On Oct. 9, 2019, the Vernon Morning Star ran a Black Press editorial complaining about federal election signs. The editorial grouched about the signs’ number, placement, usefulness, content, effectiveness and environmental impact. Says Black Press, “it would be nice to see this holdover from a bygone era fade away.”
Now, it takes a lot of chutzpah for a member of the legacy media such as the Vernon Morning Star to wish another institution into oblivion. Perhaps the Morning Star should exist only online, leaving its print edition to “fade away.”
But, wait, the very business case for the print edition’s existence is to serve as a wrapper for advertising flyers. In fact, the editorial condemning the environmental footprint of election signs and their “excessive” number was printed in an edition of the newspaper that served as the vehicle for no fewer than 166 pages of flyers that day.
So, while Black Press clutches its pearls at the thought of lawn signs being printed once every four years as part of the democratic process of electing Members of Parliament, it fails to see any problem in blanketing greater Vernon with flyers twice a week. Clearly, hypocrisy is not just the province of politicians.
— Roy Derrick, Vernon