A basic principle of journalism is that the duty of the news media is to create an informed electorate. That’s one of the first things taught to fresh young students when they enter journalism school. Sadly, that principle is becoming more and more endangered as journalists allow their priorities to be twisted to suit commercial… Continue reading The Firing Line at the Globe and Other Marketing Targets
Series: Spring 1989
The McPapering of London, Ontario
Throughout last summer and fall, reporters and editors at The London Free Press would gather in a corner of the newsroom to examine the redesigned versions of their newspaper posted one after another on the wall of the city editor’s office. These were special editions -printed front-page mock-ups intended to transform the 139-year-old Free Press… Continue reading The McPapering of London, Ontario
The Unfriendly Giant
The two-storey brick warehouse in Stoney Creek, Ontario, that is home to Brabant Newspapers Ltd. is anything but impressive. Inside, the drab walls and exposed pipes are dingy with age and neglect, and when it rains, buckets catch the water leaking through the roof. Fifty miles away in the heart of Yorkville, the posh high-rise… Continue reading The Unfriendly Giant
The Native People’s Choice
The Program in Journalism for Native People at the University of Western Ontario changed Juanita Rennie’s life. The intense, 12-month course prepared her and six other graduates of PJNP’s first class for entry-level media positions. Rennie, then a 40-year-old mother of six and grandmother to three, graduated in 1981 knowing exactly what to do next:… Continue reading The Native People’s Choice
The Quest for Holy Joe’s Grail
On page 20 last November 22, The Toronto Star admitted it had lost. The people of Canada had voted against it, had “spoken convincingly.” An editorial, a quietly disappointed concession speech, signaled the end of the paper’s three-year fight to undo the free trade initiative. It was an emotional fight, one in which the Star… Continue reading The Quest for Holy Joe’s Grail