Bill Phillips

Working on the farm this week

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:46:47 -0700

ATVer ruins dog park

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:43:11 -0800

Why is it that some people always have to ruin things for others?

There is a wonderful dog park at the end of Massey Drive. We took Daisy there for a stroll Sunday afternoon. There are all kinds of great dog owners and mean dogs aren’t allowed.

While walking along the trail, or rather being dragged along the trail by Daisy, we were approached from behind by someone on an ATV. Yup, an ATV in the dog park.

He drove right past the sign that pointed out to all those with opposable thumbs that motorized vehicles are not allowed.

One might think that the visor on his helmet obscured his vision but, that would only have happened if he was wearing a helmet. Be wary of those who ride ATVs and snowmobiles without helmets because they don’t care for their own safety. And that means they don’t care about yours either.

When ATV driver came up behind us on the trail, he obviously thought that we should jump off the trail so he could pass. We didn’t, so he passed within a foot of us on the trail, even though there was plenty of room for him to go around us (the trail is in the middle of a field, after all).

He then took off up the hill.

About two minutes later we heard some more noise behind us only to see someone on a snowmobile ripping around the field, around the people who were out taking their dog for a walk.

Remember, this is at the end of Massey Drive in the city. Both the ATV rider and the snowmobile driver had to drive down a city street (neither ATVs nor snowmobiles are allowed on public roadways) to get to the dog park.

In addition, the dog park backs onto a residential subdivision. I’m sure the folks whose backyards face the dog park loved to hear a snowmobile ripping around … they are so conducive to a nice quiet Sunday afternoon.

There are thousands of areas very, very close to the city to go ATVing and snowmobiling. Why do some have to be idiots about it? It’s people like these two no-minds who give snowmobilers and ATV riders a bad name.

• • •

Don’t know what you can read into it, but here are some political numbers. When NDP leader Carole James was in town for the candidate selection meetings, about 120 people attended her speech. When Premier Gordon Campbell was in town last week to attend a Liberal fundraiser, about 1,000 people attended.

And, in case you wanted more political numbers, Bill Tielman reported on his February 12 blog that internal Liberal polling puts the party nine points behind the NDP and that both Shirley Bond and Pat Bell are in trouble in the Prince George ridings.

There you go, some political numbers to chew on.

Driving Miss Daisy

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:55:50 -0800

Everyone should have a dog. They provide numerable benefits; many more than one would think.

We all know dogs are good companions, good protectors, and become part of the family. However, with a four-and-a-half-month-old puppy trotting about the house these days, I’m learning some of the intangible benefits dogs provide.

One might not think so, but dogs can be good for your balance. Daisy, our wonder dog, loves to help me on with my pants in the morning. Usually when I have one leg in, she likes to grab the other and head for the living room. My balance is greatly improved since Daisy has decided to help me.

Having a dog can also help you organize your house. Most would think that socks should be put in the sock drawer. Not so, socks should be put in the living room, or perhaps on the back deck, and occasionally in the kitchen, but never in the sock drawer. And most certainly, sock should not be stored in pairs (unless they are balled up and then they should be chewed and salivated on before wearing).

Ever thought of employing feng shui to place the furniture in your house? No need to call in some high-priced expert, your dog will show where the furniture should be because dogs flow effortlessly through the house regardless of where the furniture is placed. You just need to adjust accordingly and, oh yes, dog shui changes from day to day.

Dogs are good for you physically, in more ways than one. Of course you benefit from taking a walk with your dog too, but there are other ways to improve your health. For instance, I now don’t have to buy a rowing machine to develop my shoulder and arm muscles, daily bouts of tug-of-war with a 40-pound live-weight.

And, your dog is also good for your reflexes. During those daily games of tug-of-war Daisy sometimes needs to get a better grip on the rope, slipper, sock, paper tube, or whatever we’re using. Her idea of getting a better grip is to pull back, lunge forward, and, of course, dogs don’t have opposable thumbs with which to grab things, they have fangs. Hence, my reaction time has increased dramatically.

Dogs can also help with some of the more mundane tasks you might have. We have been able to get rid of our paper shredder since Daisy arrived on the scene. She does a pretty good job, however, doesn’t like to leave the shreds in a bag or box but rather on the living room floor. Plus, any paper within reach has obviously been tagged for shredding. (I can now sympathize with the age-old “dog ate my homework” excuse.)

I’ve also discovered that there is no longer any need for an alarm clock. And, Daisy is kind of like ringtones on your phone, you can get a different one every day.

One day it could be a gentle nudge with a cold nose on your hand hanging over the edge of the bed, the next it could be a nip at your toe. However, since she has learned to jump … well, let’s just say there is no sleeping in past the alarm.

Daisy has also been a great benefit to our cats. She graciously watches them while they eat to make sure they clean up their dish. She does it with her nose pressed to floor about an inch away (she hasn’t yet figured out what claw range is or that the cats are still quicker than her). However, concerned that we may be mad at the cats if they don’t clean up their dish, Daisy will sneak around when we’re not looking and clean them up for the cats. Such a thoughtful dog.

She also helps the cats with their daily exercise routine. Their routine used to entail getting off the bed and heading to the couch for a nap, to now playful romps around the house complete with hissing, barking, and harried humans.

And, Daisy has shown me the path to riches. Who knew that cat poop fresh from the litter box was a dog treat? Going to package it up and make millions.

Shoddy journalism

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:43:33 -0800

I'm fast becoming one of the media's worst critics, even though I'm probably viewed as part of the problem with this industry (being an editor and all that).

But one of the things that really bothers me is how reporters often pull fast ones over the readers. I witnessed two cases in point last week. There was a story about a fatal accident in the local daily, complete with quotes from one of the local RCMP sergeants, who we had been pestering for a quote. When the story appeared and the other guys got a quote, well we wondered why. The officer told us that he had not spoken to the other paper. So how did his quotes appear? I seems they took a press release the sergeant issued and used those items as direct quotes.

The problem I have with this type of reporting is when quotes appear in a story, the assumption is made by the reader that the writer actually talked to the person who is being quoted. Not always the case.

The policy here at the Free Press is to properly attribute everything. In other words, if we pull quotes or items from a press release, we let the reader know it came from a press release. To do otherwise is to be unfair to the reader and that, in my humble opinion, is the biggest mistake a journalist can make.

The other instance of shoddy journalism occurred on Friday. There was yet another press conference with the usual gaggle of politicians. The politicians, however, were running a bit late so we journos had to wait. Nothing new there. It happens all the time.

One reporter, ticked that she had to wait, snapped up the supplied press release and headed out the door, saying she had all she needed. When the story appeared the next day, her story was complete with lots of quotes from lots of politicians and mucky-mucks, including one who wasn't even there. Had she stuck around, she would have known the person she quoted wasn't even at the meeting.

