Postmedia denies publishing UBC op-eds and coverage in September without disclosing that they were part of a $10,000 to $15,000 advertising deal with the university.
A document obtained by Canadaland outlines the terms of the UBC partnership with Postmedia Vancouver.
“A partnership with Postmedia Vancouver would enable the university to place high-level op-eds and news content along with advertising designed to reassure parents and incoming students while also highlighting potential research underway to mitigate COVID-19,” the document reads.
The document, dated July 29, 2020, appears to say that in return for $10,000–$15,000 in online and print advertising in the Vancouver Sun/Province, access to executives and access to stories in advance of UBC publishing, UBC will have five op-eds and three news stories in the Vancouver Sun/Province in the first two weeks of September.
The document also outlines nine pieces of “editorial content” ranging from an op-ed about the benefits of online education, to be authored by Provost Andrew Szeri, to an op-ed about the new Indigenous Strategic Plan.
In September, the Vancouver Sun published op-eds by UBC VP Research and Innovation Gail Murphy; President Santa Ono, Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Affairs Sheryl Lightfoot and First Nations House of Learning Director Margaret Moss; VP Students Ainsley Carry and Szeri; and Ono again.
The op-eds covered UBC’s response to COVID-19, UBC’s research community and its newly minted Indigenous Strategic Plan.
Kurt Heinrich, senior director of Media Relations, wrote in a statement that while UBC often publishes and pitches stories to media at the beginning of the winter term, the changes to the campus environment prompted a “new approach.”
He confirmed that the document obtained by Canadaland outlined the “broad terms of the financial agreement” with Postmedia.
“It’s important to note here that UBC Media Relations published similar content through its site and pitched that content to media so there was equitable access to the information and to spokespersons. The Vancouver Sun is very well read in B.C. and reaches many of the audiences we hope to reach,” Heinrich wrote.
“It’s also important to note that the Vancouver Sun maintained, at all times, the right to edit or refuse the submissions in keeping with its editorial policy and to solicit counterpoint content from other authors.”
The Canadian Association of Journalists distinguishes paid content from journalism because it is influenced by private interests.
In an emailed statement, Editor-in-Chief of the Sun and Province Harold Munro said that UBC “did not purchase editorial” from the Sun.
“The university pitched the newsroom on several back-to-school op-ed ideas and we liked three of those pitches because of the focus on Covid. Others we rejected for various reasons. We also published op-eds from other post-secondary institutions on related topics during this time,” Munro said.
The Ubyssey found four op-eds from UBC in the Vancouver Sun in September.
“Independent of this, the advertising department negotiated an ad campaign with UBC — as it often does. None of those advertisements were contingent on, or influenced, our decisions about which editorial pieces we liked enough to publish.”
—with files from Andrew Ha
This article was updated to include comment from UBC and Postmedia.