Democracy Watch

This is a special TWO HOUR edition of Democracy Watch! The first half of the show explores intensifying resistance to Kinder Morgan's transmountain pipeline with activist, environmental and legal perspectives from David Mivasair of the Justin Trudeau Brigade, Andrew Larigakis of 350 Vancouver and Eugene Kung of West Coast Environmental Law. We then turn to two original interviews on Vancouver's vigil/protest held in solidarity with Iranian protesters on Saturday, January 6th. Democracy Watch speaks with Vancouver-Iranian activist Sara Sagaee who opposes Western intervention in Iran and Iranian journalist and UBC professor, Mohajer (not her real name), who was on the ground during the last mass protests in Iran in 2009.

It's the first episode of Democracy Watch from 2018! Welcome to a new year of adversarial, local news coverage! In this episode we feature an original report on an ant-eviction protest that took place at the Belvedere Court apartment earlier in the week. This protest was put on by the Vancouver Tenants Union and the Belvedere Residents Association in response to the pending eviction of a long-time tenant. The protest was meant to highlight the city's growing trend of evictions through coercion, especially targeting seniors and vulnerable tenants. After this report, the News Collective reflects on the best of our original reporting from 2017!

This is a holiday re-airing of an original report done by Democracy Watch on the CBC's digital-first strategy. This report features CBC's outgoing President and CEO, Hubert Lacroix, as well as Taylor Owen, Assistant Professor at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the UBC Graduate School of Journalism; author of the book "Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age." Owen and Lacroix share their thoughts on the CBC’s digital media strategy.

After headlines, Democracy Watch examines a statement made by Mayor Robertson, condemning recent incidents of hate, discrimination and racism in Vancouver. In this statement, which went unreported by media, Robertson conflates the burning of an Israeli flag with a violent hate crime. Democracy Watch features an interview with Rabbi David Mivasair, member of Independent Jewish Voices, who has requested a meeting with the mayor to address this fraught comparison. Democracy Watch then hosts a live interview with local activist Melody Ma. Ma is the author of a website satirizing a public art exhibition and culture campaign created by luxury real estate developer, Westbank. Last weekend, Ma and a coalition of groups fighting for affordable housing, protested Westbank's "Fight for Beauty" exhibition outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

This is a special extended episode of Democracy Watch! We start out the show with an original report on a forum held last Friday, December 8th, on Vancouver’s development of a policy to preserve legacy businesses in Chinatown. After that, Democracy Watch counters mainstream news accounts of last weekend’s Pro-Palestine rallies in downtown Vancouver. Held in resistance to Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, mainstream B.C. news networks focused heavily on the burning of an Israeli flag, but Democracy Watch reporters attended both rallies and bring a broader account of the events that took place over those two days. The show also features an exclusive interview with Managing Director of Hillel BC, Sam Heller, Palestinian UBC student, Haytham Al Hamaydeh and Noor Fadel, the recent victim of an anti-Muslim hate crime on Vancouver public transit.

After headlines from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, the News Collective presents two exclusive reports on Democracy Watch. First, a story of support and resistance in Marpole, as temporary modular housing units are being built to shelter the homeless. This story is brought to you by News Collective members Ryan Patrick Jones and Christina Song, with editing and production by Alex de Boer. After that we hear an interview with UBC Journalism student Vee S. Wells. Wells discusses her recent Thunderbird feature on B.C.’s curriculum changes and the new use of board games in the classroom. The show concludes with a half hour report by News Collective member Rehmatullah Sheikh, delving into the Zimbabwean-Canadian reaction to the ouster of long-time president, Robert Mugabe. The report is followed by a live interview with Benjamin Chidzero, a Zimbabwean citizen and second year student in the Faculty of Arts at UBC.

After headlines from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, CiTR's News Collective hosts UBC Journalism student Annie Reuter, who reads her recent Thunderbird piece on the city's increase in Indigenous public-art commissions. Following Reuter, Jonathan Ventura, another UBC Journalism student reads his Thunderbird feature on Vancouver's first trans-inclusive food bank. Democracy Watch ends with a podacst exclusive, produced by UBC Jschool student Dustin Patar. This podcast examines the increase in university students working as seasonal employees for B.C.'s WildFire Services. It is followed by an interview on the same topic with News Collective member Ryan Patrick Jones and FirstOnSite Restoration spokesperson, Jim Mandeville.

Following headlines, the November 23rd episode of Democracy Watch features an exclusive interview with journalist Melanie Woods. Woods recently published an article in the UBC Journalism School's online news publication, The Thunderbird. Her story looks at Vancouver's DIY music scene, following October's string of sexual assault and harassment allegations that lead to the suicide on a local DJ. After that, Democracy Watch airs a special segment on the media’s coverage of the October 14 terrorist bombings in Mogadishu, Somalia, and how Vancouver’s Somali community is responding. This piece is reported on by Rehmatullah Sheikh and Aidan Tong and produced by Sheikh. The story is followed by a round table discussion with Somali community members, Saleh Ismail and Hamsa Mahmoud.

This episode of Democracy Watch begins with headlines from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, read by News Collective Members Madeline Zeif and Christina Dasom Song. We then take an exclusive look at CBC's "digital first" strategy, featuring original reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones and Rehmatullah Sheikh and interviews with CBC's outgoing President and CEO, Hubert Lacroix, as well as Taylor Owen, Assistant Professor at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the UBC Graduate School of Journalism; author of the book "Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age." Owen shares his thoughts on the CBC’s digital media strategy. This CBC exclusive was produced by Olamide Olaniyon and Alex de Boer.

After headlines, CiTR's News Collective examines Vancouver's November 4th #metoo rally. Reporting was done by collective members Ryan Patrick Jones and Aidan Tong, with audio edited by Olamide Olaniyan. After, we hear an exclusive interview with Jannie Leung, an organizer with Chinatown Action Group. Leung discusses the city's Tuesday rejection of a proposed multi-use condo development at 105 Keefer street with collective member Olamide Olaniyan. We finish the show with guest Rach Lau, a Youth for Chinese Seniors activist and CiTR Student Executive member. Rach discusses their thoughts on the recent Keefer St. development rejection with collective member Madeline Zeif, as well as their November Discorder article, “Youth for Chinese Seniors and Intergenerational Collaboration in Chinatown."