G&M;
The efforts to assure jittery Torstar investors came on the heels of a management shakeup at the Toronto Star this week, which saw two top executives replaced as the company restructured its newspaper business.Shareholder discontent is said to be behind the changes as the controlling families at the newspaper company grow increasingly unhappy with its deteriorating financial performance.
*Torstar will report its third-quarter earnings in two weeks. In August, the company reported a 29-per-cent drop in profit.*
Chief executive officer Rob Prichard said the company is trying to reduce costs at a time when Torstar shares have hit their lowest point in nearly five years.
“Torstar continues to take every available step to improve the performance of the business,” Mr. Prichard said. “We are acting like all other companies in our industry that make changes in response to industry conditions.”
The company's debt was downgraded by Moody's Investors Service Inc. Tuesday to low investment-grade status, and the bond rating agency said it was dropping coverage of Torstar.
An inside look at the Post
Torstar loosing money?
Too freekin bad.
Any chance the loss is due to their political bias. Has to be great news for the conservatives in TO. Readership and viewership of the msm is down in both countries, but I doubt they will ever face the reality that it is their unending support of the terrorists, liberals, anti-military and anti-govt that is the cause. Maybe they should tell the truth about many issues and things might improve.
Let's hope CBC gets cut off soon too.
Any chance the loss is due to their political bias
I would think it has a major impact.I know I have refused all sorts of Red Star subscription offers because I do not want the Liberal party membership that comes with it.Biased and manufactured news is not what I wish to pay for!
Bias is fine, indeed necessary in order to have engaging content.
Unfortunately for Torstar, hysterical, poorly argued bias - particularly if it's of a left-wing bent - doesn't sell.
Note how MacLean's has resurrected itself by moving away from that model to a right of centre bias with none of the above attributes.
These are living examples of why the market place works and government operated organiztions have trouble. I have a wish list including the Globe and Mail that need a strong dose of the same medicine. I sure hope the meds work.
I have to second Gord Tulk's comment. The internet revolution is forcing the print media to reshape itself in an effort to survive. Maclean's has done it successfully, whereas the Star has resolutely resisted and is paying the price. Now if only the G&M would suffer the same fate. Given enough time, it might.
I also read the G&M's story today on the sagging polls for the Tories. Funny how when the Tories were on top of the heap we weren't bombarded with stories from the MSM about how the Liberals were falling apart.
I think that Ayn Rand's best piece of advice on how to oppose collectivists was not to grant them the sanction of the victim. Thanks to the internet, conservatives have the means to give real financial clout to the withdrawl of their sanction.
A lot of people I know are cancelling subscriptions to the Toronto Star, due to it's socialist/islamofascist slant.
Now that they've replaced the publisher and editor-in-chief, perhaps it's time to replace all the other wankers, like Haroon Siddique, James Travers, etc. etc.
Although, I'd rather see it go bankrupt instead.
Watch for the Star to do some serious race-baiting articles. Increasing racial tensions worked well for their circulation the last time, all they had to do was recycle old 'news' stories. Their favourite tactic is of course baiting the 'Black community'(activists) to attack the police. It sells.
I for one would like to speak up for some of the Star's redeeming qualities:
1) Good Saturday Crosswords
2) The Saturday edition is thick and absorbs budgie poo.
That is all.
"...Not enough public-service principles espoused by former publisher Joseph Atkinson, and too much business and international coverage..."
Are they kidding?
tinyurl.com/y8un6s
Apparently Canadians are growing tired of traditional leftist media.
Additionally, why buy the paper anymore when all the news you need is on your PC monitor as you sip coffee at home in your skivvies?
Newspapers, particularly leftist-biased ones, are increasingly going the way of buggy whips... like the whips went following the advent of the automobile...
And I doubt the lower paper circulation is being compensated for via online e-subscriptions to the ToRed Star... leftism just doesn't sell anymore!
Apparently Canadians are growing tired of traditional leftist media.
