A Vancouver Sun Editor responds to one controversy, the Financial Post remains silent on another.

Integrity.

The local real estate blogosphere has good reason to question the existence of it in our media the past year or so.

• We've seen stories local real estate agents of Asian descent taken on helicopter rides and portrayed as  eager Chinese buyers,
• we've seen a real estate agent pose as a customer while promoting a groupon-style real estate scheme,
• we've had real estate marketing company employees pose as Asian buyers to create the impression of a buying frenzy for Chinese New Year, and
• we've seen fake pictures of a mansion from a real estate agent's website generate worldwide interest for a house that doesn't exist.

All of these examples did not require a great amount of sleuthing to conclude they were not as they appeared. It has many questioning the integrity of the news media and whether the media has been playing a passive role in some of these manipulations.

This sentiment was recently compounded when a highly misleading "newsvertising" article - which required a certain amount of legwork to determine that it was actually a paid advertising feature rather than real news - came out.

Because of this skeptics now find themselves questioning EVERYTHING presented in the media regarding real estate.

Last week it was the validity of Vancouver Sun photo galleries that profile real estate topics.

If the Sun/Province conglomerate can sell adverting through it's 'focus' section and construct that advertising so that it's dressed up like regular news, is it such a stretch to imagine they are selling access to their photo gallery feature as a promotional tool?

The web editor of the Vancouver Sun is Bethany Lindsay.  Here is her LinkedIn profile:

Last night Ms. Lindsay responded directly to this concern. Here is what she had to say:

I'm the Vancouver Sun web editor responsible for that Pricey Pads gallery, so I thought I should probably chime in here. This was absolutely *not* paid content. Real estate galleries do very well for us online -- people got nuts for them for whatever reason -- and Pricey Pads is an easy source to find outrageous listings. On the day in question, I arrived at work at 5 p.m., caught myself up on the news of the day, then clicked on priceypads.com, where I saw this real estate comparison. It was easy click bait and I couldn't resist doing a gallery. Hope that clears things up a bit.

We thank Ms. Lindsay for addressing the issue.

When advertising is presented in a way that it is easily passed as actual news, it brings the integrity of the media into question.  When example after example becomes commonplace, no one is sure what to believe. In the case of Pricey Pads, they became a victim of that doubt.

That's why addressing any concerns (or rigorously following up on them once identified) is so important.

When those local real estate agents of Asian descent were taken on helicopter rides and portrayed as buyers from China, the farce was revealed here by VREAA and here by Garth Turner. But the public was not told the truth behind what happened at the time.

When a realtor posed as a customer while promoting a groupon-style real estate scheme, the story was covered here and here and on other blogs... but no clarification was forthcoming in the press.

When MAC Marketing was caught lying about the identity of their employees in a TV news story, President Cameron MacNeill promised the press he would investigate what happened and take action.  We're still waiting for the media to detail exactly what he found out.

Those shortcomings in the coverage of these incidents harm the credibility of our media.

Currently we have the case of the recent Financial Post news story titled "Home is where the retirement money is". Has there been a serious breach of journalistic ethics committed here?

For those who are not aware, on March 28th and March 29th we posted that sharp-eyed blogosphere sleuths had noticed that the Financial Post article failed to mention that the couple profiled in the story worked for the very mortgage broker company discussed so prominently in the piece.

With that knowledge, the article appears to be little more than a glorified ad for the mortgage broker.

Further examination revealed that the author of the story, Denise Deveau, is a freelance reporter who apparently works for two communications companies who specialize in obtaining media attention for their clients; BlueSky (BS) Communications and Echo Communications. Up until this week, Deveau appeared on the websites of those two firms as an employee.

Is there not an inherent conflict of interest (or at least the appearance of a conflict of interest) when a member of two communications companies (who specialize in gaining access to media for their clients) writes for the Financial Post?

The Financial Post amended their original article to reflect the employment connection between the profiled couple and the mortgage broker. It's a great first step. But it looks like any link to an apparent 'conflict of interest' is being covered up it gains widespread attention.

Yesterday we told you how BS Communications moved to delete any on-line reference to their working relationship with Deveau. Now it appears the other communications firm, Echo Communications, is doing the same thing.

Here is the Echo Communications "Team" page two days ago as seen in the google cache. Denise Deveau is the second name down:

 Here is Deveau's profile that used to be on that site:

These two references have been deleted from that website.  Now the Echo Communications "Team" page looks like this:

Doesn't it strike you as odd that all online references to Denise Deveau by either of these communications companies has been erased this week from the internet?

Rather then step forward, provide an explanation, and account for what occurred here; all we appear to be getting is an attempt to cover up tracks. Why?

This issue needs to be addressed by the Financial Post.

It is crucial to the integrity of the print media, given the recent examples of real estate industry press manipulation, that this story be addressed and the swirling questions answered.

