Bob Mackin has an interesting piece in The Tyee about a newspaper tycoon and BC Liberal abettor. David Black's bluster was about about oil refining but the part of Mackin's story that caught my eye involved one-time Province newspaper publisher Paddy Sherman.
In 1958, Sherman was both a news reporter and an avid mountain man. Apparently, vocation served avocation when he wrote a front page promotion for an unlikely BC ski resort. There was no financing and little substance to the extravagant plan but that didn't bother The Province. Sherman wanted the facility to proceed so they gave it maximum splash.
Mackin provides another newspaper's eventual headline:
"Grandiose Garibaldi Scheme Falls Flat on Its No-Assets."
Some months ago, I tracked the life story of Jumbo Glacier Ski Resort. The proposal has reappeared occasionally since it was first reported in a July 1991 edition of the Vancouver Sun:
"A Japanese-backed company is planning to build a $250-million year-round ski resort on a series of spectacular glaciers west of Panorama..."
In 1993, The Province was calling Jumbo Glacier Resort a certainty involving European and Asian investors. Two years later, newspapers said the project was proceeding with support from a consortium of Canadian, U.S. and European investors. In 2012, the Times Colonist repeated promises the ski hill would soon be operational. NW's Bill Good and others try to paint Jumbo as a victim of regulatory foot dragging but actually Jumbo has been an unfinanced scheme with proponents hoping that media play would attract investors. Shills in the corporate "news" operations are willing partners.
By the way, don't plan your ski vacation at Jumbo just yet.
Media may have people like Bob Mackin aiming to report accurately and sincerely but it has many more who earn a living by shilling for special financial interests. Sometimes, the promoted is a ski hill, fish farming or "ethical oil." Other times, it is a pipeline operator, car dealer, land developer or whatever.
The shill factor in media, especially in new media, is illustrated by
a report in ZDNet.
"A Federal judge overseeing the Oracle vs. Google patent lawsuit said that search giant has failed to comply with a request to document all payments to bloggers and writers covering the trial.
"...U.S. District Judge William Alsup said in his order:
"The August 7 order was not limited to authors “paid . . . to report or comment” or to “quid pro quo” situations. Rather, the order was designed to bring to light authors whose statements about the issues in the case might have been influenced by the receipt of money from Google or Oracle. For example, Oracle has disclosed that it retained a blogger as a consultant. Even though the payment was for consulting work, the payment might have influenced the blogger’s reports on issues in the civil action...
"Google suggests that it has paid so many commenters that it will be impossible to list them all..."
Bob Mackin has an interesting piece in The Tyee about a newspaper tycoon and BC Liberal abettor. David Black's bluster was about about oil refining but the part of Mackin's story that caught my eye involved one-time Province newspaper publisher Paddy Sherman.
Ten days ago, comment writer Lew related his renovation experience, saying,
Harry Reid: Bain Investor Told Me That Mitt Romney 'Didn't Pay Any Taxes For 10 Years', Huffington Post, July 31, 2012
Posts
)
