John Downing writes

John Downing, a Day Oner who quietly left the building in December after 35 years at the Toronto Sun and is the subject of a TSF farewell posting, writes:

"It's a unique experience to read about yourself as if you had just died. I think I'm still alive, and that I didn't call it quits after 5,000 columns, but that they called it quits for me after 5,400 columns.

"Not that I feel extinguished. I'm in my anecdotage, and my sons say they still love to hear the old stories because they want to see how they turn out "this time." So I will keep writing and talking.

"The comments from my friends are intriguing. Apparently (Don) Hawkes wanted to kill me on occasion. Now he knows how I felt. Les (Pyette) is another chap I felt like doing that to on occasion, but as it turned out, after we had adjoining offices, he had a much better grasp of our form of tabloid journalism than any of the current jerks.

"Then there is this grudging tribute from (Andy) Donato. You would never know from his cherubic exterior, but this is a golfer who draws rather than the other way round. He hated to come to the office, so his picture of me greeting his latest effort with no enthusiasm seldom happened. I was too busy trying to find the curses and obscenities hidden in the cartoon to laugh.

"Actually, the curses are the only words he knew how to spell correctly. Since I continually had to defend his cartoons before the press council and the rest of the media, I looked on him as a talented loose cannon who could shoot off in all directions. As a cartoonist, he's a great golfer, but never play with him because he will criticize every part of your swing while gleefully pocketing all your cash. A great talent who is one of the last vestiges of the original Sun.

"It's nice to have kind words from the foot soldiers, (Sean) McCann, (Ian) Harvey and (John) Cosway who know how much of the business is perspiration rather than inspiration and how most editors are nuts.

"Then there are the kind words from Joan Sutton Straus about how I hired her after a wine-fueled lunch when I returned to the office and found that (Doug) Creighton had hired someone else. Thank heavens I won that fight. Joan was always one of the great ladies of the Sun, much more than the one who gets all the publicity, named by Page 6 as the Black Witch of King St., and that was before many of us lost money by being stupid enough to invest in Hollinger.

"When the Tely finished, and I was the editor in charge of the last edition, I felt saddened by how many of the 1,200 we would never see again because only 62 came to the Sun. All these friends who we had bowled with and curled with and drank with at weddings and christenings and just because we felt like it were now going their way.

"And the Sun has been a sad sequel. If only we could call up Bob MacDonald for a celestial hockey game where he could drive his elbows and his hockey stick into that well-tailored suit and see if there is a heart and brain inside.

"We used to know how to fight in the corners of journalism, before the suits took over, who know only how to turn success into failure.

"Happy to hear from anyone at 416-233-3183 or jhdii@hotmail.com

"Don't be like Hawkes, who the last time I called him in Quebec to chat wanted to know "who died?"

"Well, it's happening to a newspaper, but they can never kill our memories."

Thank you for your comments, John. You can tell your Sun stories here whenever you feel the urge. This is a link to your 30th anniversary column.

Re Canoe.ca blogs

An anonymous response to TSF's Canoe.ca blogs posting:

"My 2 cents is that most of the Sun Media blogs aren't worth the bandwidth. The writers don't write often enough, and when they do, often it isn't interesting because they don't get it about what makes an interesting blog. It's just, "Oh, we'll have these online journals and CALL them blogs.

"To a true blogger, it's bloody scandalous that Quebecor/Sun Media has shown such obvious contempt for (bloggers) with these non-blogs that have no point for existing. They should be using the blog form to cover areas - like amateur sports, for instance - that don't get much coverage in the regular paper.

"And they haven't introduced people to new voices - it's just the same columnists who have a forum in the paper already, in the name of synergy.

"Meantime, the Star gets it with blogs. So does the Globe. Meantime, lazy, uninspired Sun Media and their buzzword-spouters devalue the blogging form every day - assuming their brilliant columnists even bother to write that day."

Thank you for your e-mail.

A point of view

Winnipeg writer Mike Warkentin e-mailed TSF to say:

Hi there,

The following is the text of an article I wrote for Uptown Magazine in Winnipeg in response to Quebecor's policies and their effects on local journalism. It was published April 12, 2007.

