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Our wet, warm Christmas, more on the roosters on the loose, and that Citizen column
Alrighty, this is gonna be a quick one to note a few odds and ends. And I do promise one more newsletter before Christmas because guess what happened?
In case you can’t read the name in the Zoom screen: I found and talked to the one and only Jim Raddysh. Thank you to those of you who reached out with leads (and correct spellings of his name). It was an absolute delight and I’m excited to share the conversation with you within the next few days.
Mele Kalikimaka
It is wild to think that a year ago, we were experiencing temperatures of -40 C. This week, the Otway cross-country ski club announced they are shutting down trails until further notice because the snow they did have has been worn away by the rain and persistent warm weather. Obviously, the outdoor ice oval is not faring any better. Nor is the Hart ski hill. I know there are several people who prefer rain to snow but I really want to enjoy a white Christmas — or at least, a few days of winter sometime this year!
Chicken run
It turns out those chickens on the loose were actually roosters. They are named “Foghorn” and “Cluck Norris” and they will soon be up for adoption. Here’s a video about them.
Prince George city council hiring consultant for downtown plans
I flagged on Monday night that I could not follow this discussion properly. Hannah Petersen at the Citizen came through, as did Darin Bain at My Prince George Now.
(The consensus seems to be its at the 100 Steps Ski Hill).
Hiding a key detail in the headline of a story
The Citizen published an opinion piece (which editor Neil Godbout clarified he did not pay for) that took issue with the reporting on Mayor Yu’s expene claims. As I wrote in this newsletter, the question of whether the mayor’s spending is justified or not will largely be a matter of opinion, and folks are free to express that or not. The only thing I will point is that a key portion of the columnists argument is that the CBC report was “misleading” because the $759 hotel bill in Ottawa was for two nights, rather than one.
Here’s the section:
It was a good yarn. I applauded the reporting at first, shocked Yu would stay at a $759 hotel room. A luxury suite.
This number obviously drove the story.
Charging “$759 to stay overnight at Ottawa's Château Laurier is certainly a choice,” quipped CBC reporter Justin McElroy to his large audience.
But that $759 was for two nights, not one, a key detail that would have undermined the narrative. (The CBC has since quietly corrected its story).
The author is correct that the body text of the story didn’t originally explicitly state the bill was for a two-night stay, which led to some assuming it was a single-night’s bill. The text was updated for clarity, which is stated explicitly in the story as it reads now. However, it is also worthing pointing out that this is the literal headline of the story:
And for full transparency, this was the headline when the story was originally published (as captured by the Internet Archive) before being updated to the current headline a few hours later:
You can see in both cases that the term “2 nights” appears quite high up in reference to the Château Laurier stay.
Again — people can feel how they like about how the mayor is spending taxpayer money but I’m not sure it’s fully ingenuous to argue that a fact that is in the headline of the story is being deliberately withheld from readers.
The other, more general comment I would like to make is one that is very similar to the newsletter I wrote about people’s reactions to the Citizen publishing a negative health report given to a local restaurant. In that case, I pointed out that a lot of people were mad because the Citizen had decided to make the review “big news” but what had really happened is the article was published online, as many similar articles had been, but for whatever reason a lot of people read this one and shared it — something the Citizen has no control over. Likewise, I have seen a number of people questioning why the mayor’s spending is “such big news” but again — it was simply published online, along with other stories of the day. It could have had very few readers — I have certainly had the experience of putting effort into a story and seeing relatively low returns in terms of readership. The extent to which is is “big news” is and was determined by the extent to which people decide they wanted to read about it.
And to round things out, here is an argument for increasing the mayor’s spending budget.
Mastermind Toys gift certificates are expiring the day before Christmas
Mastermind filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCCA) on Nov 24.
Customers are now being told their gift cards will not be honoured at the company's 66 locations past Christmas Eve.
"Gift cards will not be accepted after December 24 for the remainder of the CCAA (Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act) process, until the acquisition of Mastermind by Unity Acquisitions Inc. closes," company spokesperson David Ryan said in an email to CBC News.
The fact that the Prince George location is closing should also spur you on to make sure you use any certificates you have. On a related note, I recently dug up every gift card in my house and am making a point of going out and using them! Gift cards unused are basically free money for corporations to the extent that it's been argued Starbucks is actually a bank that sells coffee.
Quick news:
Family wants justice for Prince George woman killed in Mexico.
Prince George ski crosser qualifies at World Cup race in Italy.
Mass closures forecast in restaurant industry, PG hopefully not as hard-hit.
Prince George RCMP seeking help in identifying suspects in November assault.
Today’s song is Just Like Christmas by Low:
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Send feedback by replying to this email. Find me online at akurjata.ca.
Thank you for this, Andrew! I didn't grow up here, but am curious to know about what sort of thing constituted kids' entertainment back in the day! And a good reminder that reporters don't make the news. I actually listened to a really good podcast the other day, where Sean Speer interviewed Andrew Coyne. He also said something similar, that a reporter can put their heart and soul into a piece and it may never get read, or it might become the trending story of the day. Good perspective.
Thanks for this, Andrew!