Glacier Media is the parent company of the Times Colonist. Both Glacier and the TC are paying members of the UDI development/Real Estate lobby and the TC is an open “Media Partner” with it, which for many has put their status as independent local media reporting on Real Estate issues into serious question.
How can the media practice unbiased, independent research and journalism on issues like Real Estate and development when they are an official media partner and member with their lobby?
How can the media be considered local, when major international money is flowing as a conduit through these sectors, thus changing the urban landscape forever in the interests of global finance?
To quote Glacier Media’s website:
https://www.glaciermedia.ca/sectors/real-estate
“Glacier Media offers the largest residential and commercial real estate exposure in Canada, connecting advertisers with millions of buyers and sellers through our digital and print network.
Our multi-channel marketing solutions are spearheaded by REW, Canada’s leading portal for real estate listings, new home developments and property insights.
Get results for your business with Glacier Media’s custom website design, content creation, social media, digital and print advertising, and search engine marketing.
What we do
Unparalleled real estate industry knowledge
Choosing marketing options can be a challenge when trying to determine which platforms will deliver results for your business, listings and projects. Our comprehensive suite of marketing solutions, specifically designed for the real estate industry, makes choosing the right marketing mix easy for you. We offer one point of contact with deep industry knowledge to generate the most leads for you across Glacier Media products.
Helping buyers find their perfect home
Our two residential brands, Real Estate Weekly Homes and REW (Real Estate Wire), are about more than just real estate – they’re about finding people homes. We are committed to providing the best print and online sources of new and resale homes in the hottest real estate markets in the country.”
Connecting agents and new home developers to the community
Our product depth, market coverage and wide-ranging offerings connect agents and brokers with home buyers and real estate investors. Our comprehensive listings attract the region’s most affluent, active home buyers and real estate investors – meaning that your real estate business can’t afford not to work with Glacier Media’s real estate team.”
Don’t get me wrong, I get that newspapers have traditionally relied on Real Estate ads for revenue and developing a modern web system for related searches would make rational business sense for the evolving industry.
What I and others have had serious issue with though is the open partnership with the lobby for those sectors. At what time does this cross the line from journalism to public relations for the industry?
A democracy is reliant on a free press to function and to survive, but as has been noted: there are far more people working in Public Relations than in journalism in Canada (The Tyee Dec 16, 2022). Under these conditions, is the public in power, or is industry?
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Sasha Izard considers that preserving the environment should be our top priority.