The sad part is when the reader picks up the paper in the morning, they don't know the difference. They think the reporter has talked to half a dozen people in tracking down that story when the truth is they talked to no one and simply took a press release issued by the government, put their byline on it, and called it reporting.

Examining the NDP planks

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:28:19 -0800

As far as election planks go, the NDP’s call for a one-year extension to Employment Insurance benefits is a weak one. First, it’s a federal decision. Granted, the federal extension of five weeks does little to help laid-off forest workers, to make it a provincial election issue is a non-starter. Second, Premier Gordon Campbell was calling for a one-year extension to EI benefits for forest workers as well. NDP leader Carole James says Campbell didn’t lobby hard enough. It’s a weak argument.

James and the NDP are also calling for a return, of sorts, of appurtenance – a provision the Liberals ripped out of the Forest Act that tied the production of lumber to the community it is harvested near. With the prophecies of the niggling naysayers coming true regarding the dismal future of forest dependent communities without appurtenance, this is a strong election platform for the NDP. However, they prefer to avoid the word ‘appurtenance,’ using ‘social contract’ instead. Either way you look at it, tying production to communities has been an issue in the Interior for several years now. Removing appurtenance is good for forest companies, bad for forest towns. In a bit of irony, James hailed former Social Credit premier W.A.C. Bennett for realizing the value of a ‘social contract’ when it comes to dealing with the province’s resources. It was Bennett who wrote appurtenance into the Forest Act. It was Bennett who dictated that the areas from which resources are extracted should be the major beneficiary of that activity.

Granted, we now live in a more global world, but we also have to help our forest-dependent communities however we can.

The NDP are also campaigning on increasing the minimum wage. It’s another area where they can gain some points, except in the business community. The Liberals have steadfastly opposed raising the minimum wage, which has remained at $8 an hour since 2001 when they were elected. In addition, the Liberals instituted the infamous $6 an hour starter wage. In these hard economic times an argument could be made that increasing the minimum wage would help stimulate the economy by putting more money in the pockets of a good number of workers in the province.

However, the argument can then also be made that there would be fewer minimum-wage jobs available. Whether there would be a net gain or net loss is something economists can quibble over until the next economic crisis is upon us.

The other campaign plank that will get good play in the Interior is the huge amount of infrastructure money being poured into the Lower Mainland for the Olympics at, seemingly at least, the expense of the Interior.

And, with a deficit coming, the economy will certainly become the major issue of this election campaign. It’s ironic that former NDP Forest Minister David Zirnhelt got raked over the coals for an offhand comment when that government was backtracking on something, suggesting that because they are government, they can do what they want.

The Liberal government enacted legislation requiring it to balance the budget. But now, because it’s government, it can do what it wants and ignore that law.

It will be a heated campaign. That’s for sure.

Provincial campaign is underway

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:27:30 -0800

In case you missed it, the election campaign is now officially underway.

NDP leader Carole James was in town Saturday to officially kick off the campaign. It’s one of the drawbacks to fixed election dates, the ‘unofficial’ campaign kicks off long before the actual campaign.

In addition to slamming the Liberal government for building “a fancy new roof” in B.C. Place instead of creating housing for seniors and homeless, James introduced the candidates who will take a run at unseating Education Minister Shirley Bond and Forest Minister Pat Bell.

It is kind of ironic, and they maintained purely coincidental, that Julie Carew, who works in the education industry, will going up against Bond, the education minister. And, Tobias Lawrence, a registered professional forester, will be trying to unseat Bell, the forest minister.

It should make for an interesting level of debate as we march inexorably toward March 12.

Even though both candidates were acclaimed, the NDP have picked a couple of good ones. Both Lawrence and Carew are articulate and have done their homework. Too often parties put candidates in place just so they can have a candidate running (i.e. the Green Party debacle in the last federal election).

Not this time. Both Lawrence and Carew are legitimate, serious candidates. But, the task ahead of them won’t be easy.

There is no doubt Bond and Bell will be tough to unseat. Both were first elected in 2001, when the Liberals swept into office. Both have also worked hard and remained popular. In 2001, when the electorate was sending a message to the NDP, Bond was elected with 55 per cent of the vote and Bell with 61 per cent. They were both re-elected in 2005, although the margin of victory was less. Bell captured 7,659 votes for 49.93 per cent of the popular vote. Bond was elected on the strength of 4,585 votes, which was 41.01 per cent of the vote. The wild card for Bond in 2005, though, was former Liberal MLA Paul Nettleton who ran as independent and walked away with 15 per cent of the vote. He, undoubtedly, drew support away from Bond. Nettleton won’t be back in 2009.

That leaves, so far, a campaign between Bond and Carew in the new riding of Prince George-Valemount, and Bell and Lawrence in the new riding of Prince George-Mackenzie.

It should be a very interesting campaign. Bell will, and still does, have some tough questions to answer regarding the Worthington pulp mill in Mackenzie, such as apparently Worthington was not required to post an environmental bond. Plus, he’s probably not too popular in that northern town right now given the tough times up there.

Over in the Bond camp, she, in a roundabout way, has to also fight the BCTF, which is campaigning hard over class sizes, the Foundation Skills Assessment tests, and a host of other things. The BCTF have been running lots of ads (prior to the election advertising rules kicking in) hammering the ministry of education.

That’s one of the downsides about being a cabinet minister, you have to defend what you’ve done as an MLA and as a cabinet minister.

Like I said, it should make for some good debates.

This isn’t going to be a cakewalk for any candidate. Let the campaigning begin.

VIDEO: Andy Rooney's homage to newspapers

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:20:40 -0800

Watch CBS Videos Online

The Old Red Barn

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:32:19 -0800

There has been lots of talk this past week about shoveling snow off your roof. The heavy snowfall followed by warmer weather can wreak havoc on the roof over your head.

I can testify to that. A few years ago, during a similar winter weather event the Old Red Barn on the Phillips farm met its demise. The Old Red Barn was called that because when my father built it, he put red siding on it. It was down the road from the Slab Barn, built out of slabs of lumber salvaged from some old milling operation, and across the yard from the Shack, (still standing) a three-room shack my grandfather built in the 1920s and now used for a workshop/tractor garage.

The Old Red Barn was a magnificent structure. My dad built it in the 1950s. It was a two-storey barn complete with cement floor. The bottom floor was complete with stalls for cows to calve indoors (which they never did anyway), and cubbyholes for chickens to lay their eggs in (this was a fancy contraption whereby chickens could enter from one side and the egg gatherers could open a small door on the other and get the eggs).

The second storey was a hayloft. When I was a kid we used horses to hoist the hay into the loft. A rail was attached to the apex of the rafters and extended out past the end of the barn by about 15 feet. We would attach a sling around a bunch of bales and, with a pulley attached to the rail extending out about 25 feet above the ground, used the horses to pull the bales up and into the barn.

