24 Hours, the latest free tabloid in Vancouver, has hit a little snag: its newsboxes have been removed from the streets by the city. According to CBC news:
The city of Vancouver has confiscated hundreds of orange newspaper boxes after the publisher of a new free-daily failed to get permits to place the boxes on the street.
City crews began picking up boxes for “24 Hours” on Monday, the day before the tabloid’s launch. And officials say the boxes won’t be returned until the publisher compensates the city for the removal costs.
The lack of permits may have explained why the bright orange boxes had been chained down, unlike the boxes for other paid and free publications.
The same CBC report hinted that the new free dailies could be in for a further patch of rocky road. Jim Green, a member of city council, told the radio station he was concerned not only about the growing number of newsboxes, but the effect the dailies could have on alternative media in the area.
City councillor Jim Green is putting forward a motion at council in hopes of dealing with the growing number of boxes.
“The issue has come down to something like this. The right of people to access the news source they wish to and our ability to house them on our streets…
“So how do you balance that right of freedom of speech with the proliferation of boxes on the street?”
Green says there is a plan to have a multi-box system set-up at the city’s bus stops, but he doesn’t know when that will be put in place.
He is also worried about preserving space for existing publications that serve smaller audiences, such as those aimed at specific ethnic communities and gays and lesbians.
And, related to the new interest in Vancouver, the Globe & Mail, a national newspaper, published this Tuesday:
The Globe and Mail also announced Tuesday it is boosting its Vancouver coverage, with more local political and business coverage, and a Vancouver edition of 7, a weekly entertainment section.
Suddenly, newspaper-watching is fun again.
UPDATE: Either the city didn’t get them all or the boxes are making a comeback. I’ve been out and around for a couple of hours and there are still dozens of the 24 Hours boxes along the major streets of the city.
TECHNORATI TAGS: 24 HOURS, NEWSPAPERS, VANCOUVER