It is not online at present, so I thought you might be interested in a copy.

I used your site as a resource for the article, and I'm glad someone is sounding some alarm bells out there.

Thanks.

One nation, one view?
Warkentin says Quebecor's policies limit local content in the Winnipeg Sun

"Who is Bruce Kirkland, and why am I reading his movie reviews in the Winnipeg Sun?

"Do I care what some Toronto Sun columnist thinks about Will Ferrell's latest movie?

"No, I don't. I want to know what people who share my city think about a movie. We are not Toronto, and people here view things differently than they do in the Big Smoke.

"Quebecor, which owns the Winnipeg Sun, the Toronto Sun and a stack of papers scattered across the country, sees things differently. Quebecor seems to think it can provide me with national news, sports and entertainment stories written by non-local reporters and edited and laid out in London, Ont., to be sent in PDF form to Quebecor's papers all over Canada - a vast nation, you'll remember, which has a variety of very distinct regions with very distinct interests.

"According to stories in the Winnipeg Free Press, the Toronto Star and blogs such as torontosunfamily.blogspot.com, this is happening as part of a streamlining process that began back in 2001 and was continued in 2006.

"Over 400 jobs were lost - and now Quebecor wants more.

"To cut the (Winnipeg) Sun newsroom of 45 by six positions, the company has recently offered some nonsense called a "voluntary termination incentive program."

"The Sun is currently battling the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union over the cuts, but the stories and pages are nevertheless being piped into Winnipeg because Quebecor thinks no one will care.

"Well I care. I get pissed when corporations offer me less so they can make more, and I get pissed when local voices are silenced to turn a profit. I get even angrier because this is part of a growing trend in media across the country.

"The cuts at the Sun haven't affected its local news department, but they don't have to. While the Sun says the cutbacks will actually result in more focused local coverage, newsrooms across the city are already grossly understaffed and stretched to the limit, and I believe the reporting suffers accordingly.

"What is even more concerning is that these cuts represent an attack on local journalism and local perspectives.

"The tendency in media today is toward cheap and easy reporting regurgitating press releases, writing about Britney's skull and offering nothing that will offend advertisers, either current or potential.

"Good journalism costs money, and it requires many skilled people to do it. It costs money to dig up stories, offer locally relevant analysis on national and international events, keep government and business on its toes, and ensure citizens are informed. Media outlets are seldom willing to invest in such journalism these days, and they are asking your journalists to do more and more with less.

"Remember back in 2002 when 240,000 gallons of chemicals leaked out of a train wreck near Minot, N.D.? Did you know that none of the six local radio stations, including KCJB, which is designated the official emergency station, broke into broadcasts to inform people about the accident and the health risks it posed?

"According to Democracy Now, the stations, all owned by media giant Clear Channel, continued to broadcast music that was programmed from somewhere out of state, and phone calls to the stations by residents and local officials went unanswered during the crisis. As a result of the spill, about 330 people were treated for health problems, and one person died.

"Winnipeg is in a similar state of emergency, but this time it is local journalism that is dying."


Thank you for your e-mail. You are not alone.

MSM Sun coverage

This is an anonymous comment to Toronto Sun Family:

"I find the lack of mainstream media coverage of the gutting of the Suns a tragedy. Sure, it will mean single-newspaper markets for the CanWest chain - and they can hardly be opposed to that. But, if the shoe was on the other foot and the Aspers were quietly rolling up/gutting/looting their papers, don't you think the national hue and cry would be deafening?

"Remember when the Winnipeg brain trust started firing off must-run editorials for all their papers? Even Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills found a spine and quit. But now that the Suns are running chain-wide editorials, who cares? Who cares enough to say "Hey, wait a minute? Don't we readers deserve better?"

"Never mind the readers. What about all the advertisers who are pumping millions into the Sun advertising accounts? Are they being told what is going on? Are they getting the true picture of increasing canned copy, reduced local coverage, slumping circulation?

