Vivian Song is out

Vivian Song, a former Toronto Sun reporter who has been prolific as a Sun Media national bureau writer, has left the building.

"Just heard Vivian Song was fired," says a reliable TSF source. "Not sure why. She left the union to work for National."

Vivian has been high profile as a Life/Green Planet writer/blogger since 2007 and participated in coverage of the recent Great Canadian Sex Survey series.

"She is a very talented reporter," says a TSF reader who worked with Vivian at the national bureau.

Drop us a line, Vivian. We'd like to hear your side of the story.

Vivian's Green Planet blog bio reads:

"So here's my spiel.

When asked to write a weekly environmental column, Green Planet in 2007, I took on the mission with gusto.

I would provide readers with updates on the latest climate change science, dispel myths perpetuated by front organizations for big oil companies, and inspire Canadians to make behavioural changes which cumulatively would make an impact.

I would challenge readers to eschew the consumer-driven society we live in, and compel them with my stories to recycle the beejeezus out of their garbage.

But here's my confession dear readers: when I took on the column, I was no treehugger, in the strict Birkenstock-wearing sense of the word.

I was and can still be, notorious among friends for my fiendish shopping appetite. What can I say, new shoes give me joy.

I live in a condo and can't compost my organic waste.

I own and drive my 1997 Mazda clunker when my destination is off the subway line, a relic from my days as a general assignment reporter at The Toronto Sun."

Confirm or deny

Word is a high profile Sun Media writer who has been getting a lot of space recently is now on the outside looking in after being axed.

We have one reliable source, looking for a second to confirm this truly unexpected departure.

The writer, no doubt, will not be idle for long.

More Moonlighters

Mike Strobel's photo spotlight on ladies 40 and beyond gets another workout today in a special section in the Sun and online in photos and videos at torontosun.com

In praise of older women, indeed. No belly bling in sight.

Strobel's steady stream of Moonlight Ladies clearly reveals there is a supply and a demand for women whose ages are beyond Sun Media's demographics.

Question is, does Strobel ask these Moonlight Ladies for proof of age? Don't want any 39-year-olds ringers fudging their ages to get into this exclusive 40-plus Sun Media club.

Strobel says readers are asking when Moonlight Ladies will become a regular feature, but he's leaving that up to the Sun powers that be.

FYI: Canada's baby boomers are beyond the Sun's demographics, but they carry a lot of weight in numbers.

Quebecor bid

Updated re Globe and Mail timeline
The old ticker skipped a beat this morning when we read this online Reuters headline:

RR Donnelley offers to buy Quebecor for $1.35 bln

Unfortunately, the bid by R.R. Donnelley & Sons in the U.S. is for the financially troubled Quebecor World printing operations, not the ever-shrinking Quebecor Media.

The updated Reuters story says:

RR Donnelley said it will pay the insolvent commercial printer's debtors about $957 million in cash, and 30 million of its shares, valued at $394.2 million, based on Monday's close of $13.14.

"We believe that the proposed transaction set out in this letter is superior for the Quebecor debtors and their creditors to the restructuring proposed by the plans in their current form," Chief Executive Thomas Quinlan said in a letter to Quebecor management.

The story does not include comment from Quebecor Inc.

You can read the full RR Donnelley letter of intent here.

And the Globe and Mail has a timeline today.

333 sold?

A TSF reader says Canoe has been working out of the third floor at 333, one floor up from the Toronto Sun.

The reader also says 333 has been sold and "they were in measuring today."

Okay, where to next for Sun and Canoe employees?

Canoe & Sun Media

Quebecor has announced Canoe is being merged with Sun Media "to seize the opportunities available on the new media landscape by combining assets from its Internet and newspaper operations."

Read today's Marketwire press release and you will be wondering how many more jobs will be lost and what will it mean to Sun Media print newsrooms.

Let us know your reading of Quebecor wording such as:

"The new multimedia company will allow Quebecor Media to move another step forward in rolling out its new business model, designed to generate innovative and fruitful synergies within its multidisciplinary teams so that customers may take full advantage of the digital world."

For a communications giant, Quebecor's wordy press releases are all but communicative. And they do so love using that word synergy.

PKP says in the press release: "Today, we are combining the strengths of two industry leaders. Pooling their assets, expertise and energy can only result in a winning combination for our customers."

From Quebecor's past performance, TSF sees more job losses and cost cutting in the wording of the press release.

Stay tuned.

Law Times audio

The Law Times, no stranger to former Toronto Sun employees, is now providing audio with some of their online text stories for the benefit of the visually impaired and visitors with tired eyes.

Audio readings of news stories are slowly - much too slowly - becoming a bonus feature for online publications. TSF noted in January how singer Bono was writing and taping his columns for the New York Times.

The current Law Times audio is for a story about media being given permission to use Tweet or live blogging from inside the courtroom during the bribery trial of Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien.

Nothing new, notes the paper. The London Free Press has been filing electronic updates from the Bandido's murder trial for several weeks.

Sun Media fined

Successful lawsuits against Sun Media have been a rare occurrence since the launch of the Toronto Sun in 1971, the most notable being the John Munro case in 1981, which cost the tabloid $75,000.

A CBCNews.ca story says the Court of Quebec has found Sun Media and the Journal de Montreal guilty for invasion of privacy of two Raelians, one of which is a priest.

Sun Media was ordered to pay the victims more than $10,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as judicial expenses and expenses for expertise.

The court action stems from a series of Journal articles on the Raelian religion in 2003.

Exhibit A

Caught on tape: A kind and gentle Toronto Sun newspaper box double dipper (or outright thief, perhaps) who believes in sharing his daylight loot. Taped Thursday by R.J. Moorehouse, a blogger who is documenting street life in his Yonge/Bloor neighborhood.

Maybe the bizarre false RBC ad front page caught this gentleman's eye.

The Sun was free in a Yonge/Finch box snapped by a TSF reader in January, so this fellow's paper handout doesn't appear to be a major crime. He's just sharing the good Toronto Sun vibes and spreading the need to read message without asking for money. An advocate for print media.

If Sun Media is giving Suns away to boost circulation figures, why not give bundles to the homeless for free and have them earn money by selling papers on the streets? Boost circulation and help the homeless - a win-win situation.

Twitter quitter

Steve Tilley has called off his quest for 1,000 Twitter postings by Tuesday - 500 shy of his goal.

Steve's Saturday postings read:

"This is the 500th tweet of the 1,000-tweets-in-a-week experiment, and this is where I stop. This boy needs a break. :)"

"I have a feeling "Twitter quitter" will be the headline on Monday's article :). Hey, batting .500 ain't bad!"

"I know, I feel bad for quitting :( But to rack up another 500 in two days would mean FULL on tweetspam, and no one needs that :)

A novel idea would have been to post a 1,000-word story one word at a time.

Or number every posting to show readers where he was at day to day.

A thousand gaming/tech/web tips in a week would have been a huge draw.