A blog by Calgary freelance writer Jeremy Klaszus.

A new low for Calgary journalism

Posted by Jeremy Klaszus in Klaszus Corner

In case you missed it, the Calgary Herald is falling all over itself reporting on a new mall that opened north of the city today. The paper just can't get enough of the new place. Yesterday there was a column about the mall on the front page of the city section. Then today, a front page, above-the-fold story (and another one tucked inside, right behind an ad for — you guessed it — a store in the mall).

If the paper had stopped there, it would have been business as usual. After all, this kind of over-the-top boosterism is commonplace in the Herald. (Just pick up the paper during Stampede for evidence.) But no: the paper had to go and assign two of its writers to live blog the mall's opening.

Yes, you read that right. Calgary's largest daily newspaper — the so-called paper of record — is live blogging the opening of a shopping mall. And we're not talking about some blog tucked away in the bowels of CanWest's website. No, it's been the top story on calgaryherald.com today.

There, readers are being treated to such journalistic insights as: "Food court is jammed, music pumping.. Feels like a concert at the Saddledome. Lineup for the Gap Generation is deep."

And: "Good news for sports fans. Nine flat screen TVs in a circle above seats in a resting area! All turned to sports channels!"

And: "Almost bought a nice leather man bag at Fossil for $119, marked down from $219. Resisted."

And so on.

This comes a day after the Calgary Sun ran one of the worst pieces of writing I've ever read, a ludicrous editorial headlined "New Team Canada hockey jersey too Native." It seems our two dailies are in a stiff competition to see which paper can be less insightful. They're both doing a pretty good job of it. (To be fair to the Sun, the editorial in question was penned by someone at the Toronto Sun — but still.)

Makes me think back to journalism school, when some genius student editor decided to turn the front page of the student newspaper into an ad for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Said editor thought the chain's expansion into Canada was worthy of front page news treatment. Our instructors disagreed, and after the paper was published, they let us know as much. Turning a front page into empty boosterism isn't journalism, they said. And they were right.

It's sad to see a major Canadian newspaper making the same blatant errors in judgment. It strikes me as a low point for journalism in this city. Sure, the mall's opening is newsworthy, but the Herald is fawning over the new mall like CNN fawned over Michael Jackson's corpse. It's embarrassing and appalling.

But there's a glimmer of hope: in the time it took me to write this blog post, the Herald bumped its mall live blog from the top slot on its website and replaced it with another story.

Another story about the mall, of course.


more in News     |     posted Aug 19th, 2009 at 3:22pm     

Comments: 24

amattson wrote:

Great post Jeremy. You're right that this kind of thing should have stayed in J-school, and it's unfortunate but understandable that no one in Calgary is talking about it.

Who wants to work at a daily now anyway...

on Aug 19th, 2009 at 4:03pm Report Abuse

djkelly wrote:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought their coverage was over the top and kind of garish. But the native comments about the hockey jersey were far worse in my opinion. I'd rather air on the side of empty boosterism than heartfelt racism.

on Aug 19th, 2009 at 4:52pm Report Abuse

John Manzo wrote:

G&M reported on it as the litmus test for the resurgence of retail health for the entire country. And it is after all big.

The Herald "boosts" the burbs. I don't see it as a "booster" for MY Calgary at all.

on Aug 19th, 2009 at 5:36pm Report Abuse

John Manzo wrote:

...my point in referencing the G&M is that it's not just the Herald that's "sinning" here. CBC, CTV, the Sun and even our "national" paper are all reporting the fuck out of this.

on Aug 19th, 2009 at 5:38pm Report Abuse

Jeremy Klaszus wrote:

Glad to be having this conversation, amattson. It is indeed unfortunate that it's not talked about more.

