Fame for Elliott

Congrats to Bob Elliott, the Toronto Sun's veteran baseball writer and author, who is the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's newest Jack Graney Award winner.

Colleague Mike Rutsey says in a Sun story the award has been presented 12 times in 24 years and Elliott's name now mingles with the likes of Milt Dunnell and legendary announcers Ernie Harwell and Tom Cheek.

The Graney award, in memory of the St. Thomas, Ontario, native, a major league player and announcer, is to "a representative of the media who has made a significant contribution to the game of baseball to Canada through their life’s work."

That is a perfect fit for Elliott, 61, who will receive his award June 18 at the 2011 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Previous winners:

1987: Neil MacCarl, Toronto Star; 1988: Milt Dunnell, Toronto Star; 1990: Austin “Dink” Carroll, Montreal Gazette; 1991: Joe Crysdale & Hal Kelly, CKEY; 1996: Dave Van Horne, TSN & CIQC; 2001: Tom Cheek, Toronto Blue Jays; 2002: Ernie Harwell, Detroit Tigers; 2003: Allan Simpson, Baseball America; 2004: Jacques Doucet, Montreal Expos; 2005: Len Bramson, TBS Sports; 2009: Ian MacDonald, Montreal Gazette.

Elliott has been covering baseball and the Blue Jays for the Sun since 1987.

The Hall of Fame's lengthy bio notes the Kingston, Ontario, native was born on Sept. 10, a birth date fittingly shared by Roger Maris and Joey Votto.

Elliott, who launched his sports writing career at the Kingston Standard in March of 1966,  has been nominated for the Cooperstown-based National Baseball Hall of Fame's J.G. Taylor Spink Award for three consecutive years.

But still the bridesmaid, not the bride, three years running.

You are due for Cooperstown, Bob. 

Like the Jays, Leafs, Raptors and Argos are fond of saying: Next year.

Freep drops guide

Speaking of the London Free Press, the thinning Sun Media newspaper has axed its Saturday TV magazine for all readers.

Joe Ruscitti, editor in chief, explains why in a Comment piece.

"For most of you, there's no news in that, but about a quarter of daily subscribers were still getting the magazine on a by-request-only basis," he writes.

"Not to worry. If you are a daily subscriber, you will still get all but the weekday and late night listings in the newspaper over the course of the week."

Re final TSF year

TSF readers have been asking about this being the final year for the Toronto Sun Family blog.

In a nutshell, the 40th anniversary of the Toronto Sun and five years of TSF sound like perfect numbers to make an exit.

Truth is, while we continue to cheer for survivors still on the job and largely admire the job they do with what they have, the path PKP has taken Sun Media down has eliminated much of its heart.

Many of the talented Sun vets who gave a damn are gone and the successful tabloid formula those same vets crafted has been eviscerated.

A decade of Quebecor has killed Canada's greatest print media success story and nothing short of a change of ownership will turn the tide.

So another year of TSF is ample time to have vets from the glory years tell their stories and to allow the newer generation of staffers to speak their minds.

(Our favourite story at this time of the year? Shaking hands with Doug Creighton and Peter Worthington in the festive sixth floor executive room and being handed an envelope containing a week's pay - in cash. That was one of the many give backs in the pre-Quebecor years.)

A final year of more positive TSF postings would be preferable, but the first four years clearly indicate that scenario is highly unlikely.

PKP would have to experience a Scrooge-like epiphany, such as a  vision of the ghosts of newsrooms past, to realize the damage he has done and change course.

Until then, PKP is a billionaire with lots of toys and, sadly, his least favourite toy is print media.  Employees know it, readers can sense it.

Lifetime noms

The Canadian Journalism Foundation is requesting nominations for its 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, an honour Doug Creighton, co-founder of the Toronto Sun, received in 2001.

Two Canadian newspaper vets who come to mind are Peter Worthington, columnist and co-founder of the Toronto Sun, and Clark Davey, formerly Globe and Mail managing editor, Vancouver Sun publisher and Ottawa Citizen publisher.  