"The Suns are (or is it were?) outspoken right-wingers, favouring a news-lite menu that basically followed the tried-and-true tabloid style - cheesecake, crime and sports. And of course there's always the SUNshine Girl for the PC types to target.

"Something for everyone.

"Nevertheless, hundreds of journalism jobs (a lot of them entry level jobs) are disappearing, regional voices are being muffled and to what purpose?

"Perhaps (Pierre Karl) Peladeau and Quebecor could share that much with us."

Exactly. The dismantling of the Suns is a national media story, but has received only limited, but appreciated, coverage in Toronto Star and Globe and Mail columns.

Thank you for your comments.

re Mike Jenkinson

Sun vets being shown the door aren't getting the ink they deserve to say farewell, so some are turning to the Internet.

Mike Jenkinson, one of the six Edmonton Sun staffers who sign off this week, has posted the following comments on his The Newsroom web site, dated April 16.

"I'm back, and with some actual developments.

"My position was eliminated at the Edmonton Sun today. I knew this was coming (it could be seen from a mile away with all the centralization of copy done by Quebecor), so I was neither surprised nor shocked.

"As for what the future holds, stay tuned.

"In the meantime, I just want to take the opportunity to say that I had a great time at Sun Media over the last 10 years. I worked with lots of fantastic people, made some lifelong friendships and got to live my dream as an editorial writer, editor and columnist.

"Folks like Mindy Jacobs, Kerry Diotte, Doug Beazley, Licia Corbella, Roy Clancy, Linda Williamson and many many others (if you don't see your name, don't feel bad, I can't name everyone I've worked with over 10 years), made my job so much more fun and easy to do. I wish my former Sun family the best in the future.

"And thanks to all the readers who wrote to agree or disagree with the thousands of editorials and columns I wrote over the years. Sun readers are great, and I'll certainly miss interacting with them."

Inside sputtering?

Glenn Garnett's new Inside the Sun blog was just warming up with 10 postings to his credit when he left on vacation Friday.

"I'll be on vacation until Monday, April 30," the new editor in chief's vacation blog memo says. "In the meantime, we're looking forward to new blogs by The Scrawler, Joe Warmington, and Money Editor Linda Leatherdale. Enjoy!"

No Inside the Sun on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Where art thou, Joe and Linda?

One TSF reader wonders how many Sun readers are taking the time to read the 16 online Sun Media blogs, noting the small number of comments being posted via the much hyped Canoe.ca.

"Take a look at the online comments section on Glenn Garnett's blog, as well as all the other online Sun blog writers," says the reader. "There are only a handful of comments for the whole lot. What does this mean? Nobody is reading the blogs?"

Inside the Sun, launched April 2, has received five comments from three readers and most of the 15 other blogs have zero comments.

Leading the blog pack with comments is Tom Brodbeck's Raise a Little Hell from the Winnipeg Sun, with more than 20 comments.

Maybe blogs need to raise a little hell to motivate readers.

Re Gary Prouse

The loss of six more Edmonton Sun staffers yesterday prompted an anonymous Toronto Sun Family reader to post this comment:

"A short note to pay tribute to one of those who left Edmonton yesterday. Gary Prouse, or "Prouser," was the last remaining Day One member of the Edmonton Sun sports department.

"He covered the Eskimos and Drillers as a beat writer before joining the desk shortly before most of the current reporters were born! I only started working with Prouser a few years ago, but the pride he took in his work and his desire to beat the opposition stood out from the start.

"Prouser, it was an honour and privilege to work with you. You were a pro and should feel proud of everything you accomplished at the Sun.

Your former teammate."

Thank you for your comment.

Press room blues

When Quebecor's new printing plant in Islington opens this fall, it will affect more than 300 non-union press room, mail room and distribution jobs at the Toronto Sun and London Free Press.

One source says about 120 full time Sun employees will be officially terminated on June 29, but kept on as short term contract workers until the new printing plant opens.

About 200 jobs at the London Free Press will also be lost.

The new plant will print the Toronto Sun, London Free Press and non-newspaper products, including telephone books.

The 300-plus Toronto and London employees can apply for jobs at the new plant, but they will not receive preferential treatment.

