Search

The changes have been anything but conservative at Canada's unabashedly right-wing national daily. After months of speculation that CanWest Global Communications Corp. was set to fold its perennially money-losing National Post, the paper was granted a reprieve. Ken Whyte, editor-in-chief, and Martin Newland, his deputy--the duo behind the Post's cheeky mixture of agenda-driven news, pointed commentary and unapologetic fluff, have left to pursue unspecified "opportunities." Leonard Asper, CanWest chief executive, announced a three-year plan to make the paper profitable and appointed his older brother David to oversee the flagship. Matthew Fraser, a media commentator and journalism professor with no previous management experience, was named editor-in-chief. More and more Post reporters have been showing up on TV screens, and the content of the chain's daily papers across the country has become increasingly standardized--a trend that seems sure to intensify as the company struggles to get out from under a $3.6-billion debt load.

This article presents the first and last campus journalism awards as selected by the author. This year's finest campus newspaper in Canada, according to me, is Quartier Libre at the Université de Montréal. And since one of the runners-up is the Link, from neighbouring Concordia University, the one-member jury of the First (and Last) Back Page Campus Journalism Awards has decided to crown Montreal as the capital of campus journalism in Canada. Both papers achieve quality by doing something that hasn't occurred to most Canadian campus papers: they take their time. Several weeks ago on my weblog I asked for samples of Canadian campus newspapers. Student scribes across the country hurried to comply, and it's been great fun to read their work. At the University of Saskatchewan, Drew Larson shot an amazing cover photo of the Arcade Fire for the Sheaf: two musicians with faces tilted up, mouths open in identical Os. Today's campus papers have too many opinion columns by students who had nothing new to say. Nobody in Canada is doing anything in English to match Quartier Libre.

Comments on the sale of Canada's 'National Post' newspaper by founder Conrad Black. Opinion that, through the paper, Black did a service to Canadian journalism; Speculation regarding the future of the paper under liberal owners.

Discusses how the author's husband is starting up a national newspaper in Canada. The party he threw in celebration of the launch; How she believes every journalist dreams of starting a newspaper; Her criticism of the homogeneity of the Canadian media; How starting a newspaper can become a compulsion.

Argues that nostalgia for past years and independent owners in the field of journalism is misplaced. Conrad Black's hold on daily newspapers in Canada; Arguments in favor of regulating control of the media; The author's opinion that journalists have become better educated and better trained.

This article discusses how the author's great-grandfather has inspired her, despite the fact that they have never met. The city of Montreal is about to name a park after my great-grandfather, Harry (Hirsch) Wolofsky. A plaque bearing his name will soon commemorate his contributions to Montreal's Jewish community, both as a newspaper editor and publisher and founding father of much of the infrastructure that serves our community. Born in Poland, Hirsch arrived in Montreal in 1900 and started a fruit store on St. Laurent Boulevard. He started Eagle Publishing Co., and in 1907 began printing the Keneder Adler (the Canadian Eagle), Canada's first daily Yiddish newspaper (until the 1950s, Yiddish was Montreal's third most-spoken language, after English and French). During the First World War, political columnists challenged readers to join the Jewish Legion of the British Army and fight for a Jewish state in Palestine. On top of all that, Hirsch was seminal in establishing Jewish schools, libraries, hospitals, kosher kitchens, old age homes and welfare services. This heritage is the bane of my existence. Since kindergarten, my Yiddish teachers have reminded me where I come from. Of close to 100 of Hirsch's descendants, I appear to be the only one carrying on his legacy. It was always my dream to enter the family "trade" and I had to follow it.

Focuses on the impact of CanWest Global Communications Corp.'s policy to publish centrally written editorials in its major urban dailies. Details of the experience at the Regina Leader-Post; View of some that the centralized policy would crimp expression of local views; Comments of journalists Murdoch Davis and Haroon Siddiqui; Reaction of CanWest chief executive officer Leonard Asper to the controversy.

Discusses double standards in Canadian journalism. How journalists exploit mistakes made by politicians; Interviews which are re-edited in order to make the interviewer's questions more eloquent; Effects of political campaigns on journalism.

Focuses on Canadian investigative crime reporter Michel Auger. An attempt on his life, and the possible connections of the crime to his writings; Dangers of crime reporting; How Auger differs from the stereotypical crime reporter; His reputation in the field; Experiences of other crime reporters.

Questions how to reach the public today with a positive message. Recent experience, for example the referendum campaign, seems to tell both the print and electronic media that many people are simply not reading or listening to information of any substance. Attempt by both the print and electronic media to make the Charlottetown accord understandable; Identifiable major influences almost all were news stories which spoke to the emotions; Examples.

In this article the author discusses the political corruption investigation in which former Canadian leader Brian Mulroney is said to have taken money from Karlheinz Schreiber, a German businessman, in return for government contracts. The author faults the Canadian press for its lack of interest in the corruption proceedings.

Presents an overview of editorial decisions that inform the scope and content of the articles in this issue. Inclusion of more photo essays, contributions by outside voices, and stories with a different focus than those appearing in daily newspapers in Canada; Challenges to the process; Coverage of the Calgary Stampede and the decision awarding the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing, China instead of Toronto, Ontario.

Focuses on the variety of Canadian news sources as of July, 2001. Challenges of the news business; Thoughts on the magazine and newspaper industry; Constraints placed on the television news business by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC); Comments on the CRTC.

Recounts the author's five decades of work as a journalist in Canada. His first job at 'The Financial Post'; Some of the politicians he has interviewed during his career; What he has learned about the country over the five decades.

Comments on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) public television broadcasting company in Canada. How it is different from private sector counterparts; The quality of CBC reporters and correspondents; How a public broadcaster provides a sense of conscience in journalism.

Reports that Conrad Black, owner of Southam Inc., has angered some of his employees by writing a highly opinionated book review for two of his Canadian newspapers. His review of William Kaplan's `Presumed Guilty: Brian Mulroney, the Airbus Affair, and the Government of Canada'; The publication of the review in the Montreal `Gazette' and the `Ottawa Citizen,' as well as `The Vancouver Sun' and `The Calgary Herald.'