There must be more serious financial problems than we thought at the Toronto Star. We could have switched to electronic distribution several years ago, but instead maintained a very expensive subscription. I have always admired the Bitove family that is currently at the helm of Torstar. And I was delighted that Jordan Bitove wanted the Star to carry on in the Joseph Atkinson tradition. To hear of a potential involvement with the vipers at Postmedia and their masters at Chatham Management is the most discouraging word I have heard from the declining media scene in Canada in many years.
How Paul Godfrey ever managed to get American Media Inc. (AMI) and its National Enquirer involved in Postmedia and Sun Media must have been a first in brilliant con jobs. Today, his cranky creation of right-wing newspapers is owned and indirectly controlled by the people at Chatham Management in New Jersey, U.S.A. These are the Republican Party cheerleaders who produce tons of mindless crap every month for housewives to pick up as they go through the grocery counters of America.
Why Torstar’s Jordan Bitove would even consider getting into bed with those people is nothing more than engaging in the world’s oldest profession. There is redemption though if he really thought about it. Bell Media just dumped a lot of reporters and editors and is in desperate need for good reporting. And Corus Entertainment is in desperate need for broader reporting capabilities. You will never get people to wake up for the commercials, if your news constantly repeating, puts them to sleep first.
I never could understand the late John Basset’s mistake when he dumped his Toronto Telegram newspaper in favour of concentrating on his CFTO-TV which became the CTV network. Cross media editorial was a formula that worked in the United States but has never been given a reasonable chance to develop in most of Canada.
Maybe I am one of those people who want something more challenging than a crossword and coffee over my breakfast. While there is a tendency in the Star today to overwrite the various news columns, the individual who subscribes to print media can simply self-edit and draw the news he or she wants from it. Whether delivered in the early hours of the morning or electronically on a tablet, it introduces you to the realities of your day. I welcome it. If you want opinions, just keep reading Babel-on-the-Bay.com .
-30-
Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to: