Star/Globe news

CNW Group Item 1:
Globe and Mail members voted 85% today to ratify a new, five-year collective agreement with their employer. Of the 341 members who voted, 289 voted yes to accept the tentative deal worked out July 2 by the union bargaining team. Another 52 voted no.

TSF asks: Was there any doubt a strike would be avoided? The Globe and Mail hasn't had a bitter labour dispute since the ugly 1960s ITU strike.

CNW Group Item 2
CEP says Toronto Star management ignored its own values and the paper's vaunted Atkinson principles today in announcing that its classified advertising department is being outsourced to a Buffalo-based American firm. Their plan would see some 27 out of 32 unionized Star employees in Classified lose their jobs to Americans.

TSF asks: As a customer, would you prefer to deal with an American across the lake, or someone in India? But yes, it does seem odd to be outsourcing to Buffalo to cut costs.

Hinton's new paper

The Hinton Voice, Canada's newest independent weekly newspaper, has been launched in print and online.

The print edition of the new Alberta newspaper was launched June 25 by former Sun Media employees. The online edition already boasts an impressive list of advertisers, with full online display ads via PDF.

Tyler Waugh is the editor; Jeff Pearson, reporter; Sarah Burns, sales; Robin Garreck, composing; Melynda Ewasiuk, office and sales.

The front page of the first print edition (to the right) bodes well for the future of the new weekly. The online edition needs some polishing, but it is a promising start.

Go the extra mile for readers and advertisers in the community and the dividends will be loyal readers and advertisers.

Graduating journalism students and the hundreds of unemployed newspaper people across the country should consider pooling their talents and resources to launch independent newspapers.

Show the conglomerates print media is not dead.

And let the three co-founders of the Toronto Sun - Doug Creighton, Peter Worthington and Don Hunt - be your inspiration.

Re Dan McGarry

Dan McGarry, a former Toronto Sun supplier who says he was often invigorated by visits to the tabloid in the 1980s and '90s. laments the loss of the good vibes in an e-mail to TSF.

He writes:

"Though not officially a member of the Sun family, I was one of the Sun's suppliers and most frequent visitors from the mid 80's to the early part of this century.

"Your blog has brought back some great memories and reminded me why the Sun was the best place in the country to work for so many years.

"I lost contact with everyone when I went back to school and then left Toronto to teach. Now I am back and have found that they have scattered to the winds.

"What a wonderful group of people you had in the Mail Room, Circulation and working the presses. I first learned of the loss of Garf Webb when I found your blog today. My most sincere condolences to Brenda. Garf was a great newspaper man and one of the best golf companions anyone could wish for.

"Mike Smith, Ron Bohas, Peter Verity, Don Laycox and the rest could tell some wonderful stories. Our times at Crooks and Betty's could stretch on forever. Their love of the place was palpable.

"Later, I got to work with the Driscoll brothers on the launch of FYI. I still have a copy of the first edition, one of the bags used to carry the paper, a hat and sweatshirt.

"The security crew before the building was expanded often had to put up with me corralling up to 400 people in that tiny 'lobby.' At one time, my young daughter insisted on wearing the Sun coveralls that I purchased from the short lived store in the expanded lobby.

"Art Roach was able to overcome my lack of skill when our foursome won the company golf tournament. Others that I met on the course included Bob Pulfer, Mike McCabe and Al Cairns.

"Whenever I was down, it was time to visit the Sun and see people working hard in a happy environment, something that always recharged me. What has happened is a shame and a terrible loss to the culture of Toronto.

"Please keep up the blog.

"Regards, Dan McGarry"

Thank you for your e-mail and memories of 333, Dan.

Getting it right

Sun Media's centralized PDF news packaging failed miserably when a published photo said to be of Cpl. Nicholas Bulger, Canada's latest Afghanistan casualty wasn't Bulger.

Most embarrassed was the Peterborough Examiner, which used the photo of what they were told was the hometown Bulger on the front page of its Saturday print edition.

Online, a brief correction: "The picture of a soldier holding an explosive that ran on the front page of Saturday's Examiner was not Cpl. Nicholas Bulger, who was killed on Friday.

"Also Cpl. Bulger did not visit the Buckhorn community centre last year as stated in the story."

"The Examiner apologizes for the errors."

A TSF reader commented: "Speaking of photos, the entire chain messed up majorly, running the wrong photo of Cpl. Nick Bulger.

"Someone posted it to the bulletin board on Friday (a submitted photo I believe), Sun creates those famous PDFs and uses it on their world page for Saturday's edition.

"An email from Gord Walsh sent at 5 p.m. Saturday not to run it . . . yeah Gord, a little too late now."

Another TSF tipster writes: "The Examiner in Peterborough ran the photo huge on their front page. Can you imagine how the family must feel after seeing that? Way to go Centre of Excellence.

"This should be a topic of its own."

Readers won't know who screwed up, so editors at their local newspapers will take the blame.