Ingenious. A tractor eventually replaced the horses. The only problem with this system was that there was usually a bit of a jerk when the sling of bales finished their vertical travel and started moving horizontally. If someone (usually me or my brother) hadn’t tied a good knot in the sling, the entire batch would come crashing back down to the ground, much to the chagrin of my father.

I swear that’s where I learned to swear.

The sling gave way to the bale elevator, which was a much more efficient way of getting bales into the hayloft. And that was the Phillips method of getting in shape. Tossing bales always gets one in shape, but the people who had the chore of working in the barn really got in good shape. Did I mention the hayloft was enclosed on three sides? And did I mention the roof of the red barn was tin?

Tossing bales in the 30-degree Celsius heat is bad enough, but do in it a tin box and you do get … well, a bit of workout. Kind of like lifting weights in a sauna. That which doesn’t render you unconscious makes you stronger.

The hayloft, however, had some other benefits. After all the hay was fed out, it made a great road hockey rink. We had some great road hockey games up there (we even tried tennis a few times). The only down side was when the road hockey or tennis ball went out the open side of the hayloft, it landed in the barnyard, which is only a problem if it’s been raining. We usually had to have a good supply of balls or pucks.

Over the years the Old Red Barn was used less and less. We bought a bale wagon, which meant we didn’t need to drop 40 or 50 pounds a day throwing bales. It developed a bit of lean to it, despite its concrete foundation, so we didn’t store too much in the loft. We used the bottom floor long after the loft was no longer functional – keeping sick livestock out of the bad weather, etc.

Then, one rather warm and wet January day about five years ago, almost 50 years after it was built, it came crashing down under the weight of wet, heavy snow. It was a shock to me because that barn had been there since before I was born. It was always in my visual landscape of the farm. Luckily there was nothing in the barn when it came down.

So the lesson is: Shovel the snow off your roof.

Me and Daisy, our new puppy

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:31:45 -0800

Year in Review

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:01:38 -0800

We're doing something a little different in choosing our top 10 news stories for 2008. We're using a democratic process. Huh? Yup, democracy in action. We came up with a list of about 15 of the top news stories of 2008 and circulated the list around the office. Everyone got to vote for their top news story of the year. The story with the most votes, will be our top news story of 2008.

Democracy in action.

A softwood carbon deal?

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:43:44 -0800

Could carbon be the next softwood lumber?

We here in the Interior of British Columbia know only too well the measures that those south of the 49th parallel will go to get us to conduct our business their way. We have a softwood lumber agreement that no one really likes, but we accepted because not having one would be even more unpalatable and costly.

Even though the world is immersed in how to deal with the economic crisis, one of the biggest emerging markets in the world is carbon. Or, more aptly, carbon credits. Even though here in British Columbia we have a carbon tax, the cap-and-trade system is generally becoming more accepted around the world. Under cap-and-trade system, we will put a cap on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed. Companies who produce less than what they are allowed, can then trade (or sell) their carbon credits to companies exceeding their limit. Sound innocuous enough.

However, Aldyen Donnelly, president of WDA Consulting Inc. and the Greenhouse Emissions Management Consortium in Vancouver, says U.S. laws regarding a cap-and-trade will have far-reaching implications in Canada. According to Donnelly, negotiations are now underway to establish North American quotas. There’s that magic word for us who have been through the softwood wars – quotas.

If Canadian carbon quotas are linked to the U.S. quotas, guess who loses? Not the Americans.

“The U.S. Democrats’ cap-and-trade rule-making intentions are outlined, in detail, in two bills that passed second reading (with the support of Obama, McCain and Clinton) in the U.S. Senate in Nov. 2007, in the “Dingell-Boucher” draft climate change bill that was tabled in the U.S. House on Oct. 8, 2008, and in a couple of new U.S. laws that came into full effect in Sept. 2007 and Jan. 2008,” writes Donnelly. “These bills, in combination, leave little about the U.S. cap-and-trade system design to the imagination. They combine to establish unilateral U.S. Congressional authority to veto the level at which Canada’s initial and future national carbon quota caps are set, and require Congress to remove U.S. approval of or dictate changes to Canada’s quota levels any time it is in the U.S.’s economic interest to do so.”

Sound familiar. It sure does. Donnelly adds that Canadian companies exporting to the U.S. will have to remit detailed operating information to the U.S. government or face carbon tariffs.

Now is it starting to sound familiar? Sure does.

“The day after the U.S. cap-and-trade regime is operational, Canadians will have to buy U.S. quota to cover all of our carbon-based exports, even if they are substantially less carbon-intensive than the U.S. comparables,” says Donnelly.

Getting even more familiar, isn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong, some sort of cap-and-trade system is not only inevitable, it’s necessary as we attempt to deal with our greenhouse gas emissions. However, giving up our sovereignty shouldn’t be a byproduct.

You can comment on this column, and all Prince George Free Press stories, online at www.pgfreepress.com.

Election post-mortem

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:09:04 -0800

Had an interesting meeting with the folks from the city yesterday. They wanted to do an election post-mortem with media outlets in Prince George. They are looking at how well they managed to get election results to media outlets etc.

I've been covering elections for a long, long time and that's the first time city, regional district, or school district officials have asked how things went after an election. Good stuff. I'm impressed.

MP boycotting local newspapers

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:06:34 -0800

You may be wondering why we haven't had a comment from Cariboo-Prince George MP Dick Harris about the goings-on in Ottawa in the Free Press. The answer is simple. He is no longer speaking to Black Press newspapers in his riding. This includes the Prince George Free Press, the Quesnel Cariboo Observer, the Williams Lake Tribune, and the Vanderhoof Omineca Express.

Harris did speak to me yesterday about his decision to no longer give comments to the local newspapers. He said the message was given "loud and clear" during the election campaign that Black Press newspapers were not interested in what he had to say. He said he felt the reporting was neither balanced nor fair and therefore would not be giving us any comments at this time.

I told him I didn't agree, but would re-examine the stories the four papers did during the election campaign to see what kind of coverage we did give him. I know here at the Free Press we try very hard during an election campaign to present fair and balanced reporting. Harris obviously doesn't see it that way, and was upset that I was critical of him missing a couple of all candidates forums. I told him it's not my job to promote him, or any candidate. As often is the case, editorial comment gets confused with reporting.

So what does Harris gain by not talking to Black Press newspapers? Not much other than it makes him feel better. Here in Prince George we're in a tougher situation because Harris can comment to the Citizen and get his message out. In the other communities, the papers he is boycotting are the papers of record. He isn't really punishing the paper by not commenting, he is punishing his constituents who deserve to hear what their MP has to say about the issues of the day.

Canadians embracing change?

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:53:17 -0800

To those who cast their eyes enviously to the south and watched Americans embrace change in their November 4 election. Look again to Canada. To those who feel that Canadian politics lacks the panache and excitement of other countries. Look again to Canada. And, to those who think they know what’s going to happen. Look again to Canada.