Additionally, why buy the paper anymore when all the news you need is on your PC monitor as you sip coffee at home in your skivvies?
Newspapers, particularly leftist-biased ones, are increasingly going the way of buggy whips... like the whips went following the advent of the automobile...
And I doubt the lower paper circulation is being compensated for via e-subscriptions to the ToRed Star... leftism just doesn't sell anymore!
The Star has done everything but offer to pay me to subscribe. I really enjoy saying no thanks. It does have a a pretty good auto section though.
Gord's comment is right on. I don't mind if a paper shows some bias, as long as the writing is thoughtful and doesn't bend the facts to suit it's bias. The Star fails miserably at this.
Considering that Torstar is half owner of my employer, I'd rather they didn't go bankrupt. Perhaps a chastening admission that people don't like to be hectored and bullied every morning over coffee, but might prefer something that at least takes a stab at objectivity, even if it misses.
If it moves toward the centre, it will cluster Canada's leading print media in a very tight orbit around the political slightly-left-of-center. Still no actuall conservative newspaper in this country; please don't try and tell me that the Post is conservative.
Making a profit's a crime and social injustice, in their editorial opinion.
In defense of The Star, they have a right to publish whatever they deem fit for their readers.
They also have the right to go Nipples North if their readership declines to the extent that they are bleeding too much red ink.
As a much previous poster put it several weeks ago ( and I paraphrase here)...
"I read the Toronto Star the same way I watch CBC TV.. With the morbid fascination of a dog examining his vomit."
Whoever coined that phrase-please identify yourself. It's a keeper.
I'm amazed at how little attention I pay to newspapers these days, including the National Post. Almost everything I get is from the blogs. The print media? Aside from the comics, the sports, and the TV listings, why bother?
When I found out the Torona Scar had interest in the company I was working for I quit. The company in question sends out coupons in the mail very month.
But then again I can understand not giving up a job, cause you gotta pay the rent.
Rick I would highly recommend that you start job hunting unless your OK with supporting these scum.
'rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic'
Hey Rick, I don't see Metro every day, but when I do I always enjoy your column.
The Saturday Star has a regular feature, Reader Tips, that is just hilarious. It features submissions by various cheapskates from around the GTA.
My all-time favourite was one where the lady suggested keeping pantyhose with runs in them; eventually you'll have 2 pairs of the same colour with runs in opposing legs, and at that point you can cut out the bad legs and wear the two good legs together.
Another lady suggesting hanging on to those juice drinking boxes; you can wrap them up to look like presents and place them on your Christmas tree. The straws can be decorated to look like candy canes.
"I watch CBCpravda TV.. With the morbid fascination of a dog examining his own vomit."
they had put me in a snit again
Cal2
"buck-a-year job as a special advisor to Toronto Mayor David Miller."
WOW! was he ever overpaid for that job. An idiot advising an idiot!
The Star used to be called the Voice of the Liberal Party in the 60s. Not much change there.
What I find irksome is their determination to support losers like McGuinty in the face of his abysmal performance, not to mention their cliche-ridden fake pro-multicultural and pro-multieconomic bleeding heart editorials.
Maybe if they actually reported news, they'd be better off.
Nothing wrong with the Star (or any other forest-killing menshevik rag) that a good 50 cent per copy tax wouldn't cure ;-) We tax everything else, why not a carbon tax on the forest-killing newspaper industry?
FREE - I don't support "those scum" - they support me, and my family. In the current market for journalism, trust me, you don't quit over principles unless you have something else lined up. It's not like there's a healthy job market here for "out" conservative journalists, either. Metro's a good company - there's not much I can do about who pulls the strings, however.
Hey - anybody know of a good conservative newspaper/magazine in this country that's looking for an arts writer? No? I didn't think so.
Mississauga Matt - thanks a lot. I do my best. Try and read tomorrow's column if you can - there's a nice shot at grant scroungers.
Bob, What a great Idea. Jake
The Star just keeps sending me free papers. We don't ask or agree. They just show up with a note that says - free trial for 6 or 8 weeks....