I agree DJ — the Sun piece was appalling, worse than any over-the-top coverage of a mall opening. But it's the Sun, so it's not completely surprising. They do, after all, publish the nutty rants of folks like Michael Coren. And they have those goofy one-liners after every letter to the editor. In other words, the Sun wasn't exactly a bastion of journalistic insight before that editorial got published yesterday. That doesn't excuse the editorial, but to an extent it's predictable Sun fare.

The Herald has arguably held itself to a higher standard over the years. And while it also has its share of goofball columnists (don't even get me started on that), it regularly publishes solid reporting, specifically on provincial politics and municipal affairs. I think that's why this is so disappointing: The paper could be so much better than it is. It SHOULD be better than it is. The Herald should be above this kind of stuff (the mall love-fest). It's not an unreasonable expectation.

John — to be fair to the Herald (and all the other media reporting on this), I think the story of the mall's opening is newsworthy. It's a big building on a big piece of land and it's already attracting a large clientele. It's a worthy city story in my mind; it's just not worthy of Michael Jackson-style coverage. (And it wouldn't hurt if the coverage was a bit more critical, too.)

I should stress that there are some great people who work at both daily newspapers. Both papers do some good work, but the Sun's editorial yesterday was indefensible and I'm pretty sure live blogging a mall opening and making it the top story was a poor decision as well.

on Aug 19th, 2009 at 7:35pm Report Abuse

Mistereh wrote:

djkelly, your observation:
"I'd rather air on the side of empty boosterism than heartfelt racism"
made me think that that applies to a lot of journalism, ie. hot air at that.
And to err on the side of empty boosterism rather than racism would be preferred too.

on Aug 19th, 2009 at 10:38pm Report Abuse

sillydebate wrote:

I'm sure the Herald and the rest of the Canwest media corner store is catering to every potential sponsor they can as its readership dwindles. Any regular review of the Herald over the last few months would show a strong pro-developer bias in re the Plan It debate.

With the bipolar mood swings from victims and villains to heroes on the Sun's front pages and the Herald's catering to the short term interests of their potential advertisers rather than the long-term interests of the community.

Jeremy, apart from this dissection, your sustained work at FFWD has been solid of late. Thanks!

on Aug 19th, 2009 at 10:50pm Report Abuse

laricasurf wrote:

There used to be a really beautiful meadow where that mall is now.

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 2:38am Report Abuse

gferguson wrote:

Thanks, Jeremy. Great article!

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 9:32am Report Abuse

sullyD wrote:

he says as FFWD practically publishes a studio movie poster for Inglorious Basterds on its front page with glowing editorial inside.

practice what you preach.

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 10:45am Report Abuse

sickgrrll wrote:

Great article indeed!!

Also, a bit off topic (and on topic I guess)....watching people flock to malls makes me feel an irrational and ridiculous rage and hatred for all human beings. I think it is a symbol of moral weakness to treat a mall opening like some kind of religious occurence let alone a newsworthy item. I wish people lined up the same way at the last city or provincial election.

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 10:51am Report Abuse

sickgrrll wrote:

Sullyd, care to elaborate? Your comments (criticism) make no sense to me, please help them make sense. How are the two topics comparable?

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 10:53am Report Abuse

bazookajoe wrote:

dear sully! its an entertainment paper reviewing a much anticipated movie??
duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhh

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 11:08am Report Abuse

kirkieboy wrote:

but you expect this sort of thing from the mainstream dailys. there's no disappointment because there's no expectation of proper conduct to begin with.

for me the low point of journalism in this city is ffwd's full page, full colour cigarette ads.

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 12:46pm Report Abuse

Jeremy Klaszus wrote:

SullyD — you're kidding, right? We're an alt-weekly and the bulk of our paper is arts coverage. Putting the new Tarantino flick on the cover (and having a favourable story inside) is hardly comparable to live-blogging the opening of a mall. If we live-blogged the opening of a new theatre showing the film I could see a comparison, but as is, I don't see it at all.

There's nothing wrong with covering something (a film, a store, whatever) positively. A paper that slagged everything it covered would be dull and predictable. But vapid, uncritical cheerleading is also dull, and there's way too much of it at the Herald.