The past week’s events have to be some of the wildest we’ve seen yet in Canadian politics. For the Monarchists among us, the political scene in this country may soon lie in the hands of the Queen’s representative in this former colony – Governor General Michaelle Jean.

Should the Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition succeed in toppling the Harper minority, it will be Jean who decides what we do next. Once again our politics is interesting, albeit a bit strange, but interesting nonetheless. While Jean doesn’t really take her marching orders from the Queen, her position, which still holds some authority, is colonial. It’s ironic that First Nations blame much of their plight on colonialism.

Should the new coalition be successful, Jean will have three options before her. She can tell Stephen Harper to go back to the drawing table and come up with legislation that will pass in the House of Commons, she can give the new coalition a chance at governing, or she can order a new election. Given the time of year and the cost, the latter may be the least favourite choice.

And make no mistake about it, the three opposition parties are serious about toppling Harper and the Conservatives.

“In light of the critical situation facing our citizens, and the Harper government's unwillingness and inability to address the crisis, we are resolved to support a new government that will address the interests of the people,” wrote Liberal leader Stephane Dion, NDP leader Jack Layton, and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe in a letter released Monday. “Today we respectfully inform the Governor General that, as soon as the appropriate opportunity arises, she should call on the Leader of the Official Opposition to form a new government, supported as set out in the accompanying accords by all three of our parties.”

They point to the fact that the Conservatives’ plan to deal with the current financial crisis is woefully inadequate. In Harper’s defence, he did campaign on “slow and steady hand on the tiller,” when it came to the economy and suggested that we shouldn’t change our tactics. So, this isn’t a departure from what Canadians were told in the election campaign. The question remains, though, is doing little in these tough economic times the right course of action?

The other compelling piece of the puzzle is how our electoral system elects parties without a majority. In the October 14 general election, the Conservatives garnered only 37.6 per cent of the popular vote and only 46.4 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons. The Conservatives cannot claim to have the support of the majority of Canadians. Slightly more than 62 per cent of Canadians who cast a ballot, voted for someone else than the Conservatives on October 14.

So what choice does Jean really have? It is incumbent upon the Governor General, after every election, to ask one party or another to form government. When that party has a majority, the choice is easy. When in minority situation, the choice is more difficult and it, in no way, has to be the party with the most number of seats. Jean is compelled to choose which party, or coalition of parties, can best form a government. Coalitions are nothing new in Canadian politics. The current Conservative party are a coalition of the old Reform Party and Progressive Conservatives, the latter of which was a coalition of other parties itself.

So who will be the big winner here? Quite possibly it will be Elizabeth May and the Green Party. A Liberal/NDP coalition may result in the demise of our traditional third party. Canadians, not ready to go to a two-party system, will likely embrace another third choice.

Canadian politics? Wild, wacky, intriguing, irritating, colloquial, and truly Canadian.

My new puppy

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:49:51 -0800

All I got is a photograph

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:59:26 -0800

All I got is a photograph to remind me of the places we used to go.

Ringo Starr

They say one is worth 1,000 words. I’ve only got about 600 in this space but I’ll try to paint a picture nonetheless.

Everyone has a pile of photos laying around the house. Old snapshots of days gone by. My mother always used to insist that we get a photo taken every time someone came to visit or when someone was going off on a big trip. We have legions of photos of a group of people out in front of the house. The shot was never taken indoors. We knew enough not to shoot into the sun, so everyone in the photos are usually squinting or holding their hand up over their eyes.

The photos have us all with varying hairstyles, hair lengths, trendy clothes, belly paunches, different vehicles, and, depending on how keen we were about getting our picture taken, varying scowls. But we were always there.

As kids we never saw the value of always getting a photo of everyone. After all, Uncle Tony never changed. He looked the same year after year and so did we. At least that’s what we thought. How wrong we were. My mother knew.

The photos now are a reminder of days gone by. Looking at the photos I can remember what the days felt like, what I felt like.

When I sort through those photos now, like everyone else, it’s a trip down memory lane. My mother was smart in preserving those moments.

But one day while I was sorting through some old family documents I came across a photo that really struck me. It wasn’t of anyone in my family. It was of a young, promising ski racer. He was posing at the bottom of the hill on a springtime afternoon. The photo was black-and-white and printed on TP6 paper, which is high-contrast photo paper that we used to use in the newspaper industry.

I knew who the skier was. But that isn’t what struck me about the photo. What struck me about the photo was that I knew who the photographer was. It was my father.

For some reason he had taken aside the photo that ran in the local paper along with the story about the skier and it ended up in a box of family stuff.

As I looked at the photo it occurred to me that I was looking at what my father had looked at 30 years prior. In a strange way, I was seeing the world through his eyes. Knowing the area, I could feel the warmth of the spring sun, I could smell the freshness of the mountain air, and I could hear the snow dripping off nearby roofs. I knew, exactly at that moment in time, what my father had seen and felt on that day more than 30 years ago. For a moment I stepped into his mind and could remember all that he was.

I’ve always loved photos and I guess I can thank my parents for that. So when you dust off the old family photos, remember that they can connect you with those who are in the photo, but they can also connect you with the photographer. And that brings back even more memories.

VIDEO - Prince George election night

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:12:09 -0800

Find more videos like this on PG Politics

VIDEO – Get out and vote tomorrow

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:19:28 -0800

More on endorsing candidates

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:17:43 -0800

During this campaign several candidates have asked us whether we, the Prince George Free Press, are going to endorse a slate of candidates in tomorrow’s election.

We are not.

While many newspapers and news organizations do endorse political candidates, we do not feel that is the role of a community newspaper. The reason? We strive to provide fair reporting and comment on all issues facing our community. If we endorse a mayoral candidate, or slate of council candidates, then we forfeit our claim to fair and balanced reporting.

In today’s world, particularly today’s political world, perception is reality. While we may believe that we can fairly report and comment on political issues while endorsing one candidate over another, the perception in the community will be that we are either in that candidate’s pocket or against everything they do. And, there may very well be more to it than perception.

We don’t want to put ourselves in that position. We want to be able to be critical of our new mayor and council without it seeming like sour grapes or, conversely, be supportive of good ideas without it seeming like we’re the mayor and council’s mouthpiece. We feel it is more important to present to you, the reader, fair and balanced reporting of the issues and fair and balanced opinion on those issues. We believe, based on the information we have presented and that you have garnered elsewhere, that you, the reader, are intelligent enough to make your own decisions.

VIDEO - Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:40:22 -0800

Cenotaph in Fernie with my namesake's name on it. William Phillips was my grandfather's brother and he was killed in the First World War.

