621 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Christ, Holden.

[aastra]

Christ Olsen would just turn the other cheek. Nobody needs to worry about firing him.

[VicHockeyFan]

Today is an example of what's wrong with the TC. They have been off for two days, yet today's business section has zero local stories, just wire stories.

Lots of local sports, but most of it is from Saturday (Highlanders) or Sunday. Very old news.

[snaptee]

Another gem:

Police say the three from Qualicum Beach were unfamiliar with the river and entered the water with their inflatables above the falls at Stamp River Provincial Park.

The dead man has been identified as Cory Donald Heinz, 22.

“Each tuber unexpectedly went over the dangerous falls and was unable to remain on their float,” said Port Alberni RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Jen Allan.

RCMP issued a warning in late June about the river after a tubing mishap in which a woman almost died when she was pinned under a log.

About 4 p.m., Port Alberni RCMP received a call from a woman on the banks of the Stamp River, saying she had just seen a body floating down the river in an area known as Money’s Pool, Allan said.

Money's Pool is over 7 river km upstream of the falls. How did that happen?

[Bingo]

Unusual choice of page layout on page 4 of todays TC.

Story titled "Man behind machete attack sentenced to four years"

...and directly below it, "Human leg found under Vancouver bridge"

[VicHockeyFan]

TC workers are voting on a new contract this week. They had been without a contract for over a year.

The Joint Council and Company agreed on a four year contract which will expire on January 2, 2015.

There were no concessions.

Term:

2011 0%
2012 0%
December 1, 2012 $250.00 signing bonus
January 2 2013 1%
January 2, 2014 1.5%

http://vving.ca/

So a 5-years experience reporter will earn $82,300 in the last year of the contract. Most clerical positions will pay $45k-$50k per year. I think that compared to general inflation over the last 20 years, TC salaries are down by about 20-30%.

[spanky123]

TC workers are voting on a new contract this week. They had been without a contract for over a year.



Victoria Vancouver Island Newspaper Guild – Local 30223

So a 5-years experience reporter will earn $82,300 in the last year of the contract. Most clerical positions will pay $45k-$50k per year. I think that compared to general inflation over the last 20 years, TC salaries are down by about 20-30%.

Compared to a the position a lot of local employees find themselves in right now those terms are generous. Add to that the fact that the newspaper industry as a whole is in the tank.

[Holden West]

Last week they stooped to publish a letter-to-the-editor from one of those chemtrail nutbar conspiracy theorists. It wasn't even local content, it was a reprint from some community rag in Maple Ridge.

[HB]

What iis the chance of this happening?
This was in Tuesdays paper

[saanichrealestate]

One would think that the editor would connect the two people...

[bluefox]

Maybe one of VV's members should play Good Samaritan and get in contact with these two people...

[sebberry]

As someone on the I (heart symbol) Downtown Victoria's facebook page said, it restores faith in humanity - until you realize the folks at the TC office decided not to make the calls and instead charge these people for placing the ad.

(I'm assuming there's a cost for the ad)

[VicHockeyFan]

There is a cost for LOST ads, none for FOUND.

[vandervalk]

Currently there is a title on the TC homepage which implies Halloween happened last night. Lovely.

[D.L.]

"Capital region revellers keep police busy Saturday before Halloween"

I'm not an expert on grammar or the shortened way or writing newspaper headlines, but this seems fine to me.

[sebberry]

They must have updated it because it read "Halloween Night" when I looked earlier.

[vandervalk]

Yes. It said "...kept police busy on Halloween Night". They've corrected it.

[VicHockeyFan]

HEADLINE:

Victim's blood linked to accused's shoe in 2012 Fernwood murder

Now, the remainder of the article talks about a 2010 murder, but never mentions the area (Fernwood?) or street name, or any other indicator of the location.

Leslie Hankel's DNA was found on the top of a Nike running shoe worn by Samuel Mcgrath during a break, enter and robbery in the early morning of March 3, 2010, an RCMP forensic scientist testified Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court.

Tony Brown, a scientist who works at the RCMP forensic lab in Vancouver, gave expert evidence on forensic DNA analysis at the second-degree murder trial of Mcgrath and Andrew Belcourt. The accused have pleaded guilty to robbery with a firearm and breaking into Hankel's apartment. The jury must decide whether they are also guilty of murdering the 52-year-old Victoria man.

Read more: Victim's blood linked to accused's shoe in 2012 Fernwood murder

[spanky123]

The TC online has a front page article claiming that Victoria's job picture has brightened by adding 1,400 jobs since September. Bruce Carter then goes on to claim that the local economy has been steadily improving.

Checking the exact same source that Duffy references in his article (below), it is plainly stated that Victoria shed 300 jobs last month and that the number of people employed has dropped every month for the past 6 months.

I find that this is happening more and more often with the TC. Are staff too overworked to actually check data that they print or are advertisors simply demanding that stories be presented a certain way?

It drives me nuts that you can't even rely on the local media to publish the truth any more.

Labour Force Statistics - BC Stats. Check page 16 for Victoria data.

[VicHockeyFan]

Indeed I can see how year-over-year has improved, but yes, we have 6 straight months of job losses there and I have no idea where they can come up with the 1400 new jobs figure.