Subscribe to the print edition and enjoy The Republic in
your bathroom!
Plus, your subscription goes a very long way in helping to support The Republic and its writers and produces. It's like paying for the music you like.
Click here for details
|
Media
Fired from The Courier
After 13 years producing a weekly column at the staple community newspaper, no reason is given to editors in call from head office
By Kevin Potvin
|
There was a rumour that the late Izzy Asper, who passed away suddenly in October 2003, and whose cause of death was strangely never announced by the coroner, died sitting on the toilet with a copy of The Republic on the floor between his feet. This paper at the time was running a series called “Casting Aspersions” in which the crimes of CanWest, his media conglomerate, were enumerated.
But that was years ago and can’t be the reason I was fired from the Vancouver Courier last week by the President of the Community Publishing Division at CanWest after 13 years. Rob Leuschner gave editors at The Courier no reason, just the instructions not to print anymore of my columns. So much for claims to editorial autonomy.
CanWest certainly had good reason to fire me. The Casting Aspersions series came out around the time I wrote what later became an infamous essay about how I felt the day I watched planes on September 11 hit buildings in New York and Washington. That essay, published in The Republic, became the focus of a CanWest-wide attack on me when I emerged as a candidate for federal election in Vancouver-Kingsway—an attack carried in CanWest products The National Post, The Vancouver Sun and The Province littered with fabricated quotes and misstated facts leading to at least three printed retractions.
Strangely, in the hundreds of column inches about what I write and publish in The Republic, none of the CanWest columnists or articles thought to mention that I’d been writing for twice as long in the ten-times more circulated CanWest-owned newspaper, The Courier. And though those CanWest journalists—Brian Hutchison, Lorne Gunter, Jonathan Kay, Michael Smyth and Peter O’Neil—found me “an unsavory ignoramus,” “out of his mind,” a liar, a psychopath, a treasonous citizen and a true menace to society, none thought to suggest I might not belong in a community weekly, even one within their own CanWest family.
There is some speculation—my speculation—that CanWest suspects I had something to do with a spoof edition of The Vancouver Sun printed last year which has involved the company that coincidentally prints this newspaper in a CanWest-launched lawsuit. The spoof took umbrage with CanWest’s coverage of all things Israel, a matter close to the heart of CanWest CEO Leonard Asper, son of the late Izzy, a Canada-Israel policy activist with a strong Vladimir Jabotinsky bend of mind.
Then there was the decision by Magpie, my book and magazine store, to stop selling CanWest products The Vancouver Sun, The Province and The National Post due to their anti-social content and bad business practices (namely, dumping stacks of free copies, unwanted and unasked for, at cafes around the city, including those next door to Magpie), as detailed in an article in The Republic two issues ago.
Finally, there is the fact that 33-year publisher of The Courier, Peter Ballard, was himself unceremoniously fired by Rob Leushner a few weeks ago for being “not corporate enough,” Ballard recalled being told. My columns in The Courier often took a critical stance toward corporate exercise of power in the city and the country. My removal may be part of a general CanWest housecleaning. The space I occupied at The Courier featured this week a new writer with a pro-Conservative Party column taking swipes at the feminist movement and extolling the virtues of that great right-wing hobby-horse, anti-abortionism.
Who knows. The editors at The Courier told me no reason was given to them about why they must stop printing my column, and when I reached Leuschner on the phone, all he would say, in response to my repeated question about why I was being removed, was “I am not at liberty to say.” Which only reveals that it was someone above him in the CanWest corporate hierarchy who made the decision to remove me, and above him is only the CanWest top executive suite. I contacted Leonard Asper’s secretary and forwarded through her a brief email asking for a reason, followed by another note requesting confirmation of receipt of the first one. No reply came.
It is admittedly a small skirmish more important to myself than anyone else. But it is noteworthy and interesting. In firing me, Leushner was careful to suggest it was only a temporary measure, no doubt to forestall any suggestion it was really a firing, but he had the presence of mind to add that I had only ever been a freelancer over the 13 years, and so entitled to no appeal, though I hadn’t prompted him with anything occasioning him to point this out.
And so it becomes another lesson for the presumed powerful: in actually deploying strength, one only succeeds in revealing weakness. Whatever the reason for my firing, it looks petty and spiteful. In suing The Tyee for a minor error in an article and suing a printer because of the appearance of a spoof of a newspaper, petty and spiteful is emerging as personality traits of the company that is inexorably losing readership and influence.
|
The Republic
print version is generously supported by the following regular advertisers:
Storm Brewing
604-255-9119
Dan's Homebrewing
692 E Hastings
Co-operative Auto Network
604-685-1393
Turk's Coffee
1276 Commercial Drive
Dutch Girl Chocolates
1002 Commercial Drive
Magpie Books and Magazines
1319 Commercial Drive
Artrageous Pictures & Framing
1256 Commercial Drive
Bouzyos Greek Taverna
1815 Commercial Drive
Magnet Hardware
1575 Commercial Drive
Uprising Breads
1697 Venables
Highlife World Music
1317 Commercial Drive
Mark's Pet Stop
1875 Commercial Drive
Abruzzo Cafe
1321 Commercial Drive
Our Community Bikes
3283 Main Street
Does Your Mother Know
Magazines Etc
2139 West 4th Ave
Kali
1000 Commercial Drive
Uncle Don
Freelance Curmudgen
on CFUR Radio, Prince George
Receptive Earth
Hemp & other Earthly delights
4168 Main Street
Geist
Magazine of Canadian ideas & culture
Momentum
Bike magazine
West Coast Seeds
Where to find the print version of The Republic:
Vancouver
Aboriginal Friendship
1607 E Hastings
Bean Around the World
10th & Trimble
Benny’s Bagels
Broadway & Larch
Big News Coffee Bar
2447 Granville
Black Dog Video
Cambie & 19th
Book Warehouse
550 Granville
632 W Broadway
2388 W 4th
Cambie Hostel
300 Cambie St
Capers Community Markets
2285 W 4th
1675 Robson
Carnegie Comm. Centre
Hastings & Main
City Square Mall
Cambie & 12th
Cuppa Joe 189-175
E Broadway
Dadabase
Broadway & Main
Danny’s Coffee
Denman & Pendrell
Denman Community Ctr
Denman & Nelson
Denman Mall
Denman & Nelson
Drive Organics
Commerical & Napier
Does Your Mother Know?
