Time for a little Toronto Sun bookkeeping:
Toronto Sun - pre-Quebecor and mostly pre-Doug Creighton ouster (1992):
1 - An innovative, unpredictable tabloid run by veteran newspaper people
2 - Hundreds of employees loyal to management and colleagues
3 - Morale to die for
4 - Freedom of expression, in columns and inter-office discussions
5 - Consistently in the running for local, provincial and national awards
6 - Ample, well-paid staff in all departments
7 - Sabbaticals after each 10 years of service
8 - Stock options
9 - Generous Christmas bonuses
10 - Profit sharing
11 - Parties and special mementos to celebrate anniversaries and circulation milestones
12 - Farewell columns and stories for Sun staffers leaving for whatever reasons
13 - Readership loyalty to die for
14 - A genuine respect for the lives and needs of employees and readers
15 - Frequent editorials on local issues that spoke for GTA readers
16 - Homegrown, girl-next-door SUNshine Girls
17 - A proven tabloid news and photo formula that kicked butt daily
18 - "Toronto Sun staff" bylines that generated newsroom pride
19 - Investigative reporters, columnists, photographers and editors to die for
20 - Heart.
Toronto Sun - post Quebecor
1 - Still profitable, but on the backs of employees who have been spared, so far, from eight years of cutbacks, layoffs and firings.
2 - No loyalty
3 - Morale in the basement
4 - Few benefits
5 - An estranged readership
6 - The dismantling of a proven tabloid formula in favour of centralized content
7 - "Sun Media" bylines and photo credits
8 - Point of View editorials that focus more on national issues than local issues
9 - No farewell tributes in the Sun for veteran employees making their exits
10 - SUNshine girls from across the country
11 - Freedom of expression non-existent (more paranoia than freedom of speech)
12 - Little respect for the handful of newsroom employees getting the job done daily
Al Cairns, an award-winning investigative reporter who called it quits recently, says it all for what the Sun was before Quebecor bought Sun Media in 1999 in his e-mail to TSF.
Toronto Sun - pre-Quebecor and mostly pre-Doug Creighton ouster (1992):
1 - An innovative, unpredictable tabloid run by veteran newspaper people
2 - Hundreds of employees loyal to management and colleagues
3 - Morale to die for
4 - Freedom of expression, in columns and inter-office discussions
5 - Consistently in the running for local, provincial and national awards
6 - Ample, well-paid staff in all departments
7 - Sabbaticals after each 10 years of service
8 - Stock options
9 - Generous Christmas bonuses
10 - Profit sharing
11 - Parties and special mementos to celebrate anniversaries and circulation milestones
12 - Farewell columns and stories for Sun staffers leaving for whatever reasons
13 - Readership loyalty to die for
14 - A genuine respect for the lives and needs of employees and readers
15 - Frequent editorials on local issues that spoke for GTA readers
16 - Homegrown, girl-next-door SUNshine Girls
17 - A proven tabloid news and photo formula that kicked butt daily
18 - "Toronto Sun staff" bylines that generated newsroom pride
19 - Investigative reporters, columnists, photographers and editors to die for
20 - Heart.
Toronto Sun - post Quebecor
1 - Still profitable, but on the backs of employees who have been spared, so far, from eight years of cutbacks, layoffs and firings.
2 - No loyalty
3 - Morale in the basement
4 - Few benefits
5 - An estranged readership
6 - The dismantling of a proven tabloid formula in favour of centralized content
7 - "Sun Media" bylines and photo credits
8 - Point of View editorials that focus more on national issues than local issues
9 - No farewell tributes in the Sun for veteran employees making their exits
10 - SUNshine girls from across the country
11 - Freedom of expression non-existent (more paranoia than freedom of speech)
12 - Little respect for the handful of newsroom employees getting the job done daily
Al Cairns, an award-winning investigative reporter who called it quits recently, says it all for what the Sun was before Quebecor bought Sun Media in 1999 in his e-mail to TSF.
Al writes not for the unsentimental bean counters in suits, but for all current and former Sun employees and readers who remember the glory days of the tabloid and what a fun ride it was for employees and readers.
Should the Sun eventually burn out, it will be a national media disgrace.
Just out of idle curiosity, how many of the firings/layoffs/buyouts/leavings have been those in supervisory or managerial roles? And who do the remaining supervisors supervise? Just asking.
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