Prepress boost

Linda Fox, who worked for the now defunct Oshawa Times before moving to the Toronto Sun in the late 1970s, is one of many Toronto Sun Family boosters out there.

If employees from the glory days had a motto, it would probably be "never forget."

Linda hasn't forgotten a lot of the prepress people she worked with before moving on in 2001 and when she read about a prepress send off being planned, she wrote:

"Love to know when and where the composing send off will be. Some great guys there over the years . . . from cut and paste on up to computers.

"All the best to guys like Randy Miller and Andy Balfour. I have never heard much about what happened to that section of the Sun staff since I left in 2001.

"So if you guys post a date and a venue, I would love to know where and when."

We're sure Linda is not alone among current and former employees in wanting to meet and mingle with the laid off prepress/ad builder vets.

When Randy and Andy pin down a date, time and place, we'll post it here on TSF.

Do it up royally. You have earned it.

Prepress meet

Many of the 20 former employees of the decimated Toronto Sun ad builders/prepress department will gather later this month for a delayed wake.

Prepress employees laid off since last September represented approximately 422 years of service with Sun Media and 334 years for ad builders, says Randy Miller.

"There are only 12 people left in Prepress from the 32 that had originally started in the union," Randy tells TSF.

Randy and others feel the prepress employees laid off haven't been given the same exposure as other Toronto Sun layoff casualties.

When they meet later this month, there will be venting and a renewal of the camaraderie they shared at the Sun for decades.

"I feel the most disappointing thing of this is the belief that we were overpaid and behind the times in being able to produce the product our clients wanted," Randy says.

"Production over the years was the most efficient in the industry and cutting edge in the evolution of this aspect of the industry. We were the barometer to which other papers measured their performance.

"Many of our people came to us directly from high school, college, or university and this was the only job they had. It is hard to pickup from this. The company was fair in the treatment of the exit of its employees, but still, for some, the divorce is traumatizing.

:I understand that most of us do not regret our career at the Sun and that most of the new creative and talented generation that is to follow will never have the opportunity to enjoy the dynamics this industry once had in relation to employee management relations and the camaraderie that made the Sun the success story that its founders had envisioned."

Andrew Balfour was a 35-year TorSun composing/prepress employee when laid off last April. He is still looking for work.

Andrew, who provided TSF with the Don Hunt photo, says a gathering of layoff casualties is needed to vent and to share the memories of the glory years at 333.

He says there hasn't been much mentioned about the prepress layoffs and suggests profiles of all 20 casualties be posted on TSF.

TSF can do that, Andrew. Round up the bios in time for your gathering and we will give you all your earned recognition.

A Donato fan

A longtime Andy Donato fan says hello and thanks in a TSF comment:

"I miss looking forward to the daily paper to see what Trudeau and the boys were up to, thanks to Donato cartoons," writes Susan Gough of North York.

"They are some of my best childhood memories, along with Hockey Night in Canada, of course. Thanks Andy."

Susan, formerly of Steady Brook, NL, is one of Andy's many veteran fans.

The award-winning cartoonist would no doubt tell you he too misses Pierre Trudeau.

Plus Joe Clark and his mittens.

Bill Davis and his cigar.

And George W.

Globe deal

It's business as usual at the Globe and Mail after the paper and SONG reached a tentative deal on a new contract.

A CNW Group press release says the agreement, which will be voted on by about 500 unioinzed employees at noon Monday, was reached shortly before the Thursday midnight strike/lockout deadline.

Photog's toolbox

The U.S.-based Society of Professional Journalists has posted a lengthy list of Internet sites guaranteed to include something of interest for photojournalists of all ages.

The SPJ's Journalist's Toolbox lists more than 170 sites, all designed to broaden the knowledge and skills of photographers worldwide, plus the work of photo agencies, photo stock services etc.

Most of the sites are American, but when it comes to the Internet and 21st century photography, there are no borders.

One Canadian site is Rob Galbraith's Digital Photography Insights. Galbraith, publisher and co-editor of the site, is a former Calgary Herald photog now freelancing in Alberta.

A most impressive site is Life Magazine's Photos of the Year.

If there is a comparable list for Canada, let us know.

Our Day

When all of our bitchin' about the weather, politicians, crime, taxes, credit card rates, gas prices, inept media conglomerate management, unemployment, road closures, disruptive public demonstrations, food costs, health care, potholes, car insurance rates and therapeutic green parks being turned into smelly garbage dumps is done, deep down inside we remain forever grateful to be Canadian.

Today, raise the flag, ignite the fireworks; sing along to the Travellers' This Land Is Your Land; give a thumbs up to Terry Fox and other great Canadians that come to mind,; salute the peacekeeping efforts of our Canadian forces; think green and plant a tree; thank police, firefighters, doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals in your community; take the time to thank people who have made a difference in your life; hug someone; don't stop being Canadian.

Tomorrow, let the bitchin' resume.