Outside the CHUMCity building on Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, a crowd of people has gathered. They’re eagerly inching closer to the metal barricades that have been set up for the occasion. Wearing wristbands, some have been waiting for hours. Some cluster against the far windows. Hot breath fogs up the glass?a good indication… Continue reading Much Much Less
Category: The Magazine
The Outsiders
Stephen Osborne can be an intimidating guy. Even some long-time members of his own staff think so. Maybe it’s the beard. With his greying whiskers, a steely, confrontational stare and a manic twinkle behind his wire-rimmed spectacles, the founding editor and publisher of Vancouver’s Geist magazine conjures a cross between the ghosts of Rasputin and… Continue reading The Outsiders
A Talking Contradiction
It’s mid-September, the height of book-promotion season, and in a dark TV studio at Toronto’s CBC building, freelance journalist Irshad Manji, stylish in leather jacket and spiky, highlighted hair, sits across from Salman Rushdie, renowned author and fatwa survivor, who is touring Canada to spread the word about his latest book, a collection of nonfiction… Continue reading A Talking Contradiction
Scandalous Behaviour
December 19, 2002: Despite his insider status, even gossip columnist Shinan Govani can get shut out. At Toronto’s trendy King Street lounge, Mint et Menthe, the National Post‘s “Scene” columnist was turned back from the Next modeling agency’s private Christmas party. “This is a Nelly Furtado moment!” declared Govani’s gal-pal, journalist and art afficionado Si… Continue reading Scandalous Behaviour
Writers’ Block
The Kansas City Star spent more than four years researching the prevalence of AIDS in the priesthood and 18 months interviewing experts and priests, and examining church documents and death certificates to ensure that what it was putting out was accurate journalism. In January 2000, the Star published an 11-article series built around the “fact”… Continue reading Writers’ Block