I think this picture perfectly sums up the kind of reporting of City Hall affairs that the local media is engaging in these days.
Returning to town in the midst of pack journalism enamoured by anonymous sources, innuendo and little to no facts has made me take a moment to think about the state of civic political media coverage in Vancouver.
For many years, Vancouver became used to what was once thought of as the city’s natural governing party, an entity that to this day remains fiercely proud of their “non-partisan” label and the fact that there are no policies or ideas that define those that choose to run under the party banner.
Contrast this with Vision Vancouver, which no matter how one interprets them, came to office set to implement a very specific set of ideas and objectives.
They wanted to create a branding/marketing strategy for the City of Vancouver. They wanted to make Vancouver the greenest jurisdiction in the world. They wanted to create a biking infrastructure to allow for more cycling. They wanted to attract international investment into the city. They wanted to eliminated street homelessness. They wanted to create more affordable housing options.
Now, whether you support these policies, or you vehemently disagree with them, they were made very clear by the Mayor and the Council from the day that they took office; there were no surprises.
So why in an era where a Council is aggressively implementing these various initiatives, and where there are real debates and differences of opinion on the merit of these policy directions, has the media now become consumed with this little blog and those that see things a little differently than me?
