While most of Canada's high circulation newspapers and chains were swallowed up by large media conglomerates during the 1990s in the name of 'convergence' (the Globe and Mail by BCE, the National Post by CanWest Global), TORSTAR, the Toronto Star's parent company, has limited itself to a number of Southern Ontario local newspapers and various publishing ventures including Harlequin romance novels.
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2 Notable Employees of the Star (Past and Present) 3 External link |
A self-described "paper for the people", the Star (originally known as the Evening Star) was born in 1892 by striking Afternoon News printers and writers. The paper limped along in its first few years, but from 1899 until his death in 1948 editor Joseph Atkinson expanded the Star exponentially. Atkinson had a strong social conscience and, in keeping with the tradition the paper was founded on, championed many left wing causes. By 1913 it had the largest circulation of any Toronto newspaper, and Atkinson was the majority shareholder. Ernest Hemingway was a Star writer in this period.
Shortly before his death Atkinson had ownership of the paper transferred to a non-profit organization with the mandate of continuing the paper's liberal tradition (known today as the "Atkinson Principles"). Ontario's Conservative government of the time didn't like the Star's editorial stance, however, and passed a law barring charitable organizations from owning a large part of a profit-making business, therefore forcing (so they hoped) the Star to be sold. To circumvent this requirement, the trustees of the charitable organization bought out the paper themselves and swore before the Supreme Court of Ontario to continue the Atkinson Principles.
Editorially, the Star is more liberal than any other major Canadian newspaper, and more likely to support the Liberal Party of Canada and the provincial Liberal parties.
History
Atkinson Principles
Notable Employees of the Star (Past and Present)
External link