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:43:40 -0800

Endorsing candidates

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:38:34 -0800

There's always a big question for newspapers to ask at election time – should the paper endorse one or more of the candidates? It's a tough question. Some papers routinely endorse candidates. I've never worked a paper that has endorsed a particular candidate. It's part of what the tag 'politically independent' means on our masthead.

We did talk about it here at the Free Press though. We hadn't seriously thought about it until one of the candidates said the Citizen was going to endorse a mayoral candidate.

There are plusses and minuses to endorsing a candidate. On the plus side, it's a bold move for a newspaper to make. The paper is going out on a limb by doing so, in more ways than one. And, hopefully, an such an endorsement is explained. It has to be more than the candidate is in the same service club as the publisher or spends more money on advertising. An endorsement has to be accompanied by an explanation of why the voters should vote for that person.

The big downside, however, is that the paper is forever tainted by such an endorsement. The perception of impartiality is gone in the paper's coverage of that candidate. The community knows the paper supports that candidate and, as such, coverage and comment can be seen to be biased.

We at the Free Press feel that impartiality and fairness is one of the most important qualities a newspaper can have. We won't be endorsing any candidate in the upcoming municipal election.

Everyone looking for an election advantage

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:33:05 -0800

During election campaigns we always have to be on our toes. Everyone will try to gain some sort of advantage and good press is always a good advantage.

We had a case last week, and hopefully I handled it right. Vic Bowman, one of our regular columnists, sent his Friday column in. It read pretty much like mayoral candidate Don Zurowski's platform. Much of the column was word-for-word what Zurowski has been saying.

Here's where a little knowledge can help a newspaper editor. I know that Bowman is working on Zurowski's campaign. It was an obvious attempt at some free campaigning for Zurowski. Even though Bowman didn't name Zurowski in his column, it was obvious where the comments were coming from. I noticed it right away and when reporter Arthur Williams read the column, he noticed it too.

Now we have a problem. As a columnist, I don't have a problem with Bowman supporting one candidate over another. That's what columns and opinion pieces are for. However, Bowman, I feel, stepped over the line and stopped writing as a Free Press columnist and started writing as a Zurowski campaign worker. The only two options I had were to pull the column or clarify, in the column, that Bowman is working on Zurowski's campaign. I chose the latter.

What do you think? Was it the right thing to do or should I have pulled the column?

Mayoral candidates talk business

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:16:34 -0800

It seems that three of our four mayoral candidates are bucking the provincial trend when it comes to a business tax vote.

Only Eugene Fetterly supports a return to business owners having a vote in municipal elections. He in step with 71 per cent of mayoral candidates across the province who were polled by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Candidates Dan Rogers, Don Zurowski, and Dane Greenwell said they did not support a return to the practice of allowing business owners to vote, eliminated in 1993. Zurowski qualified his vote saying he cannot support the practice of a ‘weighted’ vote, which would allow an individual to vote more than once (as a property owner and as a business owner).

This has always been a sore point for business owners who, sometimes, live outside the city, pay substantial taxes, but don’t get to vote for the council who spends those taxes. However, Zurowski make a good point in that the old system resulted in people having more than one vote, and that’s not fair. Extrapolating on the reasoning that businesses owners should vote because they own businesses in town, the case is then easily made that renters shouldn’t because they don’t own property in town. Should elections be limited to people who live in the city or expanded to those who own property?

On the question: Do you support narrowing the business property tax gap in your municipality? Greenwell said yes, Fetterly and Zurowski said no, and Rogers didn’t give an answer, but commented that the Prince George business ratio among lowest in B.C. Zurowski commented that he doesn’t support narrowing the gap because council has already taken a business-friendly and responsible approach to taxation.

Provincially, 86 per cent of mayoral candidates voted yes on the question.

This is another issue that is a sore point for business owners. Historically, in every community, businesses pay a higher tax rate than homeowners. For example, a business in Prince George assessed at $200,000 pays $3,000 in taxes while a homeowner with house assessed at $200,000 pays $1,314. Is that fair? The rationale is that business areas require more services … the roads are ploughed first and more often, there are more policing costs, roads need more maintenance, etc. The question is whether the ratio is fair. Should homeowners be shouldering a larger portion of the tax burden? They call it narrowing the gap. What that means is homeowners shouldering more of the tax burden. That is the only way to ‘narrow the gap.’

On the motherhood question: Do you support holding municipal operational spending increases to a level closer to population and inflation growth? Not surprisingly, all four said yes. Who wouldn’t? Some apparently, as only 93 per cent voted yes.

There were some differing votes on the question, do you support a system of measuring regulatory burden so that your municipality can start to take steps to reduce this burden? Rogers and Zurowski said yes, Fetterly said no and Greenwell didn’t respond.

Rogers, Zurowski, and Fetterly all agreed with a regular value for money audit of municipal public expenditures by an independent auditor general. Rogers said he supports independent audits, but added the challenge is who pays for it.

VIDEO - More from mayoral debate

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:14:27 -0800

Find more videos like this on PG Politics

VIDEO - Mayoral debate at UNBC

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:56:24 -0700

Find more videos like this on PG Politics

Identifying who's who

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:28:32 -0700

One of the problems with election campaigns is that people who are involved in a campaign often like to support their candidates indirectly. I prefer the direct approach.

Case in point this week. Vic Bowman is a regular columnist for the Free Press. He is also working on Don Zurowski's mayoral campaign. When Vic submitted his column this week it was almost word-for-word the same as Zurowski's campaign literature. In his column, though, Bowman didn't mention that he was working for Zurowski. I was left with two choices – pull the column or make it clear to the reader that Bowman was a Zurowski supporter. I chose the latter.

Was that fair? Let me know.

10,000 steps

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:48:32 -0700

I'm testing one of those fancy ActNow BC pedometers. They say 10,000 steps a day will cure all your ills. Just checked, 40 steps to the coffee machine and back so that means 250 cups of coffee a day and I'll be just fine. Okay, I've been corrected. I forgot to factor in the trips to the washroom after 250 cups of coffee. So now I'm thinking 125 cups of coffee and 125 trips to the washroom. Oops, gotta go ...

Election's over, time for religion

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 09:10:13 -0700

The temptation was there, but I resisted it. I didn’t tell any religious jokes during the World Religions Conference in Prince George last week.

It was my immense pleasure to act as moderator for the forum, which saw speakers from seven different religious faiths explain what their religion is about. The forum was presented by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association of B.C. and was designed to foster awareness of the differing religions.

The topic for the conference was whether religion is relevant in today’s world. I think we only need to look around the world to see that religion is still relevant in today’s world. A larger question, at least for me, is whether religion is achieving the goal of peace and tolerance in today’s world.

The seven faiths represented Saturday – Aboriginal, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism – all espouse the values to peace and goodwill towards men. The question, then, is why is there so much religious strife in the world. Saturday’s presenters didn’t have those kinds of answers, but they shed some light on their own particular faiths.

