Why King is King

Larry King has more than 50 years of radio and television talk show host experience under his suspenders and one of the keys to his success is the absence of Is.

"I is irrelevant in an interview to me," King, who has also written for newspapers, told The Hour's George Stroumboulopoulos during autobiography promotions in Toronto last week.

The late, great Toronto Star sports columnist Milt Dunnell, who died in 2008 at aged 102, had the same philosophy, saying "there is no I in Milt Dunnell."

Hopefully, the large number of radio and TV talk show hosts in Ontario were taking notes while listening to King during his radio and television interviews.

There are far too many self-absorbed windbags in the talk show business, including men and women hosting AM radio talk shows in the GTA.

I this and I that from people who don't know how to conduct a decent interview.

Listen to King. Take tips from the master. Leave the spotlight on your guests and avoid interjecting "I this" comments during interviews.

There are a few particularly annoying talk show hosts on 1010, 640 and 610 who clearly are more interested in talking about themselves than their guests.

Who cares? We don't. Get over yourselves.

We're down to one "I" and we're out of here for radio talk show hosts during interviews. Try it and you will be changing stations frequently.

I-itis, as we call it, is also suffered by print media egotists. If it is not a first-person column or story, they too get a quick glance, a yawn and an adios.

Media sing-a-long

Okay, name 10 songs about print media in 30 seconds.

Eight songs?

Five?

One?

Tough to do. There was that 1992 Newsies musical, but nothing in it kept us whistling a print media song after the credits rolled.

Then along comes a pastemagazine.com music magazine blog posting with its The Ten Songs About Print Media list, compiled by journalist Mike Kemp.

Kemp also reflects on the "golden age of journalism (that) peaked with Woodward and Bernstein and began its steady decline with emergence of CNN."

He introduces his Top 10 with:

"So, with great hope for a reinvigorated Paste, fond memories of a once-dynamic newspaper industry, and big props to Phil Ochs’ great, album-long newspaper of 1965, All the News That’s Fit to Sing, I offer up my top 10 songs about newspapers and journalism (in chronological order):

He also details each song and provides search links to find lyrics and music.

“Newspapermen” (AKA: “Newspapermen Meet Such Interesting People”) - Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers (ca. 1940)

“Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy” - Flatt & Scruggs (1957)

“Daily News” - Tom Paxton (1964)

“Ballad of a Thin Man” - Bob Dylan (1965)

“Yesterday’s Papers” - The Rolling Stones (1967)

“News of the World” - The Jam (1977)

“Sunday Papers” - Joe Jackson (1978)

“It Says Here” - Billy Bragg (1985)

“Newspapers” - Stan Ridgway (1989)

“A Letter to the New York Post” - Public Enemy (1991)

Interesting posting, Mike. Well done and your intro about journalism then and now hits home.

As for print media songs, the biz needs something to sing about these days.

Perhaps TSF readers can come up with their own Top 10.

How about the Beatles' A Day in the Life lyrics do include "I read the news today, oh boy."

And for a stretch, Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me.

Any other print media songs come to mind? E-mail the titles and your name if you want credit.

Jamie's day

Jamie Westcott would have turned 45 today.

His father, Clare, shares his thoughts about Jamie and what the young and enthusiastic Toronto Sun police reporter might have become had he not died at 25 of brain cancer on June 13, 1989.

"If he was still with us, he might well have made it to editor of the Sun, or at least a star columnist," says Clare, a former Toronto police commissioner and citizen court judge with a lengthy career in Queen's Park politics.

Sun vets who worked with Jamie for two years remember a good-natured young man who was determined to not let cancer prevent him from being a good reporter - and he succeeded. They remember the passion for the job and the smile.

(The photo above catches Jamie grabbing his gear in the Sun newsroom and heading out the door to cover a police beat story.)

Before he died at Scarborough General Hospital, where he was born May 30, 1964, Jamie was told he would be remembered by all who knew him and by recipients of a new Jamie Westcott Memorial Award for crime reporting.

