The small staff at This magazine have kicked it into high gear, as usual, but it’s not really evident from the noise level. Other than the rapid hammering of computer keys, an occasional sneeze, and a random phone call, the staff-editor Julie Crysler, associate publisher Joyce Byrne and an intern are quietly plugging away on an issue… Continue reading Standing on Guard for THIS

Tucked into the corner of a green-and-yellow-walled Mexican restaurant, James Chatto, Toronto Life‘s multi-award nominated food columnist, is the picture of grey England: black pants, black shirt, black-and-white tweed blazer, salt-and-pepper hair. His small black notebook is concealed under a rather large menu and he furiously scribbles, recording every ingredient in the three appetizers, three mains,… Continue reading Reviewer du Jour

Kevin Smith stays close to the action. He hovers unobtrusively near the black-clad activists and watches intently while one anarchist shatters a McDonald’s window and another is tackled by riot police. It’s a chilly Friday in mid-November, and more than 500 protesters have gathered in downtown Ottawa for the first day of demonstrations against the… Continue reading Fuck Corporate Media. We Want the Truth

David Akin works in what was once The Globe and Mail‘s composing room. In another, less high-tech era, this was the place where compositors laid out the paper before it went to print. Now, illuminated by the glow of monitors, it’s home to Toronto’s CTV News bureau. And since Akin works for both the paper and… Continue reading Hack of all Trades, Master of None

During her first week as a reporter at CTV, Anne-Marie Mediwake has had five story ideas approved. Which is good. This afternoon, she’s sitting at her desk scouring through information on the Internet about several “cool and creative stories.” There’s “a church for people who are not into church,” and then she plans to do… Continue reading Stations of the Cross