Kirk LaPointe is a media executive who serves as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Business in Vancouver (BIV) and Vice-President, Editorial, of the Glacier Media chain of publications across western Canada. He writes a twice-weekly column, hosts a podcast on business and politics and about two dozen business-related public discussions annually.

He has been an Adjunct Professor and Executive in Residence at the University of British Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, Writing and Media since 2004.

Kirk has held a wide range of senior roles in Canada in newspapers, news agencies, television and online media. He has led such organizations as CTV News, Southam News and the Hamilton Spectator. He has been a national television and local radio host.

From 2010 to 2013, Kirk was the CBC Ombudsman, responsible for dealing with public complaints and evaluating the compliance of CBC’s news and information programming on radio, television and online with journalistic standards and practices. He later became Executive Director of the worldwide Organization of News Ombudsmen.

Before that, he had been Managing Editor at The Vancouver Sun from 2003 to 2010, responsible for the day-to-day print and online newsroom operations. In 2007 he led a project to shift editorial control of the Canwest (now Postmedia) chain’s newspaper websites to local newsrooms. During his time at the Sun, the newsroom won several National Newspaper Awards and Jack Webster Awards for its work.

As Senior Vice President, News, for the CTV Television Network, the largest private broadcaster in Canada, he was responsible for all its news programming, including the CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson, CTV National News with Sandie Rinaldo, the morning program Canada AM, the all-news CTV NewsNet (now CTV News Channel) network, the award-winning W-FIVE documentary program, the CTVNews.com online site, the launch of the youth-oriented 21C documentary program, and the flagship CFTO-TV Toronto news operations. During his time there, CTV won its first-ever Award of Excellence from the Canadian Journalism Foundation and several Gemini and Canadian Association of Broadcasters awards for programming. He launched and oversaw the network’s first Diversity Initiative and was Chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters task force on cultural diversity.

Before that, he was Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Hamilton Spectator. He helped launch the National Post newspaper as its founding Executive Editor. He led Southam News as its Editor-in-Chief and General Manager. In each of these positions, he launched or expanded their online operations.

He spent 14 years at The Canadian Press news agency, starting as a reporter in Toronto and working 11 of those years in Ottawa. He was its Ottawa Bureau Chief, Ottawa News Editor, Parliamentary Reporter and Communications Reporter in Ottawa and its Lifestyles Editor and Media Reporter in Toronto, where he became the agency’s General News Editor.

Kirk has extensive television hosting experience as a day-one host on the all-news CBC Newsworld (now CBC News Network). He spent six years working for CBC. He also was a host on the Vancouver FM station, Roundhouse Radio, during its lifespan from 2015 to 2018. He was the Canadian Editor of Billboard Magazine from 1983 to 1992.

He has been honoured for his work in the freedom of information field and is a frequent public speaker on media issues.