Was Deveau, a freelance reporter, working on behalf of these communications companies (and by extension, the Vancouver mortgage brokerage company) when she submitted what amounts to a glorified advertisement for Ivis Team RRP to the Financial Post?

If she was working for anyone in a communications PR capacity - and she used her freelance position as a writer with the Financial Post as a lever to obtain media coverage for them - was the Financial Post aware of what she was doing before the article was published?

The 'cleansing' currently taking place to remove any reference of Deveau from these company websites merely strengthens the appearance of a conflict of interest and in the modern world of the internet and social media, ignoring the story only compounds the negative speculation.

If CBC-TV and CTV-TV can respond to questions raised in the MAC Marketing fiasco, if Vancouver Province on-line web editor Erik Rolfsen can respond to the fake mansion story, and if Vancouver Sun on-line web editor Bethany Lindsay can respond to questions about the Sun's photo gallery... then surely the Financial Post can respond when legitimate concerns are raised about an apparent conflict of interest by one of their reporters?

It's important the public know what happened here. We need to know that the 'news' printed in our newspapers isn't simply a conduit for real estate industry advertising.

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Email: village_whisperer@live.ca
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Newsvertising: the issue here is journalistic integrity.

It's been interesting to see some of the reaction to our two recent posts about "Newsvertising" (see here and here).

The issue: paid advertisements dressed up as legitimate news stories, particularly when presented in a way which doesn't clearly inform that what you are reading isn't news.

There are those, like realtor Arnold Shuchat, who understand the importance of what we are saying. From a comment he made to our post on the topic:

Obviously, the real trick these days is finding people with a modicum of integrity. People have a tendency to believe the printed word and to be more ready and willing to accept journalistic reports from a major news source as facts. Well, the newspapers and those who rely on them for their latest market intelligence deserve each other!

One would probably be better served to take a contrarian approach to most newspaper reports dealing with real estate investment. As has been said before, "buy on bad news and sell on good news".

At least when it comes to reporting, the "Blog" has shown that it can weather criticism and using the strength and depth of its readership, can unearth truth to a greater and more objective standard.

Good report Whisperer.... story needs to be told!

Shuchat is absolutely right, this is a story that needs to be told.

Unfortunately there are others who simply don't get it:

Sigh.

The point is that the Vancouver Province/Sun conglomerate has already demonstrated they are willing to take paid advertisements and present them as actual news stories with little or no indication that what you are reading isn't real news.

By doing this, they bring into question the integrity of all the other news stories they publish. The two gallery spots that we focused on yesterday are just examples of the doubt that is raised.

Let's face it, how does a posting comparing the insane real estate in Vancouver with another city in North America end up being profiled in the Vancouver Sun within hours of it being originally posted at Pricey Pads?

To get published in the Vancouver Sun that fast means that the Sun would have had to independently came across the PP article within moments of it being posted, which defies all rational credulity.

Which is why it raises the spectre that the Sun's Gallery feature is probably a paid advertising feature. If it is advertising, the public deserves be told so:

This isn't an issue about Pricey Pads having done something wrong (they haven't, at worst all they have done is bought advertising to promote their site), it's about journalistic integrity.

And when that integrity is brought into doubt, you start to question everything.

Take this Gallery which appeared in yesterday's paper.

From the description:

Architect John Hollifield has taken 20 years to completely rebuild this family home, now listed for $2.68 million. The main floor boasts light open space, with flowing principal and natural light pouring in from the adjacent sunroom. Located in Vancouver's exclusive Point Grey neighbourhood, this home is close to some of the best schools that the city has to offer, as well as the almost limitless amenities of West 10th Avenue and the sandy beaches of Spanish Banks.

From the photo caption:

Architect John Hollifield has taken 20 years to completely rebuild this family home. The main floor boasts light open space, with flowing principal and natural light pouring in from the adjacent sunroom. Located in Vancouver's exclusive Point Grey neighbourhood, this home is close to some of the best schools that the city has to offer, as well as the almost limitless amenities of West 10th Avenue and the unique sandy beaches of Spanish Banks. For more information, visit Sotheby's International Realty Canada.

News story or a real estate ad?

Some might argue that because a well known architect has been labouring for 2 decades to bring this property to market for sale, it's a noteworthy news story. But if you click on the Sotheby's link, you go to actual real estate listing.  There you learn "this home represents the culmination of a full 20 years of progressive refinement."

Progressive refinement?

So basically this guy (who works as an architect) has been doing ongoing improvements to the house he's lived in over the past 20 years and now he's decided to sell it.... and somehow this is news?

It looks like another dressed-up real estate ad to us. 

The Vancouver Sun/Province shouldn't be in a position where people are questioning whether they are looking at actual journalism or if they are looking at an advertisement.

