Vancouver Tech Journal Isn’t Journalism

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Vancouver Tech Journal is hosting “#VTJTalks: Grading Vancouver’s Innovation Economy in 2025” on December 10th.

Here’s what you need to know: The company running this show is led by a former BC Premier who had the RCMP raid his house on live TV. Their playbook involves firing journalists who refuse to promote sponsors. And they only interview people who pay them.

Let’s talk about who’s grading Vancouver’s innovation economy.

Who’s Running This Show?

Glen Clark is the CEO of Overstory Media Group, which owns Vancouver Tech Journal. Clark was BC Premier from 1996-1999. His tenure ended when the RCMP raided his home on live television over allegations he accepted home renovations… a $16,000 deck…from a businessman seeking casino license approval.

Casino-gate, they called it. Clark was charged with breach of trust. He was acquitted in 2002… the judge said it was “poor judgment,” not a crime. That distinction didn’t matter much to voters. The NDP collapsed to 2 seats in the 2001 election, partly because of scandals like this.

Clark rebuilt his career at the Jim Pattison Group, where he served as COO until leaving in January 2023. By March 2024, he was CEO of Overstory.

The man whose “poor judgment” helped collapse a political party is now running media companies. And one of those companies is positioned as the authority on Vancouver’s tech ecosystem.

The Origin Story

Vancouver Tech Journal didn’t start as independent journalism. It started as an Innovate BC employee’s side project. William Johnson founded VTJ in 2018 while working in marketing and communications at Innovate BC…. the provincial government’s innovation agency.

Not journalism. Government PR that spun off.

Overstory acquired VTJ in 2020. Johnson left in November 2023. Kate Wilson took over as editor. Wilson left around June 2025. Now William Johnson is back. This isn’t media. This is musical chairs at a PR firm.

The Capital Daily Playbook

In February 2023, Overstory showed us exactly what kind of media company it is.

Capital Daily Managing Editor Jimmy Thomson was fired after refusing to promote Tiny’s IPO in editorial content. Four of seven journalists were fired. Three of the four fired were union organizers.

Let that sink in. The managing editor refused to turn editorial content into advertising for the owner’s stock promotion. He got fired for practicing journalism.

Overstory’s investor pitch deck listed “lack of unionization” as a selling point to investors. CEO Farhan Mohamed ordered the newsletter to thank advertisers in editorial space.

Jimmy Thomson’s quote: “Capital Daily was the template. They just threw out the template.”

Overstory promised to hire 250 journalists. They delivered 22.

The Sponsor-Only Model

Here’s my personal experience with Vancouver Tech Journal: They only interview sponsors.

I’ve offered thoughtful critique of Vancouver’s innovation ecosystem. I’ve been shut out. Excluded. They’ve never held anyone accountable in this ecosystem. Not once.

But if you pay them? Different story.

This isn’t journalism. It’s advertorial content masquerading as tech media.

What Real Journalism Training Looks Like

I led the Google News Initiative AI Lab for Journalists. We trained 65 journalists across 15 newsrooms. Ethics-first curriculum values before tools. We deployed AI systems into production newsrooms. The program is expanding to Brazil and Africa in 2026.

This is what journalism looks like when you care about the craft. When you believe in accountability. When you understand that editorial independence isn’t negotiable.

Vancouver Tech Journal doesn’t understand any of this. How could they? Their CEO’s career in politics ended over poor judgment. Their parent company fires journalists who refuse to promote sponsors.

What Real Community Outcomes Look Like

While VTJ is publishing sponsor content, here’s what actual community building in BC’s AI ecosystem looks like:

Prajwal, 18 years old, won the BC + AI Hall of Fame award. Matthew Schwartzman started organizing at 17 and now runs 8+ Surrey AI meetups. Our hackathons distributed over $12,000 in prizes to builders in this ecosystem in 2025.

These are real outcomes. Real people doing real work. Not press releases disguised as journalism.

The Real Question

Why is a company run by Casino-gate Glen Clark, that fires journalists who won’t promote sponsors, positioned as the authority on Vancouver’s innovation economy?

Who decided that a media company with this track record gets to “grade” our ecosystem?

VTJ has never held anyone accountable. They’ve never practiced actual journalism. They’ve never done the work to understand what’s actually happening in this community who’s building, who’s learning, who’s creating real value.

They’re a PR company masquerading as tech media. And on December 10th, they’re hosting a panel to grade the very ecosystem they’ve never honestly covered.

That’s not journalism. That’s innovation theater performed by people who wouldn’t know real innovation if it built them a fucking deck.

Sources

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