If Mark Lever really wants to restore public confidence in his post-strike Halifax Chronicle Herald, he could begin by acknowledging — and publicly apologizing for — some of the newspaper’s most egregious sins against journalism during the past 18 months. The problem with that, of course, is that Lever — the failed-businessman-turned-newspaper-magnate — would need...
The Herald strike is over. Now what?
Now that the strike is over, Herald management desperately needs to rebuild — or perhaps simply build — its newsroom capacity, which is the only “value-added” that will really matter if it is to have a journalistic future. The question is: can this management do that?
“I want to thank the arts community in particular and everyone in general for their tremendous support during the Chronicle Herald newsroom strike,” popular and influential longtime arts journalist Elissa Barnard wrote on her Facebook page last week. “I have decided not to go back.” She was not alone. “After 29 years (or so), it’s...
What’s In Mark Lever’s Books? Examineradio, episode #123
As a crippling 18-month strike drags on, the Nova Scotia government has appointed an independent arbitrator to try to strike an agreement between the Chronicle Herald and its unionized workers. This industrial inquiry, the first in Nova Scotia in nearly a quarter century, gives the mediator, William Kaplan, sweeping powers, including the ability to subpoena […]
Is it always a bad idea to get governments involved in journalism?
I hesitate to disagree with Tim Bousquet, the editor of The Halifax Examiner, my colleague and boss. But in this instance I do. Not completely, but significantly.
“It’s always a bad idea to get the government involved in journalism.” Tim Bousquet June 27, 2017 I hesitate to disagree with Tim Bousquet, the editor of The Halifax Examiner, my colleague and boss. But in this instance I do. Not completely, but significantly. Tim was writing last week about a proposal by a group...
Announcing: Joint subscriptions with the Cape Breton Spectator
I’m excited to announce a new collaboration with the Cape Breton Spectator. Here’s what I wrote about the Spectator when Mary Campbell launched the site last year: Campbell is of the Campbell clan that published the former Cape Breton Highlander, a radical labour paper published in Sydney from 1963 through 1976, and her sister is Susan Campbell, the host […]
Christie Blatchford served with libel notice
The National Post columnist falsely defamed her and never contacted her to get her side of the story, says Tarrah McPherson.
Christie Blatchford might have gone too far and slagged the Nova Scotia woman being sued by former Mount Saint Vincent University professor Michael Kydd. Tarrah McPherson served notice Thursday that she intends to sue Blatchford and Postmedia for a column that ran in The National Post and other Postmedia newspapers, online on March 17, 2017 […]
Can Mark Lever succeed where far smarter, far more experienced minds have failed? No
In Mark Lever’s alternate-facts reality, the reality that his audacious scheme makes no business, journalistic, or common sense probably makes it make perfect sense to him.
So Mark Lever — a twice failed, never succeeded businessman who has already managed to turn the Halifax Herald into the palest imitation of a newspaper by eviscerating its newsroom and alienating its readers while the Internet chows down on what’s left of his lunch — has managed to borrow millions he doesn’t have against...
Journalism: banking on public broadcasting
Committing that single act of journalism required one hell of a lot of labour-intensive investigating, reporting, and editing — not to mention, I’m certain, countless hours of lawyering — simply to prove, or disprove, the allegations of three disgruntled, anonymous TD employees. It was worth it.
At this moment — when real journalism is often dismissed as fake news and alternate-reality U.S. president Donald Trump is decimating American public broadcasting in his new budget— there is some comfort living in Canada where our recently refinanced and reinvigorated public broadcaster is not only publishing real news but is also affecting the public...
Stephen McNeil’s “right direction” and his Chamber of Commerce cheerleaders…
While MLAs debated the government's it-will-pass-anyway legislation imposing its will on teachers in the House of Assembly, more than 500 business types and government officials gathered just a few blocks away to celebrate Premier Stephen McNeil’s bold assertion that “no one can deny the fact this province is moving in the right direction.”
If you missed it, I’m sure you weren’t alone. Let us first recall The Week that now, thankfully, was. First, of course, there was the emergency session of the legislature scheduled for last Monday night, but which was delayed a day by Snowmageddon #1. Our premier apparently needed not only a weatherman, but also the entire...
A Chronicle of errors
Is the Chronicle Herald, in fact, the shittiest daily newspaper in Canada?
So here we are, one year into what may become the longest newspaper strike in Canadian history. The real reporters, editors, and photographers walking the picket line — those that haven’t accepted jobs elsewhere — may be demoralized, but it hasn’t translated into their content. You can still find excellent journalism at the Local XPress. Because that’s what […]
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