Pierre Bourque (web entrepreneur)

: "For the former mayor of Montreal and ADQ candidate see Pierre Bourque (politician)"

Pierre Bourque is a Canadian Internet entrepreneur, who operates the online news aggragator site "Bourque Newswatch".

Bourque is also a part-time radio host at Ottawa news-talk station CFRA, and has appeared on several other Canadian radio stations. As well, Bourque has been a race car driver in the NASCAR Busch East Series and NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

In March 1991, he was appointed to the councils of the city of Ottawa and the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton to fill a vacancy, but lost in the election of that November. He ran then for Parliament in the 1993 Canadian election as a Liberal candidate in the Montreal riding of Rosemont, and lost to Bloc Québécois candidate Benoît Tremblay. He subsequently ran for Ottawa city council again in 1994, but was not elected.

His paternal grandfather, E.A. Bourque, is a former Mayor of Ottawa and his maternal grandfather, Marc T. McNeil, is a former sports editor of the "Montreal Gazette".Fact|date=August 2007

Controversy

Bourque claims authorship of several books, although the Ryerson Review of Journalism has quoted several of his co-authors as stating that Bourque worked as a "researcher", not as an author, on most of the titles bearing his name. [cite news | last = Heller | first = Joshua | title = The Wrong Man | journal = Ryerson Review of Journalism | date = Summer 2001 | publisher = School of Journalism, Ryerson University | url = http://www.rrj.ca/issue/2001/summer/351/ | accessdate = 2007-01-15] Further, "RRJ" reported that the only book bearing Bourque's name as a sole author, "Government Online in Canada", is in fact a compilation of work by a variety of journalists, for which Bourque only directly authored the introduction.

"RRJ" also found that while Bourque has been the first media source to report a number of major stories, including Jean Charest's departure from federal politics to lead the Quebec Liberal Party, the retirement of Gilbert Parent as Speaker of the House of Commons and the 2000 election call, Bourque's exclusive scoops have also been wrong on many occasions. For example, in 2000 he inaccurately reported that Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin would cross the floor to the Progressive Conservatives after Stockwell Day won the Alliance leadership, that Elsie Wayne and Mac Harb would be appointed to the Senate, and that Mike Harris would retire as Premier of Ontario that year.

Finally, "RRJ" found it difficult to verify Bourque's claimed web traffic; in a random sample of 6,500 Canadian internet users in September 2000, not a single one had visited Bourque Newswatch. "RRJ" also found that almost no major Canadian journalist used Bourque Newswatch as a "source", although some admitted to using the site as an aggregator to quickly review the day's mainstream media headlines.

The Bourque Newswatch has been criticized for allegedly allowing advertisers to purchase headlines and to "torque" them in order to highlight a positive news story about itself or a negative story about an opponent. [cite news | url = http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070115.gtheadline15/BNStory/PersonalTech/ | title = How much for a friendly headline? | author = Cheadle, Bruce | publisher = Globe and Mail | page = A7 | date = January 15, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-01-15]

In June, Bourque began racing in the NASCAR Busch league with the sponsorship of Canada's ruling Conservative Party. Bourque's sale to a political party of logo space on his car further called into question the objectivity of his news clipping site.

References

External links

* [http://www.pierrebourque.com Personal site]
* [http://www.bourque.org "Bourque Newswatch"]
* [http://www.thecommentary.ca/ontheline/20050307a.html Audio interview with THECOMMENTARY.CA, Monday, 07 March 2005]
* [http://www.racingwest.com/news/story.php3/13510/ Nascar Diversity Driver, Pierre Bourque, More Confident Than Ever]
* [http://www.warrenkinsella.com/sourcefiles/natpost_071306.pdf The National Post Article by Warren Kinsella]
* [http://www.rrj.ca/issue/2001/summer/351/ Ryerson Review of Journalism article challenging Bourque's claims]
* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070618.wnascarr0618/BNStory/National/home Article regarding Conservative Party sponsorship of Bourque]