Then of course they want you to subscribe. I read the op-ed page for my nauseating dose of socialist dogma for a few weeks and then cut them loose.
I like their Star Weekly TV listing mag on Saturday - other than that it's garbage.
Maybe if they just SOLD the papers and didn't GIVE THEM AWAY they might have a better profit margin.
Then again, how do you unload the socialist message on the unsuspecting public (and far, far, too many are truly unsuspecting) without giving them away.
It is a conundrum that I hope sinks them. I can live without the Star Weekly....
Oh those evil capitalists at the Toronto Star, sacrificing principles in pursuit of the almighty dollar. What's needed is education of the masses and a commitment to social justice, no more slavish pursuit of American style profits but instead the courage to blah, blah, blah. Oh, what the hell, it's hurting our bottom line, make some heads roll.
Hey, when all the feminists thought I'd sold out, back in the '80s, because I chose to stay home with my kids, I was actually a trend-setter.
That was when I stopped reading the Toronto Star, because Michelle Landsberg, the rabid anti-women-who-weren't-feminists, pro-abortion, wife of Stephen Lewis, was a celebrated columnist at TorStar. I figured way back then that it must have been a rag.
'Guess I was right.
Brian M's comment about free copies of the Star reminded me that we've been getting some too. I checked with my husband: Yes, we get them. "I just throw them out," he said.
And about three times a year, I have the pleasure of explaining--nicely: It's not the telemarketer's fault--exactly why I'm not interested in subscribing.
I was once at a forum, about 20 years ago, and had the opportunity to address Haroon Siddiqui, the Star's Editor Emeritus. I told him that I avoided his paper because it didn't have ONE columnist I cared to read. I said if the Star had JUST ONE columnist of interest to this conservative minded Canadian, I'd buy his paper. I think he sniffed.
does all this mean I may not get my sunday only copy of the star?
will it fade, fade, fade away or end suddenly in a supernova?
LOL !!!
oh, and another newspaper related story: you know all that hullaballoo about recycling newsprint? BUNK. the trees used to produce the newsprint are grown specifically and exclusively for that purpose. you can throw just about any mangled stunted immature thing into the pulp making machine.
if sales (giveaways? whatever?) at the star continue to drop it just means projections for future necessary supplies are lowered and thus less are planted. trees are a RENEWABLE resource. it is NOT cost effective to recycle newsprint. likewise glass. glass does not decompose true, but it doesnt leach one iota of toxins either. glass is made of sand. gone to any beach on the great lakes lately? not cost effective to recycle glass.
anything else on those 2 items is lefty warm fuzzy feel good propaganda. and probably related to some make work thing somewhere in the past.
where do I begin.....
I buy the Toronto Star once every 3 months just as a reminder as to why I had renamed it as the Daily Disappointment.
When I lived in that godforsaken part of the country once, the Sun was in fact the most leftist rag, the Red Star was middle of the road and the G and M was center right. My how times have changed. The Sun is the only one making sense these days while the journalists at the other two are so scared to not toe the Liberal line it is laughable. Are we supposed to be stupid and not catch onto this crap?
You and I in a little smoke shop
Buy a rag of buffoons with the money we got
Laughed at them at the break of dawn
Laughed ‘till all our strength was gone
At the rag no one’s aware
Zelda’s lost her underwear
Dishing out the humble pie
As 99 buffoons all cry
So you want to hurt a newspaper you don't like?
Easy:
Don't buy it. Don't read it.
Don't talk about it or blog about it.
Do not access its web site.
Picking it up off the floor of
a bus or subway car to laugh at the
Tomi the Dummy headlines is okay:
they can't make money off that, and it
doesn't help the Lieberals.
Goodbye [GTA Lib ] TorStar and Mop&Pail, for that matter.
Careful, don*t let the door stall you on the way out. = TG
When will our "betters" understand that they cannot socially engineer the world to suit them? Unfortunately, they have had plenty of success trying to socially engineer the western sheeple. They only fail because our enemy will blatently not comply with their scheme. That's too big and obvious a lie to successfully pull the wool over our eyes to hide. Try as they may.