(With June 13 being the 20th anniversary of his death, family, friends and former colleagues who want to share their memories of Jamie are invited to e-mail TSF.)

Clare says he is sure Jamie would want them to remember his 25 years among them, not his passing.

"Jamie loved sayings and he used to doodle in his Sun copy books and make up lines. I don't know where this one comes from, but for some reason it makes me think of Jamie's state of mind and his attitude in those last days in 1989, April through June. He was so very brave."

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass
It's about learning how to dance in the rain

Anonymous

Out of London

Philip R. McLeod, co-founder of The Londoner in London, Ontario, is parting company because the weekly has become more corporate than community under Quebecor.

McLeod co-founded The Londoner with Gord Hume in 2002. Hume left when the Bowes paper was purchased by Quebecor, but he stayed on as editor.

"(I'm) 'retiring' at least from The Londoner," McLeod, in the news biz for more than 30 years, told the paper. "I'm done at the end of May."

He said the paper they started has become more "corporate" and less "community" so it’s time for him to pass the reins to someone else.

Buy your own

A TSF tipster says contributors writing articles for Sun Media's glossy Niagara Magazine will no longer be mailed a free copy for their perusal and records.

"It seems that the Sun Media mag has no problem paying their scribes for articles, but they now draw the line at mailing each writer a free copy," says the tipster. "If they want to see their work - buy a copy!"

The magazine was picked up by Sun Media in the purchase of Osprey Media in 2007.

The cuts keep on coming.

Dreams shattered

TSF sincerely regrets the number of anonymous comments posted by readers over the years, often in fear of losing their Sun Media jobs.

But we'd rather air anonymous comments from journalists and other newspaper employees than reject their opinions outright.

We are reminded of the turmoil PKP and his Quebecor bean counters have caused since 1999 almost weekly in TSF e-mails and posted comments.

Comments like this one received yesterday:

"I worked for Sun Media for 29 years, starting very young. Didn't think I'd last that long, but certainly not expecting to be laid off and my whole department wiped out.

"I was counting the years 'til I reached 65, but alas that was not to be. It is hard finding a job at my age, apart from the fact that a lot of people are in my position, so jobs are few.

"I wish to thank all the people that treated me with dignity and respect, my friends who will forever be in my heart and I won't forget them."

Multiply those sentiments by hundreds and you grasp the volume of dreams shattered in the name of Quebecor's bottom line.

The gutting of the Sun tabloids and former Osprey and Bowes newspapers for no other reason than to create a minimalist chain of glorified shopping flyers has affected more than 1,000 employees, possibly 2,000.

One vet from the Toronto Sun's glory years summed it up for many of us who shared the early success and dreams of the Day Oners:

"It makes one weep to think of all that blood, sweat, tears and triumph being for nought."

The Toronto Sun Family would be a healthier family if we weren't so anonymous with out true feelings. There are exceptions, but just a few, and that saddens us deeply.

But please do share your feelings, anonymous or not.

And to the people who have created this foreign and paranoid atmosphere in newsrooms across Canada, we take you back to a famous exchange during the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s:

Mr. Welch: "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

N5 update

On the get it first, then get it right front . . .

Jonathan Jenkins, Newzapalooza V (June 5) organizer/musician writes:

"In the interests of accuracy, I have to correct my good friend Mr. Harvey. The resurrected Newzapalooza is thanks to the earnest importunings of Staristas Jim Rankin, Michele Shephard and Donovan Vincent, along with Globian Moe Doiron.

"These four and the Granatsteins, Rob and Natasha, and myself are solely responsible. And as you see from our press release sent today (and my apologies for getting it to you late) Jaymz Bee is not the host this year (love the guy) but fresh-faced comic Trevor Boris is."

The press release says:

"Witness the jackals of the press cower under the spotlight's harsh glare. Delight as VeeJay Boris ­ from MuchMusic's Video on Trial and the 2008 COCA Comedian of the Year ­ brings the gavel down on the court of public opinion. Everyone leaves with ringing ears and split infinitives."