And, with the exception of myself, it was a pretty august panel of presenters. Frank Austin, also known as Manyhorses, is a traditional native healer and is a featured speaker and workshop leader; Sarah Dowling is a local Buddhist and has taught in Prince George since 2005; Christian Pastor Tim Osiowy has pastured at the Gateway Christian Ministries in Prince George for the past 36 years; Dr. Ijaz Rauf gave the Islamic perspective, as an expert in nano-technology, nano-materials, and their application to solar cells, he brings science and religion together; Dr. Pranesh Kumar gave the Hindu perspective gained from his travels around the globe; the Jewish perspective was delivered by Sima Elizabeth Shefrin, a Middle East peace activist and fabric artist who has held workshops in Palestine and Irael; and Giani Harminder Pal Singh, the head of the Granthi in Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Temple in Prince George.

See, I was humbled.

Prince George was the final stop for the forum, which traveled throughout the North, starting in Alaska, then hitting Whitehorse, Terrace, and then P.G.

The panel members were required to stick to their own religion. Bashing the other guys wasn’t allowed. And that was a good thing, not only because I was in the middle, but because, in reality, that isn’t what religious belief is all about. It is about peace and harmony in the world.

The very fact that this forum was held shows that there is some common ground and that people of different religions can get along. If we can sit down and discuss ideas, then we can learn about other faiths. With knowledge comes understanding. With understanding comes tolerance.

That’s what the conference is all about. The message on the pen they gave me says it all: “love for all, hatred for none.”

And, while I resisted telling a joke, Elizabeth Shefrin was the only person there who didn’t. Her joke, and you can insert the faith of your choice, was: What do you get when you put two Jews in a room? Three different opinions.

Two people killed in 'targeted' attack

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:50:30 -0700

Debating the debaters in our leaders debate

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:32:42 -0700

I was probably one of the very few people who didn’t switch back and forth between the federal leaders’ debate and the U.S. vice-presidential debate Thursday night.

Seems sacrilegious, or at least un-patriotic, to watch American politics when the premier event of our election campaign is going on – particularly when the biggest criticism of one of our leaders is that he is a clone of all things U.S.

So who was the big winner? There were no real clear-cut winners, but Green Party Elizabeth May showed that she can debate the issues with the four other leaders. That, in itself, was probably the biggest victory of the night. If she had fallen flat, it would have shown that she shouldn’t have been there. She proved Conservative leader Stephen Harper, NDP leader Jack Layton and the media consortium that runs the debates, wrong.

One of the most interesting observations of the debate was that Harper never responded to any attacks that May made on him or his policies. He certainly engaged Liberal leader Stephane Dion and Layton on several issues. However, when May tied into him he usually just sat there with a goofy grin on his face. Was that the strategy perhaps? If he engaged May in debate, then that legitimatized her. Or, perhaps, was he afraid that she would be able to out-debate him and score really big points?

Who knows? Harper had the most to lose in the debate and, according to the polls, he did. He didn’t fall on his sabre, but he didn’t win any voters over either. He obviously was trying to look ‘prime ministerial,’ but often came across as smug and seemed to be annoyed that he had to lower himself to public debate.

Then he opened his mouth. I’m sorry, but tax cuts are not the solution to every problem we have in this country. And for people like me, who are seeing more money sucked out of their pension fund every month than they’re putting in, Harper’s assurance that (insert calm, father-like voice here) the economy is fine, make you want to puke.

Then there’s NDP leader Jack Layton. He scored lots of points when he pointed out that Haper’s tax cuts involved $50 billion for the oil companies. For Exxon. For big oil. For Exxon. As much as I tired of Harper’s harping on tax cuts, I got tired of Layton harping that the cuts were for Exxon. I got it about 15 minutes into the debate, I didn’t need to keep hearing it after 120 minutes.

Although, I must say Layton did score points when he hammered Dion and the Liberals for propping up the Conservatives and keeping them in power for two-and-a-half years. Dion didn’t have a response to that.

While the debate is crucial for all leaders, it was probably most critical for Dion. For a lot of Canadians, it was probably the first time they really got to see him in action. He is still somewhat of an unknown. He held his own, scored some good points, but he didn’t shine. He really needed to really excel at the debate to gain ground in English-speaking Canada. He didn’t do it. Consequently, the NDP have gained ground.

There were no big winners in the debate, but we did gain a better insight into those who want to lead the country. I agree with CBC commentator Rex Murphy who opined that we should have more than one debate and the format should give the leaders adequate time to explain their positions.

Our moralistic society

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:26:51 -0700

I received a voicemail message the other day from a nice lady who took exception to the Free Press running a few photos of the Pride Parade. It seems, according to the caller, that we're pushing that too much. She went on to inform me that she would no longer be picking up the Free Press.

That's her prerogative.

I'm always astounded when i receive such calls. I keep thinking that we're progressing as a society. But, I suppose, these things take time.

We cover the Pride Parade because it's an event in our community. To choose not to cover it because it might offend some people, or even worse, because we find it distasteful, would be doing an even greater disservice to our readers.

Firestorm over the hill

Tue, 13 May 2008 13:53:18 -0700

Back in 2004, when the eyes of the province were watching Kelowna and Barriere being razed by wildfires, the largest fire in the province went largely unnoticed.

The Chilko Lake fire, at times, eclipsed 20,000 hectares in size. It threatened the communities of Anahim Lake and Nimpo Lake as it raced north from an area known locally as the Brittany Triangle.

In the end, it only claimed one house, so it paled in comparison to the devastation in the Okanagan and the Thompson Valley. Following the Kelowna and Barriere fires we learned a lot of lessons. All of a sudden ‘interface fires’ became a common term. Communities started developing plans for interface fires and residents were painfully aware of how a little preparation may spare their home in the case of a devastating forest fire.

I was working Williams Lake at the time of the Chilko Lake fire and being the paper of record for the area, we covered the fire extensively. We told some amazing stories about the Chilko Lake fire. Some stories were about the brave effort to fight it (although the province’s first reaction was to let it burn because it was not near civilization), but many stories were also about the nature of the fire.

It was a fire like no other. It was big, of course, but it behaved differently. The fire jumped the Taseko River several times as it burned north. Rivers, especially large ones, are often used as fire breaks as they provide a natural break in the burning forest. Crews built firebreaks along the river, extending the natural firebreaks. It was to no avail. We heard stories of burning pine cones and other debris being carried upwind several miles. Spot fires were breaking out behind workers building firebreaks well ahead of the flames.

One of the other stories we reported about that fire was the difficulty fire crews had in battling the fire on the ground. The reason? The debris on the forest floor was six to eight feet deep. Brush, branches, dead trees, etc., were piled so high firefighters couldn’t even walk through the forest, much less fight a fire in it.

