Postmedia lobbies to get involved in Jason Kenney's oilpatch 'war room' - 2019-05-17

Postmedia lobbies to get involved in Jason Kenney's oilpatch 'war room' May 17, 2019, Brenna Owen, National Observer

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Postmedia has hired a lobbying firm with close ties to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in order to participate in the United Conservative Party government's new $30 million public relations "war room" in support of oil and gas companies.

Nick Koolsbergen, previously Kenney's chief of staff and campaign director in the UCP's winning 2019 campaign, founded the new lobbying firm, Wellington Advocacy in early May, a few weeks after the Alberta election. Not long after, he filed a report with the Alberta Lobbyists Registry, indicating his firm was hired "to discuss ways Postmedia could be involved in the government's energy war room."

A spokeswoman for Postmedia, which operates Canada's largest chain of newspapers, said on Friday that the lobbying was related to a commercial division of the media company, separate from its editorial staff. This commercial division produces advertising content that appears in its publications in what is known as advertorials — ads that resemble news articles and other editorial content.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | first = Brenna | last = Owen | title = Postmedia lobbies to get involved in Jason Kenney's oilpatch 'war room' | url = https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/05/17/news/postmedia-lobbies-get-involved-jason-kenneys-oilpatch-war-room | work = National Observer | date = May 17, 2019 | accessdate = September 1, 2019 }}