Port Moody council endorses new communication to fill local news gap

With the looming closure of the Tri-City News, the City of Port Moody is launching a new communications strategy to create a centralized fact hub to help fill the information gap.

On Tuesday, April 15, council voted 6-1 in favour of a five-point approach aimed at improving transparency, countering misinformation, and boosting community understanding of city initiatives and happenings.

“This whole process has uncovered some of the gaps that we have in our communication toolbox,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti. “It just highlighted why we need this. It’s really about how we can be proactive as a city – messaging out to our residents about emerging issues in a timely manner.”

Earlier this year, council voted for staff to report back with recommendations around a new city run and fact-checked online information hub after the mayor released a memo contending that misinformation and speculation was spreading across the community.

That memo followed a contentious council meeting, where a majority of council claimed the degree of public support for a referendum on tower height in the Moody Centre transit oriented area was fueled by misinformation.

The strategy includes proactive messaging on trending topics, rapid response to misinformation, creation of a centralized news hub on the city’s website, production of visual news stories about city work, and consistent updates on council decisions.

Lindsay Todd, Port Moody’s manager of communications, said the current information environment in the community risks: “confusion, frustration, erosion of trust, and potential for spread of disinformation.”

One of the most urgent issues she highlighted was the Tri-City News’ pending closure in May.

“I think we can reasonably anticipate a gap in information being pushed out to the community – on council decisions, general city news, and opportunities for participation in city events,” Todd said.

Todd stated more positive stories around city initiatives would help improve trust, transparency, understanding, and positive interactions, as well as create opportunities to find common ground.

A key part of the city’s approach is moving from a reactive to proactive communication model.

“Correcting widely spread false information after the fact is exceptionally challenging,” Todd said. “We want to be responsive, concise, fact-based, and sustainable so that we continue to be seen as a dependable source.”

Port Moody is currently in the process of migrating to a new web platform, set to launch in June, with improved navigation, search functions, and user-friendly news feeds.

Staff’s report also flagged potential use of AI to help staff generate plain-language summaries of council meetings and decisions. Todd emphasized, however, that any AI-generated content would require human oversight, and that the city has yet to establish clear policies around its use.

Todd also broached the future options like a city-run online newsletter, and a more curated social media presence. Both would require additional resourcing, and Todd cautioned that a more visible presence would require increased moderation and capacity to handle public feedback.

The current strategy will be funded with a $50,000 allocation for the rest of 2025, with a $85,000 added to the 2026 base budget to maintain service levels.

Council’s response to the policy was largely positive.

Coun. Diana Dilworth strongly supported the plan, calling it “quite timely.” She said that rapid evolution of technology and the way people communicate leaves for manipulation, and the city needs to take back control of its information.

“The old way of communicating hasn’t changed in years,” she said. “We’ve all seen someone ask a question on Facebook and get 72 responses, most of them wrong. This is better and different.”

Still, the proposal sparked sharp debate on council.

Coun. Haven Lurbiecki, the sole vote against endorsing the strategy, expressed concerns about the origins of the strategy and the use of the term “misinformation,” noting that it had initially been raised in relation to residents’ comments on development issues.

She warned that negative interpretations of opposing political arguments can be framed as misinformation.

“It sets a very dangerous precedent when a majority of council tries to impose a certain view through city resources,” she warned, calling for specific examples of misinformation to justify the expense.

Lurbiecki also questioned who would be defining misinformation.

Deputy city manager Kate Zanon said it would be a staff, and involve certain parameters and frameworks that would need to be approved by council.

Lahti, while acknowledging concerns around how misinformation is interpreted, pushed back.

“This is not about politics. This is about fact,” she said. “I see this as a much broader need.”

Coun. Amy Lubik also agreed nuance was needed when labelling misinformation, and approved of the staff-led approach.

She said the city’s first trial for the strategy will be how it is rolled out to the public, emphasising the need to be “really clear and succinct and consistent.”

“Humans are storytelling creatures. If there’s a gap in information, we fill it – maybe not with the right things,” Lubik said. “This is why we need to be proactive and staff-led.”

Several councillors voiced appreciation for the coming updates to the city’s website, which they said can be confusing and difficult to navigate.

Coun. Kyla Knowles said the website was part of the problem, describing it as “terrible” for searching for information, previous reports, minutes and agendas. She suggested eventually integrating an AI bot to help residents search for information.

She did, however, express concern that staff would be taking on too much work with some of the proposed strategies and costs.

“The five bullets, I think, is a good place to start. The whole newsletter thing I worry about. That’s too much. But I would like us to focus on the low hanging fruit.”

Coun. Samantha Agtarap noted the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives has warned about the dangers to democracy in the current media landscape.

She said the approach by staff is one way for the city to start filling the gaps left behind by traditional and social media.

“Promoting the website as the primary information site, making it more searchable, that would be great,” Agtarap said. “Really the key point for me is that not council, but staff is providing that factual, easily accessible information on city activities.”