24 Hours Vancouver Sees Its Editor Leave: A New Lease On Life for a Potentially GREAT Media Property, Well, Somewhat…

Much has been speculated about the departure of Dean Broughton, former Editor-In-Chief of 24 Hours, from the paper he led since its inception. In particular, the Georgia Straight’s pathetic windbag, Charlie Smith, LOVES to hammer away at any little thing that he’d like to spin that might make 24 Hours look bad. So he was off reporting this story yesterday as if it’s major news. It’s not. Smith just DESPISES principled news super-titan Pierre Karl Peladeau, who has built a tremendous media empire from ground up, and survives awfully well in a tough market. Smith hates ALL CONSERVATIVES.

But I digress…

Let me give you some balanced perspective. It’s no secret, when I resigned from 24 Hours, Broughton considered it a personal slight. He and I were good friends and he would often seek my advice on real estate and how to handle personnel matters (particularly during the cuts that sadly had Sean Holman going back to Victoria). And Broughton’s little boy Jack is an absolute angel.

More to the point, I warned Broughton TWICE that I did not like team members (read: fellow columnists) taking shots at anyone else on the team. Bill Tieleman, notorious for such a pedestrian, shameful tactic, would routinely take cheap shots at former 24 Hours Columnist Erin Airton (now Chutter) and TWICE did so with me. Well, the third time was (NOT ) the charm. I told Broughton off, as he deserved it and I endured almost 48 hours of  begging from General Manager Philip Tan, who hasn’t the first clue how to run a paper (never mind expansion, he’s more worried about how 24 Hours boxes look) Tan pleaded with me to stay. I told them I wanted a clarification on a column written by Tieleman in response to two columns I wrote, wherein I was hammering Tieleman’s pal and wine drinking club co-founder, PR guru and global warming alarmist, Jim Hoggan. The title of Tieleman’s column, after all, was particularly offensive since it suggested global arming skeptics, like me, were bought by Big Oil. And then I was named in the column. It was the last straw for me. The news room was taking a decidedly left turn for the worse. And the newsroom remains a largely left wing enterprise, now helmed by avowed NDP-loving socialist Keith McKenzie, and the whole thing, as a result of a lack of leadership both by Broughton and Tan, is in a race to the bottom.

Unless the 24 Hours bosses in Toronto are paying attention and have their own plan to fix things.

In my estimation, Broughton was never a particularly effective Editor–outside of checking for spelling errors or typos, he never inspired you to reach higher, or do better–you were very much on your own. He went through the motions and produced SOME good product. But I could see he had no plan for the future. If it was obvious to me, just think of what Toronto was viewing. And then when I left, the lies started. He “fired” me he told one fellow columnist about a year ago. I “needed fact checking” on every piece. But he was involved on every piece, and  NO ONE ever working for 24 Hours broke more stories than I did or did better MORE ACCURATE work. If I was so bad, why did I survived THREE rounds of cuts? He protected me each time and went out of his way to tell me I had the most popular column in the paper’s local history and how much he appreciated it–he was laudatory of my “great writing”–his words. I still have the emails, They number in the dozens. In fact, two reporters still with the paper also called me to speak similar words and ask if I’d reconsider.

But when I left, Broughton–because he let his personal fanaticism on global warming align with Tieleman’s zeal to nip at me (clearly jealous that I had eclipsed him), I was very, very angry. I felt betrayed, and let him have it–BOTH BARRELS. He didn’t like it. Too bad. I won’t have my professional integrity assailed by someone I helped put on the map.

But to address Smith’s foolish speculation on (the mindless) twitter: Was Broughton fired?

It doesn’t matter. He’s now working for the decidedly left-wing Vancouver Sun and he’ll be happy there and I’m sure do better work since his personality skills won’t be as necessary. Plus, his pal Ian Mulgrew is there and they can while the away hours, between Vision Vancouver’s directives to the Sun’s Op/Ed editors, playing chess.

The other speculation is that Bob Mackin’s interview with and subsequent columns about the Vision ‘hit list’ source might have had something to do with Broughton’s departure. That’s also a lie.

Pay attention: Broughton approved that column. He was at his desk when Mackin submitted it (both columns) and sent them to be published. Mackin interviewed the source and interviewed me, asking some VERY hard questions. I’m not close pals with Mackin and hardly interacted with him at the paper–but he’s their best reporter and one of the best in the province. He made a good judgement call–and so did both CBC and CKNW, who also covered the story. Well, yesterday, Broughton, in the biggest middle finger, spiteful disgrace of a departure I’ve ever seen an employee pull on his way out the door, printed a clarfication to satisfy Tieleman’s former Toronto roommate, Mike Magee, the now Chief of Staph for Mayor Moonbeam. Starting to see through the fog? Magee called Broughton many times last week and DEMANDED that Mackin be reprimanded. For what? For honest reporting? And how do I know? I called Mackin and asked him and he simply replied, “No comment, Alex. Sorry man” But then I heard from a City Hall staffer that Magee, the bonehead he is, was boasting about Mackin’s pending rebuke to others. And Magee’s intimidation of 24 Hours and Broughton, who stood his ground like a cheap lawn chair, was also reported by 24 Hours columnist Mike Klassen on his blog citycaucus.com. So Broughton, to show how disgracefully disloyal he can be to top people, who have earned their stripes, capitulated to Magee’s outrageous demands. And 24 Hours General Manger Philp Tan only added to the problem by sitting on his thumb and allowing Broughton to liquidate some of the paper’s reputation on his way out the door.

When ‘Watergate’ started, ‘Deep Throat’ was no more ‘out’ than my Vision ‘hit list’ source–in fact considerably less. There were no documents until well into the controversy. But you see, the left wingnuts like Broughton, Smith and Magee don’t cite this because, after all, it was Richard Nixon, a REPUBLICAN President (a right winger, oh no!…and a great President–fairly look at the results, please) who was the target. Since Gregor Robertson was not looking too good as a result of my story, that Mackin astutely picked up from this blog, the radical socialists and their willing dupe, in this case Broughton, smeared Mackin’s journalistic integrity. For shame.

Good work, Dean, as usual you let your personal hatred for me injure the reputation and integrity of 24 Hours and its top reporter, Bob Mackin.

If the Vision ‘hit list’ source came from ANY OTHER blogger or journalist, Broughton wouldn’t have even burped an objection. Such is his shamelessness. Mind, since my blog began last fall Broughton was heard, often times, by multiple 24 Hours sources, telling his top reporters to read my blog, “Tsakumis’ got some great stuff on there, have a read…” he told one reporter.

If MY integrity and reputation are in such tatters Dean, why did you have any of your guys come here?? You know why, and so do 145,000 plus people per month, who come here. Even the ones that disagree appreciate honest, well-researched perspective.

At the end of the proverbial day, 24 Hours remains running on fumes until they can find an Editor and General Manager that can work together to better the paper–it’s a great media property that’s full of potential and could rocket to the top of the local news scene, but not with the current (lack of ) leadership.

And Broughton? Well good luck to him. The best that can be said is that he saw the writing on the wall at 24 Hours and like a coach with a miserable, losing record that can’t get his players to produce (or keep the best ones motivated to stay), instead of taking it in the gullet, read himself the ritual of seppuku and followed the instructions.

24 Hours Vancouver could soar under the right local leadership–it’s only a matter of time. Pierre Karl Peladeau didn’t get to where he is by ignoring a problem. He’s an exceedingly brilliant man with brilliant people working for him.

Never mind what Charlie Smith is smoking…or the Georgia Straight’s angst-ridden handwringing that 24 Hours might get an inside/outside makeover…

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