The Georgia Straight

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The Georgia Straight is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp. As surveyed by Ipsos-Reid its per-issue circulation average is 117,000, and its average weekly readership is almost 693,000 [41% of all Metro Vancouver adults 18+].[1]

The paper was founded as an anti-establishment alternative newspaper in May 1967 by Pierre Coupey [2], Milton Acorn [3], Dan McLeod, Stan Persky, and others, and originally it operated as a collective. The paper was raided and fined by the Vancouver Police for publishing obscenities, and was often banned from distribution for its criticism of the local police and politicians, especially Mayor Tom Campbell. Those controversies ended in the 1970s, as the paper moved to become a more conventional news and entertainment weekly, albeit with a progressive editorial slant.

Often known simply as The Straight, this large "tabloid" format, unconventional publication is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, public libraries and a large variety of other locations around the Greater Vancouver Area every Thursday.

In October 2003, the Provincial Government sent The Straight a bill totalling more than $1 million for outstanding Provincial Sales Tax (PST). In B.C., print publications must have at least 25% editorial content to be considered a newspaper, and to qualify for exemption from PST on printing bills. The extensive "Time Out" listing of the paper, detailing the what and where of virtually every public event in the city, was judged to be advertising - pushing the paper below the required thresholds for a newspaper.

As reported by the CBC, Publisher Dan McLeod said this re-interpretation of the rules was a politically motivated attempt to silence a persistent critic.

"We're the only paper that is consistently critical of the government in our editorials week after week, and we're the only paper that's being fined a million dollars," he said. "So I put two and two together." [4]

However, not everyone agreed with McLeod's interpretation of events and pointed out that The Straight had a significantly lower editorial-to-advertising ratio than many other alternative and university papers. [5] This highly public battle garnered considerable attention, and the BC Government later issued a statement reversing their decision, stating; "Clearly the Georgia Straight is a newspaper..."[6]

As noted by McLeod, the paper is known as a vocal critic of government, perhaps especially the current Liberal government of Gordon Campbell, seeming never to hesitate to expose or deride decisions it sees as flawed.

Beyond politics, The Straight also carries feature articles, ranging from social topics, such as drug use, to in-depth looks at cultural newsmakers like the writer Salman Rushdie.

Additional lifestyle and entertainment articles comment on new wines, new gadgets, new clothes, and the latest in music and movies. Rounding out the regular features is the well known American advice columnist Dan Savage with his Savage Love.

Special editions of The Straight include:

The Golden Plate Awards - March
The Best Of Vancouver – September

The Best Of Vancouver being a well known feature with whimsical notions of the best place for outdoor sex mixed in with more conventional awards such as Best Dining, Best Bar & Club and the like.

An attempt in the mid-1990s at publishing a second Straight newspaper in Calgary, Alberta, (the Calgary Straight), was short-lived.

The name Georgia Straight is a pun, as Vancouver adjoins the Georgia Strait, as the "Strait of Georgia" was called on some maps until the mapmakers decided to avoid association with the newspaper. The joke is that "straight" referred to people who were not hip.

Bob Geldof worked as a music journalist for the Georgia Straight in the 1970s before he returned to Ireland and joined the Boomtown Rats.