Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson hasn't exactly gone out of his way to make himself available to local newspapers and magazines.

He conducted 20 prearranged print interviews in the first eight months of 2009, according to the results of a Georgia Straight freedom-of-information request.

That works out to an average of 2.5 prearranged print interviews per month.

He conducted no prearranged print interviews in the month of May, which is when council has busy agendas and is regularly in the news.

Three of  Robertson's 20 prearranged print interviews occurred on April 17 with Chinese-language newspapers Ming Pao, Sing Tao, and World Journal.

Robertson  also conducted a prearranged interview with the Globe and Mail's Frances Bula on April 13. April was the only month in which the mayor did more than three prearranged interviews with print outlets.

The  conversation with Bula occurred on Easter Monday.

I became interested in finding out how often Robertson granted interviews after one of his aides, Kevin Quinlan,  informed me that  the mayor might not be free to do an interview with the Georgia Straight this fall.

The mayor subsequently made himself available.

In January, Robertson conducted  three prearranged print interviews. The first was with Mike de Souza of Canwest Media Service on January 5. On January 26, Robertson did a prearranged interview with Allen Garr of the Vancouver Courier. On January 30, Robertson spoke to Audrea Chan at Ming Pao.

He spoke to Stephanie Levitz of Canadian Press on February 4, Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times on February 9, and the Vancouver magazine editorial board on February 16.

On March 8, the mayor granted an interview to Miro Cernetig of the Vancouver Sun. On March 12, Robertson spoke to Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune.

On June 1, Maclean's writer John Geddes spoke to the mayor. A week later, it was Vancouver Courier reporter Mike Howell's turn. The next day, the Tyee's Monte Paulsen was granted a prearranged print interview with Robertson.

The next month, there were two prearranged print interviews: on July 22 with Tom Sandborn in the Vancouver Courier, and on July 30 with the Vancouver Sun editorial board.

On August 28, Toronto Star writer Adrian Brijbassi interviewed Robertson. There were two more prearranged interviews on August 31--with the Vancouver Courier's Allen Garr and with freelance writer Francis Plourde.

The majority of the interviews with English-language publications occurred on   Mondays.

All four Chinese-language interviews occurred on Fridays.

Nine of the 16 other interviews occurred on Mondays. The interview with Cernetig took place on a Sunday.

The Vancouver Sun editorial board meeting occurred on a Thursday before the B.C. Day long weekend. It's a period when the Pride parade dominates the media and when the public isn't paying much attention to Vancouver city council.