell ya! thank you ivan. im sick of newspapers and bias information. do your jobs and do them right!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a blatant contravention of the BC Press Council's Code of Practice, made up of important, common sense 'rules of play' to keep press accountable and objective.

    1. ACCURACY

    A newspaper's first duty is to provide the public with accurate information.
    Newspapers should correct inaccuracies promptly.

    5. MISREPRESENTATION

    Newspapers and journalists should use straightforward means to obtain information and photographs. The use of subterfuge is only acceptable when the material sought after is in the public interest and can not be obtained by any other means.

    among other clauses. See them all at http://www.bcpresscouncil.org/code.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. That’s 40,000 to 50,000 people who have heard first-hand from a source which they trust that the Times Colonist has either lied, sofa covers near me , velvet bedsheet king size , or does not know how to report a story. They, in turn, will tell other people what they have heard from someone they know.

    ReplyDelete