Worthington and Davey, both named to the defunct Canadian News Hall of Fame, are in their 80s and no doubt recognized by large numbers of younger journalists as career-changing mentors.

CJF launched the award in 1996 and invites annual nominations based on:

Body of journalistic work during career;

Contribution to society through outstanding journalism; 

Contribution to the professional development of journalists;

Contribution to the professional development of fellow journalists;

Recognition and respect from peers and community

 

The winner will be selected by a jury and presented at the annual awards gala.

Previous recipients:

2010: Lise Bissonnette; 2009: Joe Schlesinger; 2008: Sally Armstrong; 2007: Norman Webster; 2006: Knowlton Nash; 2005: Pierre Berton (posthumous); 2004: June Callwood; 2003: Doris Anderson; 2002: Trina McQueen; 2001: Doug Creighton; 2000: Mark Starowicz; 1999: Bernard Derome; 1998: Peter C. Newman; 1997: Peter Gzowski; 1996: Robert Fulford.

CJF emphasises "commitment, integrity, passion and inspiration" in its search for an annual recipient and Doug Creighton filled those shoes quite comfortably in his decades in print media, from Toronto Telegram police reporter to president and CEO of the Sun.

The backstabbing SOBs in the boardroom who ousted Doug in 1992 couldn't shine his shoes, but that is another story.

A London view

Butch (The Beast) McLarty, a London blogger, shares his opinion of  Eric Margolis, the London Free Press and Quebecor: 

I always enjoyed reading Eric Margolis - I now read me him online at his website and follow him on Facebook and Twitter - because:

1. He is a well-informed and to-the-point veteran of international affairs. He doesn't mince words.

2. He doesn't toe any particular party line. Agree or disagree - and I usually agree with him -  you know you're dealing with an honest point of view based on years of field experience.

As a resident of London, Ontario, I can attest to the deterioration of the London Free Press during Quebecor's ownership.

For several generations, the London Free Press was a strong and proud voice for Southwestern Ontario under the Blackburns.

When Sun Media bought the Free Press in 1997, it appeared this fine tradition would continue when London-born Big John Paton was publisher.

But the bottom dropped out when Quebecor bought Sun Media shortly thereafter. It was a lousy turn of fate.

And it's not that the remaining staff at the Free Press are incompetent or lazy. There's simply been far too many cutbacks in staff for them to provide proper coverage while they receive their marching orders from out-of-town bean counters.

As a result, circulation continues to plummet and staff morale is at an all-time low.

Further, there's far less diversity in opinion columns with fewer local, regional, national and international voices.

Even the quality of editorial cartoons is in the toilet.

At one time, the Free Press provided editorial opportunities for talented, up-and-coming local writers to get published in a daily newspaper.

Not anymore as Peladeau's Quebecor throws nickels around like manhole covers, notwithstanding the fact that advertising revenue at the Freeps remains high.

It's a significant loss to readers, aspiring journalists and the country itself.

This sad situation is mitigated somewhat by online opportunities, but there is no substitute for a vibrant print edition of a local newspaper.

Currently, I can read the print edition of the London Free Press in a few minutes, including the once comprehensive Saturday edition.

It's little wonder that former LFP editor-in-chief Paul Berton made the jump to the Hamilton Spectator several months ago.

Sarnia snowed out

One of the casualties of the crippling snowstorm that closed Hwy. 402 between London and Sarnia is today's print edition of the Sarnia Observer.

The Observer no longer has its own presses, so the long distance hauling of Sun Media papers to the area from London was curbed by the storm.

An online Sarnia Observer story explains why the print edition has not arrived, which does little for print readers and advertisers wondering where the daily paper is today.

The contradictory online Observer story reads: 

"Due to the closure of Highway 402 there will be no printed edition of Tuesday's Observer.

"The digital edition is being made available free of charge for Tuesday's paper but you must register online at www.theobserver.ca and click on the e-edition link.