The Brittany Triangle was one of the areas hit by the fire mountain pine beetle attack in the 1980s (for those who like to point fingers, the Brittany Triangle is a stone’s throw away from Tweedsmuir Park). We knew less about the mountain beetle then than we did now. However, much of the beetle-killed forest was left standing. It was discovered that, in the dry Chilcotin Plateau, the wood remained merchantable for many, many years. That time passed and the trees started to decay and fall, creating an impassable quagmire of wood so dry it could ignite from the spark of a skid-plate on rock.

Here we are 20 years later and the amount of timber killed and left to rot in the Chilcotin is miniscule compared to amount that has been killed across the North since then.

So what’s the message here? We need to do something with the beetle-killed timber now, before it becomes a fire hazard of Biblical proportions.

Premier Gordon Campbell gave a wonderfully inspiring speech Friday about how forestry will always be Number 1 in British Columbia and how we need to think differently to deal the challenges ahead. He talked about the mountain pine beetle infestation in Tweedsmuir Park and how the thinking of the day was that it would take care of itself. In today’s world, he said, we can no longer wait for things to take care of itself. Great advice.

Ron Betts, of the Western Silviculture Contractors Association who also raised the fire spectre, told a story of how the province has cut back on the number of trees it plants every year, how fewer surveys of the forest are being done to determine exactly what is happening in the forest, how we’re doing less brushing, less fertilizing, less pruning, and less spacing in our forests.

Yes, it appears we’re not letting things take care of themselves and there’s a firestorm over the hill.

My first newscast

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:02:10 -0700

Find more videos like this on Black Press New Media

Pulitzer storytelling

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:11:47 -0700

I met a Pulitzer Prize winner on the weekend.

Jacqui Banaszynski was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for stories she did about the Ethiopian famine in the 1980s. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her stories AIDS in the Heartland, which was published in 1988, when AIDS was new, unknown, and carried an incredible stigma.

She followed the lives and deaths of two Midwest farmers who were diagnosed with AIDS. At that time little was known about the disease and those suffering from it became pariahs. It was groundbreaking and important stuff. Thing we newspapermen aspire to. I’m a long way from a Pulitzer, but rubbing elbows with someone who has been there is indeed inspiring.

Not only has Banaszynski won a Pulitzer, but she holds the Knight Chair in Editing at the Missouri School of Journalism and is on the visiting faculty of The Poynter Institute. In the newspaper world, that’s big stuff. Hobnobbing with some august company indeed.

Banaszynski was outspoken and down-to-earth. She stressed how important storytelling is to our society and we, in this business, are some of society’s storytellers. It’s important that we do it well.

She also recognized that this business is also rushing to the digital media. A daily deadline used to be tough enough, now we’re always on deadline because we can publish immediately to our Web sites. The worry is that good storytelling will be lost in the rush to get it out fast and first.

Can the two co-exist? Certainly. They have to. We can’t lose our storytellers.

Banaszynski told us why. She told of the incredible experience of spending time in a relief camp in Africa where 75 people died every day and where girls pushed rags into the mud and then pulled them out in an effort to squeeze a few drops of water out of the mud. She told of how, at night, amid the despair and death, the elders in the camp would sing.

Much like North American natives, they used oral histories. What they were doing was telling their stories to the youngsters in hopes that their stories would live on they would be remembered. It becomes very important for those facing death.

Even in a place as rudimentary as a tent camp in the sub-Sahara, storytelling is important to humans. It’s important to us. And, it’s an honour to be a storyteller.

• • •

For those who like generational items, Banaszynski had a good one. Her story about AIDS in the Heartland, as you might guess, is a favourite among her students at the Missouri School of Journalism and the Poynter Institute. If you are going to be taught by a Pulitzer Prize winner, you want to see what they did to win the award.

Banaszynski said most students read her piece and understood it. Remember, it was written during a time when AIDS was feared and those with it were stigmatized. One student, she said, told her he didn’t get it. It was just a story about a couple of gay guys.

My House

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:45:07 -0700

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The dead body story

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:06:43 -0700

his is the story of how the dead body didn’t come to be in Moore’s Meadow. Despite all kinds of rumours flying around, RCMP Const. Gary Godwin says, unequivocally, that the police have not found a body in Moore’s Meadow. We at the Free Press, unwittingly, had a role to play in the rumours.

It all started about a month ago when Black Press editors, including Free Press editor Bill Phillips, met with RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass and some of the other brass at headquarters in Vancouver. One of the things they unveiled to the press at that time was a new Web site. That was on a Tuesday. On Friday, media liaison officers for the RCMP were called down to the Lower Mainland to train on how to use the new Web site.

On Sunday, Free Press staff checked the new Web site and saw that a local press release had been posted stating that someone walking their dog had discovered a body in Moore’s Meadow. We immediately posted the news release to our Web site and dispatched a photographer to the scene.

There was some surprise when our photographer could find no police activity at Moore’s Meadow. We double-checked the Web site to make sure we had the right location. We did, but no one was there.

In the meantime, the RCMP phone lines were starting to burn up. The brass in the Lower Mainland, who monitor the media, saw a story about a body being found in Prince George but the local constabulary had not briefed the higher-ups, which is correct protocol in these matters.

The RCMP weren’t the only one who noticed the story. We had posted the story to the Breaking News section of our Web site, which meant it was immediately picked up by BCLocalNews.com, which re-posted the story on Black Press Web sites across the province. The news spread fast and the family of a man missing in Terrace feared the worst.

The RCMP called us to see where we had got the story from and were somewhat chagrined to learn that we had gotten the information from their Web site. As it turns, out, the story had been posted in error. Part of the RCMP training two days before involved getting officers to write a press release, which they made up on the spot, and then post it to the site. The press releases, which were made up on the spot, weren’t supposed to actually get posted to the site. The Moore’s Meadow body one, however, did.

Lesson learned. In these days of instant communication and instant news, mistakes can also be made in an instant. The rumour of a body being found have percolated around town ever since.

Site Map

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:21:45 -0700

Too big and too rich

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 07:59:59 -0800

A criticism of newspapers is often that we focus on negative news. While

we certainly cover news that can be construed as negative, a close look

at any newspaper will reveal that the vast majority of items are of the

positive variety.

In fact, much of what we do can be termed ‘promotional.’ That is

certainly the case when we promote concerts coming to town. While the

stories are promotional, the benefit for hardened newshounds is that we

get to interview rock stars and other famous people. It’s one of the

perks of the job, plus the stories help get to know the entertainer

coming to town which, in turn, helps ticket and album sales.

For example, Teresa Mallam’s interview with Canadian rock legend Tom

Cochrane was a gem.

But then Big and Rich came to town. When the concert was announced, the

Free Press immediately got on the list for interviews. Big and Rich are,

well, a big act. They sold out in 45 minutes.

That’s when things changed. We received a call from the Big and Rich

people just before Christmas saying that because the concert was sold

out, they wouldn’t be doing an interview with us prior to the show. Big

and Rich are, apparently, very busy, and would focus their interview

time elsewhere i.e. where they haven’t sold out.