Journalistic integrity is the basic foundation of any news organization. Even Alphabet Arnie understands this.

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Email: village_whisperer@live.ca
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Please read disclaimer at bottom of blog.

Newsvertising 2: Are there other sections of the Vancouver Sun/Province that are nothing more than real estate advertising dressed up as news?

Yesterday we introduced you to the topic of 'Newsvertising',  a disturbing trend wherin our City's major daily newspapers publish paid advertisements dressed up as legitimate news stories; executed in a way that doesn't clearly tell you that what you are reading isn't news.

You pay them and they make it look like news.

Marvellous.

It's a disturbing journalistic development, especially when leveraged by a real estate industry desperate to 'massage' rapidly falling consumer confidence; confidence which we are now told is dropping faster than ever before.

It begs the question: what other news sections in the Sun/Province portfolio are the editors prepared to journalistically pimp out?

Did you happen to catch two more of those real estate Gallery portfolio's that the Vancouver Sun ran over the past week? You know... like the one that profiled the infamous fake mansion in West Vancouver.

There was this one on March 21st which compared what you could buy in Vancouver vs. Roswell, Georgia.

And then,  on March 25th, the Sun ran another comparing what you could buy in Vancouver with Beverly Hills, California.

In each of these cutsie infotainment-style news pieces the Vancouver Sun gave credit to the originating source, a luxury real estate blog called PriceyPads.com

Faithful readers probably recognized the comparative style format at play from local blog The Thirties Grind. That's where writer Melissa Carr has spent the last year cranking out real estate comparisons in a feature titled the Absurd Vancouver Property of the Week.

Carr has been earning a certain level of notoriety as Global TV and CKNW radio have taken to regularly inviting her on-air to discuss the insanity.

Enter Pricey Pads.

Pricey Pads (PP) has a strong local Vancouver presence and bills itself as a "luxury real estate" blog.  Run by Mitch Cal, he says:

Pricey Pads was created as a way to showcase the greatest Estates and Mansions around the world. It continues it’s goal to compile updated lists of the world’s most expensive luxury Real Estate and Rentals in todays market. Keep checking back for frequent updates and new and exciting features! Be sure to “Become a Fan” of Pricey Pads Facebook Fan Page to see much more content.

Interested advertisers can contact PP for property listings, advertising and support/requests.

Cal even boasts that PP has "worked with the Auctioneers auctioning Sheryl Crow’s Estate on an advertising campaign and have been involved with a number of Realtors from Canada, Brasil and the United States to help market their properties."

Real estate promotion seems to be PP's gig.

One thing PP doesn't regularly do, however, is profile Vancouver properties in a value-vs-value format with other North American cities. From what we can see, this is something new for them.

Incredibly this hasn't deterred Pricey Pads from achieving an astonishing level of success in garnering media attention with their new concept. One can only marvel at the speed in which they were able to gain major newspaper coverage not once, but twice in the same week with their new feature.

It took Melissa Carr and The Thirties Grind over a year to crack Vancouver's major media and gain exposure.

PP seems to have pulled it off in less than a day.

You see, PP published their Vancouver vs. Roswell, Georgia comparison on their website on March 21st. Later that same day it appeared in the Vancouver Sun.

That's impressive.

Presumably some sharp, eagle-eyed editor just happened upon the Pricey Pad piece the moment it was posted and said, "wow... we need to pick up on this and print it in our newspaper. Our readers would find this very interesting!" 

Suddenly the Sun has their latest real estate oriented human interest story for us and Pricey Pads benefits from unexpected media attention to their website link in the Vancouver papers locally, and nationally as the gallery feature syndicates across the country.

Riiight!

You don't suppose Pricey Pads paid the Vancouver Sun to feature them in their little infotainment Gallery, do you?

How can this be though?... There's no indication that what we are looking at is a paid real estate advertising feature. No indication that the Sun is actually running a promotion to drive web traffic to a for-profit website.

Newsvertising. 

It's the formula by which a once respected news organization sells it's journalistic integrity and soul in a misguided attempt to financially survive.

Based on what we have shown you the last two days, how can you trust the actual motive/source behind anything printed about real estate from an organization employing this formula?

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Email: village_whisperer@live.ca
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Please read disclaimer at bottom of blog.

Newsvertising: First we had 'fake' helicopter tours. Then we had 'fake buyers. Next came a 'fake' mansion. Now do we have 'fake' news?

First we had "fake" helicopter tours.  Then there were 'fake' asian buyers for Chinese New Year.  Next we had a "fake" mansion.  Now do we have "fake" news created so that our cities' major daily newspapers can sell real estate advertising?

Last decade news entertainment, or “infotainment,” dominated the news landscape. Sharply scorned by many traditional journalists and academics for focusing on “entertainment” rather than “news,” the practice has taken hold notwithstanding.