"The Tuesday printed edition will be delivered as soon as the roads become passable."

So which is it, "there will be no printed edition of Tuesday's Observer" or "the Tuesday printed edition will be delivered as soon as the roads become passable?"

And does the major delay, or non-delivery at any time, mean all subscribers and advertisers will be credited? 

Winter has not officially arrived and Quebecor's long distance paper hauls are already feeling the brunt of severe weather. 

Quebecor sold its presses at the Observer, the Niagara Falls Review and Welland Tribune and shipped them to a firm in Peru last December.

So unlike the year-long Ottawa Sun experiment, which saw its papers being printed two hours away in  Mirabel, Que., before returned to Ottawa in 2008, there is no turning back.

Group of 20 Idol

Politics, smolitics, let the next Group of 20 Summit be a concert with world leaders on stage.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took the stage the other day to sing the Fats Domino hit Blueberry Hill.

Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama made the charts last year when a song - Take Heart - he recorded in 1988 was re-released.

We've seen Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper play piano and sing the Beatles tune With a Little Help From My Friends.

and former U.S. President Bill Clinton does a mean version of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel.

The power of music.

As John Lennon and all of the casualties of Toronto's G20 would have said, imagine.

TorSun tabs it

Toronto Sun editors heard the recent "tab it up" call and yesterday's Sunday Sun was Exhibit A, with two exclusives from Sun vets.

Rob Lamberti's two-page spread on mobsters and Peter Worthington's latest two-page revelations from Clifford Olson were classic tabloid features.

That is one way to boost Sunday sales.

Link update

We know about spammers, phishing and other devious Internet ploys to con surfers into believing Google links are genuine, but the "Tori" link mentioned in the previous post is a new low even for scum-suckers.

Our thanks to TSF reader Jerry for the following comment:

"Has nothing to do with the LFP. These scam sites have been around since last century.

"The newer scam sites can be 100% automated. In some cases, you just buy your own web hosting space and another company will run the entire process for you. Of course, that company takes a chunk of any money you make.

"Such a site will automatically search the web for 'any' remotely-related content and then will link to that content. These sites can even auto-embed Youtube videos, etc.

"The point to these links/embeds is to attract search engines and, of course, to mislead web viewers searching for 'real' information.

"These sites usually run on blog software (i.e. Wordpress) and their purpose is to make money from advertising and/or by selling some crappy e-book. These sites are often called 'f'logs', and they litter the web.

"Flogs will ping as many legit blogs as possible, hoping to attract some traffic from those legit sites. Some will even auto-post messages on forums, also hoping to attract traffic.

"There are also many scam sites that use look-alike domain names in hopes of attracting web visitors who have slightly misspelled the real domain name.

"On the Web, there are snake oil salesmen on every corner. Web-proof yourself the same way you street-proof your kids. Or, be like a journalist: believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see. Especially on the Web." 

So what is a legitimate business like the London Free Press to do about a pathetic book promoter who uses the newspaper's name and Tori's name to misdirect web surfers?

Where do you draw the line in hawking goods online? 

WTF book promo

We can only hope Sun Media's London Free Press has nothing to do with this deceptive online book promotion that uses the Tori Stafford story as a draw:

tori stafford london free press | The 77 Secrets
By The London Free Press VIDEO: Premier Dalton McGuinty was in London Friday where he visited the food bank and discussed a number of issues including the . ...
the77secrets.com/77/tori-stafford-london-free-press/

First impression is "The 77 Secrets" in the tagline are facts about the murder case that are now known after a publication was partially lifted.

But the link is to a promo for a book called The 77 Secrets, which has nothing to do with Tori's abduction and murder, nor the aftermath.

If the London Free Press has anything to do with this shameful book promotion, it is a new low for the paper.

If it is an individual using the paper's name - and the murder case - to deceive people into viewing details about the book, the Free Press should immediately put a stop to the deception.

Here's another secret for those responsible: Going to the bottom of the barrel for recognition is a sure way to never see daylight.