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 12:57pm Report Abuse

HeavyMetalHeathen wrote:

kirkieboy, it seems that the dailies have succeeded in washing your brain -- blurring your comprehension of the words journalism and advertising. Rational citizens know that advertising is not journalism.

journalism [jur-nl-iz-uhm] –noun: the collecting, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles in newspapers and magazines and in radio and television broadcasts.

advertisement [ad-ver-tahyz-muhnt] –noun: a paid announcement, as of goods for sale, in newspapers or magazines, on radio or television, etc.

Seems distinguishable to me.

on Aug 20th, 2009 at 1:41pm Report Abuse

Just Jonathan wrote:

Hear hear for Jeremy's astute observation. Both papers, especially the Herald are especially trite & shallow.
It is indicative of management LCD philosophy (Lowest Common Denominator) and in my opinion reporters that are either told to write as such or a lack of journalistic curiousity.

Whereas in this forum, you have something that these rags don't do, and that is promote a "dialogue". Jeremy has responded individually and specifically to feedback. Surprise! The comments also reflect a greater level of intelligence and discussion. Harpers is one of the few magazines that has authors respond to critics or comments. That provides insights and clarification as opposed to "Sermons from the Mount" without having to justify what they print.

By the by, I think Jeremy is one of the few real journalists out there, even though I disagree that the Herald covers provincial & municipal affairs well.

I have asked The Herald (Licia Corbella) if The Herald has a
"Code of Ethics". No response.
Guess where this comes from......1. Adhere to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance,
independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professional ones.
( Al Jazeera actually.)

It has been rather telling that this whole "Economic Crisis" blindsided these papers...Charles Frank the business editor from The Herald had stated "that nobody saw it coming, including their own experts". I queried him as to what experts that he was referring to....Peter Schiff perhaps? Of course, no response nor feedback.
I would reckon realtors & other self interests would be the said "experts".
It is hard to fathom that a city as frantic as this for the last 8 years recieves such abysmal newspaper coverage!

That's my 2 cents worth.

on Aug 21st, 2009 at 10:22am Report Abuse

dog dog wrote:

> There used to be a really beautiful meadow where that mall is now.

There used be a beautiful forest where downtown Calgary is now.

on Aug 28th, 2009 at 1:23pm Report Abuse

Harju wrote:

From any picture I've seen, Calgary was built on prairie grassland, A few groves of trees around the river banks and shrubs but no "forest".
From my experience of driving past the area a few hundred times over the years, I'm not sure how cultivated fields and cow pasture translates into a "beautiful meadow".

on Aug 28th, 2009 at 5:59pm Report Abuse

dog dog wrote:

Can we have the groves of trees downtown back then?

on Aug 28th, 2009 at 10:29pm Report Abuse

identity_crisis wrote:

@ laricasurf wrote: "There used to be a really beautiful meadow where that mall is now."

True. I am going to write a lost meadow blog. And the wildflowers and spongy prairie will place ads in my psyche.

on Aug 29th, 2009 at 10:31am Report Abuse

laricasurf wrote:

That is very Thoreauish of you.

on Aug 29th, 2009 at 9:38pm Report Abuse

artsScene wrote:

The Herald coverage is a further blurring of the lines between advertising content and editorial content. It would be interesting to count the number of ads from retailers in the mall that appear in the Herald over the next month. I would bet that there will be many.

on Sep 3rd, 2009 at 11:11am Report Abuse

Kirstin_M wrote:

Jeremy, you were fast to jump all over SullyD, but I do think he/she had a point. Though I think you could have countered him/her by pointing out all the cutting-edge community reporting FFWD does do, filling a niche that the Herald seems to almost entirely neglect. I'd prefer that you talk about what you guys are doing right before slamming someone who had a concern.

on Sep 6th, 2009 at 12:01am Report Abuse


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