2139 W 4th
Duthie Books
2239 W 4th
East End Food Co-Op
1034 Commercial
Elysian Room
1778 W 5th
Food Stop
Commerical & Venables
Gemeral Store
312 Cambie St
Gold Coin Laundry
B-way & Waterloo
Granville Island
Public Market
Grind
4124 Main
Higher Ground
Broadway & Vine
Il Mercato
1641 Commercial
Joe's Café
1150 Commercial
Laughing Bean
Hastings & Penticton
Lugz
2525 Main Street
Magpie Magazines
1319 Commercial
Our Town Cafe
245 E Broadway
Pacific Central Station
Bus Depot
People's Co-op Books
1391 Commercial
Polonia Sausage
Nanaimo &Hastings
Rebound Health
Hastings & Kamloops
Receptive Earth
Main & King Edward
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway
Simon Fraser
Downtown Foodfair
Soma
2528 Main Street
Sweet Tooth Cafe
Nanaimo & Hastings
Turk's Coffee
1276 Commercial
UBC
Student Union Building
Union Food Market
810 Union
Uprising Breads Bakery
1697 Venables
Vancouver Community College
250 W Pender
Vancouver Public Library
350 W Georgia
1661 Napier
2425 MacDonald
370 E Broadway
West Vancouver
Capers
2496 Marine Dr
West Vancouver Library
1950 Marine
Duncan
Community Farm Store
330 Duncan St
Victoria
Bean Around the World
533 Fisgard
Munro’s Books
1108 Government
University of Victoria
Graduate L0unge
Victoria Public Library
735 Broughton
Powell River
River City Coffee
4801 Joyce
Local Loco’s Music & Arts Cafe
Flying Yellow Breadbowl
4698 Ewing
Powell River Library
4411 Michigan
Kaslo
Blue Belle Bistro
302 Fourth
SunnySide Naturals
404 Front
Nanaimo
Nanaimo Public Library
Harbourfront Br
Port Place Shopping Ctr
650 S Terminal
The Green Store
Port Place
Mermaid’s Mug
357 Wesley St
Nelson
Mountain Pass Imports
402 Baker
Toronto
Moonbean Cafe
30 St. Andrew St
Future Bakery
483 Bloor St West
Oakville Peace &Ecology Centre
148 Kerr
|
The Republic of East Vancouver masthead
The Republic of East Vancouver supports no party, advocates
for no cause, represents no group, serves no master, and considers
problems with no preconceived notions. We hope to afflict the comfortable,
both materially and intellectually, and comfort the afflicted—of
both kinds as well, and we are trying to do both things at the same
time.
Publisher, Editor
Kevin Potvin
Advertising
Kevin
Potvin
Support
Dan Crawford, John Daigle,
Jack Etkin, Janis Harper, Carl Johnson, Hilary Jones, Chris King,
James Mecham, Albrecht Meyers, Peter Miller, James Pope
Contributors in this and recent issues
Bruce Alexander, Dan Adleman, Toby Alford, Kevin Annett, Santo Barbieri, Bob Broughton, Mike Bryan, Stephen Buckley, Matthew Burrows, Maria Calleja, Ron Carton, Chad Christie, Joshua Corber, Dan Crawford, Gail Davidson, Eric Doherty, Joe Donaldson, Lorena Jara Patty Ducharme, Shadia Drury, Taivo Evard, Reed Eurchuk, Farnaz Fassihi, Thomas Feakins, Anthony Fenton, Reza Fiyouyzat, Andrew Gordon Fleming, Ryan Fugger, Sasha Gagic, Matt Goody, Guy Hawkins, Spencer Herbert, John Irwin, Nick Istvaniffy, Junius, William Kay, Mike Keep, Kate Kennedy, Donald Kropp, Chris LaVigne, James Lindfield, Brian Lindgreen, Karen Litzke, Keith MacKenzie, Michael McLaughlin, Sonya McRae, Rafe Mair, Sonia Marino, Jennifer Matsui, Michael Millard, Isaebel Minty, Michael Nenonen, Wendy Nylund, Derrick O’Keefe, Stephen Osborne, Sean Orr, Evan Augustine Pederson III, Stephen Peplow, Kim Peterson, Kevin Potvin, Mary Rawson, Andrea Reimer, Erin Riley, Phil Rockstroh, Becky Scott, Jason Scott, Chris Shaw, Jeff Steudel, Alex Tegart, Scott Turner, Elbio Grosso Trentini, Patrick Vert, Chris Walker, Sean Wilkinson, Brad Zembic
For comments or suggestions, please contact the
Republic Webmaster
|