Rick, if you are a talented writer and art analyst, build a portfolio. Start a blog under a pen name. Keep your job and present your palatable puff stuff to your editors while posting your snap on the anon blog. If you are really talented, then you have talent in a growing market. Box it up, tie a pretty bow around it, slap a copywrite on it, and sell it. Normal people love art, just not the crazy shite the socialists are selling. You may only think you're in "bad space".
You don't have to find "a good conservative newspaper/magazine in this country that's looking for an arts writer". Art is global, not local, and there are many global conservative publications that might be interested in a talented art critic if they could freaking find one.
Tom - I've done that, but not anonymously. Try nosing around here:
http://www.rickmcginnis.com
It was fun, but I had to give it up when my kids were born, and the paper started assigning me more and more beats. (I'm the TV columnist and food writer, DVD and movie reviewer, tech section writer and principle photographer.) Add three or four more hours to my day and I'd love to blog again.
But hey - I talked to Gene Simmons on the phone yesterday.
The Sun might be the most obviously conservative of our local papers, but it's the one suffering the most in circulation these days. The Star, for all its losses, is still the most read paper in the GTA, followed by my paper, then the Sun, the Globe and the Post. I might have the order of the last three a bit off, but that's pretty much how newspaper readership is playing in Toronto these days.
Not that I expect anyone living west of Orillia to care.
Maybe their pro homosexual stances are too much for even toronto.
This typo is on page 2 of the posts article. It's kind of funny.
"The deal - which was unanimously supported by Torstar's board - has added a new LAWYER of debt to Torstar's balance sheet but nothing to the bottom line."
The Star may serve a purpose. At least you know what the enemy is thinking.
The most left leaning rag in North America.
Fire the captain of that rusty scow and full steam ahead on the same course.
Great plan!
There will be dancing in the streets!
I googled Toronto Stars mission statement because I was told long ago that it contained wording of "support for the Liberal party of Canada" in it.
I could find nothing.
Does anyone have any ifo on this?
A paper as righteously left-wing as the Toronto Star should not have to beg and scrape for income. It is deserving of taxpayer support. It should be folded in under the wing of the mamma-bird CBC.
Torstar hit with ‘sell' rating
Merrill Lynch says the company's newspaper and book publishing are in decline with no sign of a turnaround between now and 2008
theglobeandmail.com
DUMP IT!
DUMP IT FAST!
Nobody wants to read biased crap on any side from their Daily papers. It's treating people like fools who can't make up their own minds when presented with the bare unspun facts.
All of the newsmedia will pay for biased reporting, we're a little slow on the uptake but there is something afoot right now.
A huge part of it is coming from their portrayal of Harper and the fact he does not present the picture they are painting of him. It's a lie and the masses are tired being lied to.
The Red Star, Globe and Mail, the CBC etc.should be concerned about their modus operandi.
Liz says, "The Red Star, Globe and Mail, the CBC etc.should be concerned about their modus operandi."
You are SO RIGHT: But that's why they're in such trouble in these accountable days. They HAVE no principles.
Their demise couldn't happen to a more deserving crew.
I'm SMILING ;-)
The recent influx of mass 3rd world immigration into Toronto, many who are non-English speaking, poorly educated or simply illiterate must be a bearing on this issue.
The "joys of diversity" ...in multi-culti happy-land... as perpetually trumpeted by the Toronto Star, will be the author of its' own fate.
Toronto's immigrant-receiving population A mass influx of third-world immigrants displacing the 'original' inhabitants, whose first language is not English, m
loyality their 'hyphenated' roots
The recent influx of mass 3rd world immigration into Toronto, many who are non-English speaking, poorly educated or simply illiterate must be a bearing on this issue.
The "joys of diversity" ...in multi-culti happy-land... as perpetually trumpeted by the Toronto Star, will be the author of its' own fate.