Jonathan says there will be fabulous prizes from great sponsors, including Home Depot, Quad Spinning and the Toronto Rock.

Tickets are $20. Get them at www.newzapalooza.ca or at the door, 735 Queen St. East. Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m. All proceeds to the Children's Aid Foundation.

For more information, contact Jonathan Jenkins, Toronto Sun Queen's Park Bureau 416-314-0246, office 416-568-4814 cell.

Thanks, Jonathan.

Now who are the musicians in Toronto Star's Johnny Hondo and the Deadlines band and the Globe/CP's Stimulus Package?

Hey, were talking media and the 5 Ws here.

But seriously, welcome back N5 and a great bunch of talented journalists who rock in the greatest print newspaper city in North America.

Bell speed blues

In the mid-1990s, while looking for a reliable Internet Service Provider, Sun columnist Gary Dunford recommended The-Wire, a small independent ISP that was launched in 1994.

Took his advice and was more than pleased with the performance of The-Wire until 2003 when we moved to Port Hope, well beyond its local telephone service.

Forced to seek an alternative, we went with Bell Sympatico dial-up, but continued to subscribe to The-Wire's webmail service at just under $50 a year and far superior to Bell's Sympatico e-mail system.

Bell Canada, and we emphasize "Canada,"surely must provide the same quality service as a small independent ISP, or so we thought.

The first frustration was having to deal with scripted, outsourced calls to India when there were dial-up problems. Dial-up problems became language barrier problems.

French-Canadians who use Bell have a designated French-language option for technical support, but English-speaking callers most often end up talking to someone in India or to French-Canadians who are not so fluent in English.

Bell Canada is in the communications business, but communication is not its forte.

We stuck with dial-up until last November, when family and friends and all the new bells and whistles on sites like YouTube convinced us to try high speed. Suddenly there was YouTube. TV programs on the Net. And faster downloading of programs.

When it was working, we loved it.

But just over six months later, with one-too-many India sessions and Bell in Ottawa perplexed by internal paperwork screw-ups they couldn't explain that caused sudden cancellations of high speed services, we cried "uncle."

A week ago Wednesday, high speed service abruptly stopped. Bell said the problem was located and service would be restored on Friday. It wasn't. On Friday, Bell said it would be back Saturday. It wasn't. On Tuesday, after two more hours on the phone, bye bye high speed.

Having high speed is appealing, but at what cost to your patience and stress level?

Bell knows how to entice people to high speed, but they need to hone up on how to keep the customers satisfied. And one big way is to cater to English-speaking customers on the same level as French-speaking customers.

So, for now, no YouTube clips for TSF, no TV shows or movies to watch, no Obama speeches to view.

What next? Rogers high speed? Cogeco? Satellite? We hear Rogers is forever nickel and diming customers. People we know who are on satellite aren't 100% satisfied.

Where is The-Wire when we need it most?

Death of pets

Never been able to forget watching a middle-aged couple in a local Legion bawling their eyes out over beers, not caring who was witness to their grief.

As observers learned on that day in the 1970s, their elderly dog had died.

Peter Worthington and Yvonne lost their 16-year-old dog, Murphy, the other day and you could feel their pain while reading Peter's column on Wednesday.

You could say Murphy was part of the Toronto Sun Family, Peter having mentioned their Jack Russell in his columns 47 times.

The odd couple

Bill Clinton will have some excess baggage when he arrives tomorrow for a Toronto speaking gig, namely George W.

Talk about odd couples. Just how are those $250 to $2,500 tickets for the two-hour Metro Toronto Convention Centre chat fest by two 63-year-old former presidents selling?

Clinton had a better run with poppa, George H.

If George W.'s appearance in Calgary measures Canada's feelings about him, there will be more protesters than rose petals on his arrival.

George, Dick, Sarah, Rush et al, listen to the lyrics of the Cole Porter song:

The party's over
It's time to call it a day
They've burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away
It's time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up the piper must be paid