The trend has been for news programs to make their broadcasts more entertaining to gain ratings. By incorporating more lighthearted presentations or human interest stories into newscasts, they could hold their audience. While there is still a line between a traditionally hard news approach and infotainment, the current media climate has blurred the distinction.

This decade, with the rise of the internet and the explosion in social media, that line is being blurred even more as print media fights for their very survival.

To stem corporate losses, newspapers have taken to raising the price of their subscriptions and news-stand copies. They have also taken to instituting 'paywalls', methods of charging readers for online content. But it's not enough.  An in desperation another disturbing trend is starting to emerge.

The news media has always been targets for product pitches of one form or another.  Businesses and politicians have always bombarded mass media with press releases designed to promote self interests. From time to time media has picked up on these 'press releases' in the name of informing about 'public interest' stories. And no sector of society has seized on this tendency like real estate marketers.

Stories with a real estate theme have reached legendary status on the Wet Coast, particularly when it is revealed these stories are nothing more that shills or manipulations of the media. (On that note, The TYEE has an excellent article out by Shannon Rupp worth reading titled: Why Blog when you can Flog which outlines the Industry's attempt to manipulate the blogosphere)

But what is disturbing here is that the print media now views the rapacious demands as something to exploit. And exploit it they are. It's a trend we call "Newsvertising."

Real estate marketers crave media spots in the news. And nothing garners attention like a news story profiling your development in a positive way.  Until now that sort of attention has been free!

But not anymore.

Rather than be the lackey who provides 'free advertising", print outlets like the Vancouver Sun/Province appear to be seizing on an untapped opportunity to sell their journalistic souls.

It used to be, if you wanted to advertise you product under the veil of a news story, you had to suffer the ignominy of having a banner placed above your 'fake' news story that read "ADVERTISING FEATURE"

However the moment people see the term "ADVERTISING FEATURE", they tune it out. Makes selling that sort of advertising virtually impossible.

Enter the Vancouver Sun/Province's latest gambit: incorporating advertising so that it appears as "news" without outwardly announcing it's not.

"Newsvertising": the next step for print media.

You can see the tactic here:

This March 21st Vancouver Province story has all the hallmarks of a human interest real estate news story, but it's not a news story.It's an "advertisement feature" cleverly disguised as a news article.

Scroll to the bottom of the 'story' and you will see this:

When you go to the link: theprovince.com/focus you are instantly taken to the Vancouver Sun/Province advertising rates page. This little blip at the bottom is all there is to discern this as an 'ad' from other regular news articles.

And it doesn't stop at fake human interest news stories, The Province appears to be faking hard core news too.

On March 15, 2013 the Province ran this "ADVERTISING FEATURE" dressed up like regular news: 

The headline screams: "Real-estate sales finally recovering: Tighter mortgage rules had put a freeze on activity"

(This while some of the past decades worst year-over-yeary monthly sales figures are recorded) 

Just like the real estate human interest story from March 21st, the bottom of this feature also has that small direction to the province/focus section. Only this time it isn't a hyperlink. You can't click on it and discover you were have been directed to a page detailing advertising rates.  This time you being have to go the extra step of copying and pasting the url into your browser to discover it's an ad.

If you had a print copy of the newspaper, it's even worse.

For all intents and purposes it looks just like a real news article:

Presumably all of this is perfectly legal. But is it ethical?

What are you going to do?  Go find a computer to find out your reading an ad in your hard copy newspaper?

We showed this story to 41 different people on the weekend.  NOT ONE realized they were looking at an advertisement.

Who paid for this ad? What company placed it? You don't have a clue.

The major daily newspapers in our City appear to be so desperate for ad revenue that they have taken to prostituting their journalistic ethics for a quick buck. All while the public is being served up highly misleading advertisements presented as news.

Each and every one of the 41 people we showed the article to felt manipulated and deceived when they were shown the 'news story' was actually an ad.

The Canadian Association of Journalists principles for ethical journalism state:

Journalists have the duty and privilege to seek and report the truth, encourage civic debate to build our communities, and serve the public interest. We vigorously defend freedom of expression and freedom of the press as guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We return society’s trust by practising our craft responsibly and respecting our fellow-citizens’ rights.

Presenting these ads in this fashion, in our opinion, isn't responsible. Nor is it properly presenting the truth. And we certainly don't think it's serving the public interest.

If you agree and wish to complain about these practices by the Vancouver Sun or Province you can file a complaint online with Industry Canada about misleading advertisements.

You deserve to know when you are looking at an ad instead of a news story and you deserve to know who is responsible for placing that ad.

You deserve more from your print media.

If they won't give that respect to you, maybe it's time to start demanding it?

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Email: village_whisperer@live.ca
Click 'comments' below to contribute to this post.

Please read disclaimer at bottom of blog.