"They will have to bid for jobs at Islington along with everyone else," Brad Honywill, president of the CEP's Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild, told TSF.

"While they have experience on their side, the new presses are much more automated than the ones at the Sun and Quebecor may well use this as an opportunity to get a much younger, and cheaper, workforce," says Brad.

"We anticipate many late papers in London next winter when the snow blows across Hwy 401, slowing traffic to a snail's pace."

Another source said earlier evening deadlines for the Sun and Free Press might be called for to accommodate the printing of non-newspaper products.

The source said if earlier deadlines are imposed, it would eliminate a lot of final scores for evening sports events, definitely not a selling point with sports fans.

Meanwhile, the CEP media union has asked the Ontario Labour Relations Board to recognize its jurisdiction over the new Quebecor plant, said Brad.

Silencing the presses will be another blow to the once thriving newspaper building and a step closer to the sale of 333 King Street East.

A brief flashback:

In the summer of 1975, Toronto Sun employees gleefully moved from two floors of a former factory into their new home, a building with six floors and its own presses.

Sun management invited readers to take a tour of the new spiffy new digs and several thousand men, women and children lined up throughout the day for guided tours.

For employees of the four-year-old tabloid, the Sun's new head office at 333 King Street East was the sweet smell of success.

And there was nothing more exhilarating than standing in the press room at about 11:30 p.m. watching the huge Webb presses roll for the first time.

The final press run, more than 35 years later, will not be celebrated.

Edmonton - 6

The Edmonton Sun was gutted by Quebecor's centralization plan yesterday, losing six more newsroom employees to layoffs and buyouts.

On a day when a mass murder at a Virginia college highlighted the need for a media focused on providing objective, professional reporting, the Edmonton Sun's newsroom was eviscerated.

The latest Sun casualties in Edmonton, one of Canada's fastest growing cities with a 2006 population of 730,372:

Mike Jenkinson, Comment Editor and editorial writer and, in recent months, the letters editor and occasional Point of View writer, took a buyout - gone;

Erik Floren, entertainment writer and editor - gone;

Rob McLaughlin, a senior rim editor who took a buyout while on stress leave - gone;

Gary Prouse, the last of Edmonton's Day Oners in the sports department - gone;

Sources say two other staffers, including a copy editor, were also shown the door.

"They are down to one cop reporter, two general assignment reporters and the Legislature," one source told Toronto Sun Family. "Now the deskers."

"Edmonton Sun newsroom employees are going - and fast," said another source. "Keep up the good work, Pierre Karl."

The Edmonton Sun, launched April 2, 1978, is the second oldest Sun in the chain of tabloids. It will celebrate its 30th anniversary next April - if not buried by Quebecor.

Judging by the performance of the Toronto Sun in the past year, centralization is not being embraced by thousands of once faithful Sun readers.

Media spelling bee?

Michele Mandel, the blonde, shower-singing Toronto Sun columnist, put her best boot forward in a Toronto Media Idol Competition but didn't win.

Her rendition of I Can See Clearly Now clearly didn't impress the judges, so she's keeping her day job - a big bonus for Sun readers.

The competition was held on the same weekend the CanWest spelling bee finals were aired, which included footage of a Canada Post employee spelling bee.

Well, Good Golly, Miss Molly . . .

What are the chances of the Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and the National Post getting together for a good-natured Toronto Media Spelling Bee?

Have each newspaper select a team of five newsroom employees, be they reporters, columnists or editors, and assemble a panel of their peers for the judging.

Make a day of it, with members of the winning team returning to their newspaper with a trophy and the bragging rights.

Would the five best candidates from the ranks of the Sun, Star, Globe and Post rise to the challenge at a spelling bee, or would they fold like contestants on TV's new brain teaser, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

A Toronto Media Spelling Bee could be the ultimate challenge for the generation of newspaper people raised with computers and spell check.

We would place out bets on a newspaper spelling bee team top heavy with older folks educated in an era when spelling in the classroom was crucial.

Nothing against our former Sun colleagues, but our money would be on the Globe and Mail team.

Pardon us while we spell check this posting . . .