Wednesday evening's GlobalTV broadcast on "Vancouver's Embattled Mayor"
Is there or isn’t there a Vision Vancouver media hit list? That’s the question everyone has been asking at Vancouver City Hall this week as various media types are trying to track down whether a list of non-Vision friendly media exists or not. Blogger Alex G. Tsakumis first revealed the “media hit list” which is a compilation of about 15 media types who are apparently unfriendly to the current Vision administration. In other words, they don't just take the Mayor's news releases and report them verbatim. Can you believe this group actually has the temerity to question the material they've been given by the Mayor's office?
Although I can’t personally verify the validity of the "Top 15" hit list, I can tell you I laughed so hard when I first read about it that I almost keeled over. As was reported by Bob Mackin in 24 Hours newspaper on Wednesday morning, yours truly made it to the number three position (I'm told that I didn't rank higher on the list because I've written negative stories about the NPA, a political party I used to belong to). I eked out a bronze medal performance by coming just slightly ahead of crack GlobalTV reporter Marisa Thomas. My colleague and 24 Hours columnist Mike Klassen was ranked number one with radio talk show host Christy Clark in the #6 spot and the Vancouver Sun's Jeff Lee pegged at #9.
Am I proud of the fact that I apparently made it on the Top 15 list of vocal critics of the current Vision Vancouver administration? You bet I am. Over the last two years our columnists have written critical comments and analysis about hundreds of councillors, mayors and cities regarding a myriad of silly or short-sided policy decisions. Dozens of our stories were eventually picked up and reported on by our colleagues in the mainstream media.
Since 2008, it’s been our unique and focused coverage of civic governments which has resulted in a respectible 3.68 million page views so far this year. CityCaucus.com has clearly hit home with tens of thousands of people interested in city politics and urban issues. What else could explain why we have almost 2000 Twitter followers and over 1300 on Facebook. Did I mention our little blog has just over 1000 people who receive our daily email newsletter then forward it on to thousands of their family and friends?
While Vision may not like our take on the machinations at City Hall, clearly we have attracted a loyal and significant group of readers who want us keep moving forward with the blog. That's why our team can assure you that whether a hit list exists or not, it will have no effect on the frequency and tone of the coverage on CityCaucus.com. No matter what type of smear and intimidation tactics are thrown our way, we intend on forging ahead with a product that has clearly caught the public's imagination.
