Television first came to the North in the late 1960s at the request of mining companies that wanted to keep their transient workers occupied through long, dark Arctic winters with southern sitcoms and soap operas. No one consulted the local Inuit population. Transmissions were in French and English and came in one direction: in. One… Continue reading Northern Restoration
Series: Winter 2012
Scary Monsters
Len Gold looks nervous as he stares into the black eye of the camera. Wearing a leather jacket over a Vancouver Canucks T-shirt, he recites his question for the leaders of Canada’s four main political parties. Framed by mountains meeting the ocean in Gibsons, British Columbia, Gold says, “My concern is safety for people in… Continue reading Scary Monsters
Lost in The Grid
It all started with a lighter. In the dog days of August, one of The Grid’s senior editors sparked an ironic hashtag in the twittersphere: #UnfriendlyToronto. Edward Keenan was on a city beach with his wife and two children when a six-year-old boy came over to borrow a lighter for the candles on his brother’s… Continue reading Lost in The Grid
Hana Gartner Investigates Life After Journalism
t was the worst possible time for Hana Gartner to develop a case of Montezuma’s revenge, but she was determined not to let it slow her down. After covering a story on Mennonite drug smugglers in Mexico for CBC’s the fifth estate, her plan was to make a quick layover in Toronto before flying to… Continue reading Hana Gartner Investigates Life After Journalism
Katherine Monk Goes to the Movies and Offers the View from Her
Few journalists showed up for the press conference at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie was terrible, but film critic Katherine Monk attended because “there was actually nothing else going on.” She was one of the only women in the room. The director was just “blabbing with the boys” when a reporter asked him for… Continue reading Katherine Monk Goes to the Movies and Offers the View from Her