My hopes (limited) on being a columnist with the StarMetro newspapers are now dashed. TorStar is shutting down the StarMetro commuter newspapers in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Halifax with December 20 as the final date of publication. 73 jobs will be lost in the closing of the newspapers.
I am more familiar with the free newspapers under the previous Metro banner. They weren't worth much but served a purpose when visiting a city. The TorStar rebranding came about a year ago.
There are reports of digital bureaus opening in all those cities except for Toronto with 5 reporters in Vancouver, 5 reporters in Alberta, and 1 in Halifax. That would mean a negative 62 jobs lost.
TorStar/Postmedia newspaper 'trade' details
Postmedia newspaper cuts mean even fewer Canada journalism voices
This is about the 2-year anniversary of the terrible TorStar-Postmedia "trade" where the large media companies acquired papers to then close them.
Postmedia acquired the Metro Winnipeg and Metro Ottawa free dailies to then close them. Torstar acquired and closed 24Hours Toronto and 24Hours Vancouver, rivals to the Metro newspapers.
Personal note: I am changing employment. I’ll be joining the Globe and Mail later this month.
— Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) November 6, 2019
I have considerable experience in column writing and a strong expertise in Canada. Being a white man would theoretically (and sadly) make me ideal to be a newspaper columnist in Canada. The major drawback is that I am likely too liberal for Canadian newspapers.
The most recent columnist additions to The Globe and Mail lineup would confirm that theory.
Andrew Coyne has moved from the National Post to The Globe and Mail. Robyn Urback recently made the move from CBC News to The Globe and Mail. Coyne and Urback fall in the centre-right position on the Canadian news spectrum.
You might be more familiar with Coyne since he is on the At Issue panel on The National on CBC News. Urback writes the kind of columns where you think you know where you stand on an issue and she writes the opposite of that viewpoint.
CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage
They essentially replace Margaret Wente, who took a buyout, as a columnist with the newspaper. The Globe and Mail kept Wente on long after plagiarism accusations in 2012 and a pair of columns in 2016 that failed to meet the newspaper's attribution standards.
Coyne and Urback are upgrades over Wente even in columns that weren't plagiarised. I don't begrudge their success; I would love to have my voice in the Canadian news landscape.
photo credit: StarMetro Toronto
Twitter capture: @acoyne
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