For me, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It leaves me with the

impression that they are only concerned about the money. A story, even

with a sold out concert, is all about the readers – the fans.

As far as I’m concerned, they’re just too big and too rich.

Press Council complaint

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:07:34 -0700

It's a first for me.

The Prince George Metis Housing Society has filed a complaint with the British Columbia Press Council against the Prince George Free Press and reporter Arthur Williams.

Even though I have been in the newspaper business for more than 20 years, this is the first time I've been involved in a press council complaint.

We have been investigating the Metis Housing Society over the past few months after residents complained they were being evicted without cause. Our investigation has revealed that the society sent residents a notice in May that having pets was contrary to their lease agreement and that those who have been evicted were all aware of why their leases weren't renewed.

The housing society has taken exception to some of our stories and, thus, filed the complaint. The process involves us filing a response to the Press Council, which will then try and mediate a resolution.

If that doesn't work, the Press Council will hold a hearing and the ruling of the press council will be binding on the Free Press. We all hope that we can reach a solution to the issue before that happens.

As I said previously, this is entirely new ground for me so I really don't know what to expect.

Covering the Gay Pride Parade

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:11:12 -0700

It never ceases to amaze me.

I returned from holidays today and was greeted by the usual mountain of mail. One particular letter caught my eye. It was unsigned and there was no return address. The letter writer was taking exception to our coverage of the Gay Pride Parade in Prince George a couple of weeks ago.

The author said they had nothing against homosexuals, but felt that the paper shouldn't "shove it on us straights." The author didn't quite understand that the fact he or she doesn't want to see such items in the newspaper means they have a problem with homosexuals.

It's those who don't think they're bigoted, but really are, who are the biggest problem.

Moving pictures

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:24:31 -0700

Video killed the radio star ... or so the song goes. Could it be that video killed the newspaper star as well? I certainly hope not, unless, of course, I become a video star instead.

The age of video has arrived at the Prince George Free Press. We are now uploading video to our website at www.pgfreepress.com.

There isn't much there now as we are taking baby steps with this new medium. We are, after all, print journalists not videographers. But we are adapting. The Free Press is one of the test papers in the chain for experimenting with video uploading to our websites. Our readers and website visitors want their news in a variety of ways so it is incumbent on us to provide news and information in styles and formats that our customers want.

The advent of You Tube (where our videos are located) and better technology has made video journalism a reality for many people.

We are already gathering the news of the community for print, so it only makes sense that we do it for video as well. It is a more complete news package.

We hope you enjoy it. Bear with us as we learn the ropes of this new way of presenting the news. And keep checking our website for breaking news of both the print and video variety.

Media responsibility on reporting crimes

Wed, 30 May 2007 10:20:30 -0700

What is the role of the media when a crime is being committed? Should they report on the crime or should they report the crime to the police?

I was a little astounded last week when I saw, on television, members of the Anti Poverty Committee trashing offices of Olympic officials in Vancouver. I wasn't astounded by the fact someone was trashing the offices – such civil disobedience does happen from time to time.

What I found astounding was the revelation that several media outlets were right there with the Anti Poverty Committee folks gleefully filming the mayhem. Apparently the media were alerted that the committee was going to be at the offices. Granted, the media probably weren't apprised of the fact, beforehand, the group planned to trash the offices.

However, when the group started to commit a crime, what was the responsibility of the media? Those who filmed it will tell you their role is to simply report what was going on. I have to admit, getting a picture or footage of a crime in progress is juicy stuff for the media.

But I also think the media, and reporters, have roles to play as citizens too. We can't simply remove ourselves from society and pretend that we don't exist in the same world as those we report on. We do. Yes we have a responsibility to report the news, but we also have a responsibility to society.

What I'd like to know is whether any of those news outlets willingly turned over their footage to the RCMP or whether any of the reporters there, when they saw a crime being committed, bothered to call 911.

You can bet that if any of those people trashing the offices had turned on the media, the reporters there would want the full protection of the law of the land.

Story comes back to bite

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:27:40 -0700

One of the wonderful, okay crazy, things about this job is you never know what will get a rise out of people. After you've been in the job a while you can get a pretty good idea. However, there are still surprises. One of those surprises came this morning.

On Friday we ran a story about a local couple seeking help for veterinary costs for this dog, which has impacted teeth.

I received a call this morning from a man who was very angry ... and I mean very angry ... about the story. He said the story was a slap in the face to all the kids who didn't get a meal last night. He's got a point. He was upset with the fact that we would run such a story. On that one, we didn't quite see eye-to-eye.

I obviously felt it was a story, otherwise it wouldn't have run in the Free Press. Granted, it may be excessive for people to ask for donations to help them with vet bills for their dog, but that is judgment call for the public to make. If the public doesn't agree with it, they don't have to donate or, as I suggested to the man who called, write a letter to the editor.

As editors, we don't have to agree with what people are doing to publish stories about them. If we did, the paper would be pretty bland. The story about this couple and their dog was a touching story. Anyone who has had to weigh the cost of a hefty vet bill to keep their pet alive can relate to the story. They are facing a tough, gut-wrenching decision. We can all relate, and for that reason it is a legitimate story.

Photos

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 21:33:59 -0700

Here are some of my favourite photos. I hope you enjoy them, as much I as I enjoyed taking them and being there if they were taken of me.

Writer's Block

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 21:04:28 -0700

This section is a collection of my Writers Block columns, which appear in the Wednesday edition of the Free Press.

Bill Phillips

Working on the farm this week

ATVer ruins dog park

Driving Miss Daisy

Shoddy journalism

Examining the NDP planks

Provincial campaign is underway

VIDEO: Andy Rooney's homage to newspapers

The Old Red Barn

Me and Daisy, our new puppy

Year in Review

A softwood carbon deal?

Election post-mortem

MP boycotting local newspapers

Canadians embracing change?

My new puppy

All I got is a photograph

VIDEO - Prince George election night

VIDEO – Get out and vote tomorrow

More on endorsing candidates

VIDEO - Remembrance Day at the Cenotaph

Cenotaph in Fernie with my namesake's name on it. William Phillips was my grandfather's brother and he was killed in the First World War.

Endorsing candidates

Everyone looking for an election advantage

Mayoral candidates talk business

VIDEO - More from mayoral debate

VIDEO - Mayoral debate at UNBC

Identifying who's who

10,000 steps

Election's over, time for religion

Two people killed in 'targeted' attack

Debating the debaters in our leaders debate

Our moralistic society

Firestorm over the hill

My first newscast

Pulitzer storytelling

My House

The dead body story

Site Map

Too big and too rich

Press Council complaint

Covering the Gay Pride Parade

Moving pictures

Media responsibility on reporting crimes

Story comes back to bite

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