Pubdate: Thu, 08 Feb 2001
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  1574 W. 6th Ave, Vancouver BC V6J 1R2
Fax: (604) 731-1474
Website: http://www.vancourier.com/
Author: Allen Garr

MAYOR BASKS IN THE SUN'S SHINE

A fifth pillar has been added to Mayor Philip Owen's Four Pillar approach 
to drug problems in Vancouver. We already have the original ones: 
prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction.

Each supports the others, we are assured, in a much-needed synchronicity 
that guarantees success. The new pillar on the block is the Vancouver Sun, 
its editor Neil Reynolds and his uncommon support for the other four 
pillars. I should say at the outset that I'm a big fan of what the mayor is 
up to on this issue.

I'm not certain it will work, but obviously the War on Drugs is 
destructive, costly and ineffective. I should also say that you expect an 
opinion from me, not just the facts. What you expect from the news pages of 
the Vancouver Sun is something more balanced than what you might find in an 
editorial column, and I'm not sure that's what you're getting. In fact, 
there is growing evidence that the Sun's relationship to this issue is 
mutually beneficial. Several months ago, the paper launched a high-profile 
12-part series on the city's drug problem and possible solutions. The 
effort was trumpeted by the Sun as the most significant journalistic 
venture ever undertaken. It's no secret the paper expects the series will 
win it a national award. Inquiring reporters were sent around the globe and 
across the continent, then plunged into the grim reality of the Downtown 
East Side. All of this coincided with the release of the Mayor's Framework 
For Action, which lays out the strategy and hopes to kick-start the 
provincial and federal governments into throwing some money at the drug 
problem. So far so good. Owen's framework "draft discussion paper" was 
leaked to the Vancouver Sun first. Politician assists friendly media.

Hardly news. Since then, the relationship between the mayor's office and 
the Sun has grown closer. I am reliably informed that the paper has put a 
request in to the mayor's office to endorse its series for the award it 
hopes to win. The mayor is currently hosting a series of forums to promote 
debate and sell the package to the public.

The flyer announcing the meetings along with a message from the mayor was 
distributed by the Sun for free. Each meeting begins with a panel of speakers.

I was at the first one at the Vancouver Public Library. For reasons nobody 
has been able to explain to me, beyond mutual admiration or reflected 
glory, each panel includes a reporter from the Sun, along with the expected 
doctors, police, educators and coroners, representing each of the original 
four pillars. A Sun reporter also covered the meeting at the library.

She managed to estimate the crowd at 50 per cent higher than the number I 
came up with. Bigger crowds make better news. The $14,000 publicly funded 
poll to measure citizen acceptance of the mayor' s plan released last week 
was also helpful to the Sun. It's not uncommon for politicians or soap 
salesmen to poll people on where they heard about an issue or a product.

While all Vancouver news organizations have reported on the mayor's scheme, 
the poll only asked questions about the Sun and its 12-part series. 
Essentially, the public purse paid for a reader survey, thanks to the 
mayor. The Sun learned how many people read all or part of the series, 
along with demographic statistics including their age, gender, education 
level and where they lived in the city. None of this information was 
reported in the paper's front-page coverage of the poll results—which, by 
the way, showed significant support for the mayor's plan. The following 
day, a Sun editorial called for "action on drugs." The difficulty in all of 
this is that, now that one of the usually reliable observers of the scene 
has become a player, it's harder for the rest of us to find the truth.

This fifth pillar may do more to block light than shed any on the issue
- ---
MAP posted-by: GD