419 replies to this topic

[Ms. B. Havin]

^ I agree with spanky123 -- the firing of Keith Norbury & Brennan Clarke was unacceptable. And it's too bad, because aside from that, Black Press has a chance to revitalize the local news scene. But how far can you trust it when car dealers with deep connections manage to get excellent editors sacked? Part of building a news / media empire in our new networked world has to involve more transparency. You're in it to make a profit? Fine, I have no problem with that, and guess what?, I bet you'll find plenty of other people don't, either. But just don't pull weird stunts like that Norbury thing, because that basically flushes every bit of goodwill down the toilet.

Contrary to popular opinion, people are not stupid. They do pay attention. They might be stressed for time and unable to participate, but they do notice. They might keep their mouths open to swallow whatever else gets shoveled down their gullets, but they have a memory for what sh*t tastes like. Keep up the crap, and at some point they'll puke all over you.

[Holden West]

I see that the Saanich News and Victoria News have swapped reporters Roszan Holmen and Keith Vass. Vass apparently has been banished to Saanich to write about whatever news actually happens in Saanich. Too bad. His stories covering City Hall got a lot of respect.

[Caramia]

Oh crap! That's bad news for Victoria. Generally I skim Victoria News and only stop to read anything by Vass. I'll give this new reporter a chance but quality reporting on City Hall is scarce and Vass stood out for his balanced, fair, and well researched reporting. What an annoying thing for Vic News to have done.

[G-Man]

I agree Vass was by far the best city reporter we had. I held him and Carolyn Heiman in the same light. Now we have lost both. A real tragedy for Victoria.

[mat]

That's a real shame, although us Saanichers (is that a word?) might get better articles in our neighbourhood rag. Keith is a hard working journalist and given a chance produces informative, interesting reports.

[Caramia]

Ah you dirty Saanichers stealing our journalists.

[Ms. B. Havin]

I agree that Keith Vass's articles were really good. Our loss, for sure.

[Jacques Cadé]

Extensive profile of Black Press owner David Black, in the Globe and Mail's Report on Business magazine:

http://www.theglobea...article1231808/

The comments, some by former Black Press employees, are interesting too.

[VicHockeyFan]

David Black joins bidding process for Canwest papers

ReutersMarch 5, 2010 2:13 AM


Victoria's David Black has joined the bidding for Canwest Global Communications Corp.'s newspaper assets, the Globe and Mail reported yesterday.

The bid from Black, founder of Black Press Ltd, will compete with offers from at least six other bidders for publications including Canwest's National Post as well as the Times Colonist, Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Citizen and Calgary Herald, the Globe report said.

[...]

Read more: http://www.timescolo...l#ixzz0hJMHnkHB

[Holden West]

That's a jump we've all been anticipating for a while.

Remember a few years ago when the TC went on a long strike. The Vic News picked up a lot of TC advertising and switched to a larger tabloid format to pick up the slack. Some speculated at the time Black would capitalize on the TC's temporary weakness and go daily in an attempt to put the TC out of business but it never happened.

[Bingo]

That's a jump we've all been anticipating for a while.

Remember a few years ago when the TC went on a long strike. The Vic News picked up a lot of TC advertising and switched to a larger tabloid format to pick up the slack. Some speculated at the time Black would capitalize on the TC's temporary weakness and go daily in an attempt to put the TC out of business but it never happened.

The print version for all of them will be gone within 5 years. Everything will be on line.

[Rob Randall]

The Vic News "borrowed" our photo of Merrick's Union rendering.

[Mike K.]

Yup, they sure did.

[gumgum]

Are you going to contact them?

[Holden West]

http://www.hawaiirep...ords-profit/123

Last year was a profitable one for Black Press Ltd., the Canada-based owner of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, as it bought, sold and merged newspapers.

An earnings report filed by Torstar Corp., which owns almost one-fifth of Black Press, shows the Victoria, British Columbia-based Black Press had an about $17 million profit excluding impairment charges during 2010. That compared with about $12.9 million of earnings in 2009.

It would be nice if they used some of these profits to hire another reporter for Monday Magazine so they could go back to being woefully understaffed instead of being tragically understaffed.

[jklymak]

Yeah, if I was an advertiser, I'd be miffed. It takes all of 5 minutes to read the whole thing.

[Holden West]

I'm sure the man featured on the cover of this week's Victoria News was thrilled to see himself on the front page yet dismayed to discover that his fly was wide open.

Do they even have photo editors anymore?

[VicHockeyFan]

And not to be outdone by the TC...


http://www.bclocalne.../143271296.html

Strip club closure part of larger development plan for Victotria Plaza Hotel

[Holden West]

Monty's. Putting the extra "T" in Victoria since 1986.

[weirdie]

Black Press office building for sale:

http://www.dtzvictor...velopment-lands

Office Building + Additional Development Lands


Opportunity to acquire an office building and two separate lots with paved surface parking on a combined land area of approx. 29,058 square feet. Building contains a gross floor area of 30,472 square feet, with a net rentable area of 27,728 square feet. Building is three storeys with a grade level basement with 21 underground parking stalls and 9 surface parking spaces at the rear. The paved parking lots offer 60 parking stalls with level topography at grade with surrounding streets and have municipal services available. Property lays within the Fairfield neighbourhood in an area also known as the Cathedral Precinct and is surrounded by office buildings that are generally occupied by government departments and professionals. The property also borders the Humboldt Valley and Harris Green Neighbourhood where there has been significant growth in recent years.


$7,650,000