The out-of-office replies mount in the media

And who knows what will return

Aug 27, 2020

"Institutions won't endure if their internal grievances are fought out on maximalist terms, in public, where even good-faith compromise among coworkers is seen on the outside as surrender on matters of supreme principle."

theline.substack.comDispatch from the Front Line: The Toronto Star gets its moment of public dysfunctionYonge Street newsroom revolutionaries may have overplayed their hand when seeking to humble the paper’s star columnist

Rosie DiManno’s profane reaction to a memo about how fellow Toronto Star columnist Shree Paradkar will now field internal concerns about editorial-related discrimination led at least 62 colleagues to sign a letter to management, which was leaked. But their collective issues with DiManno aren’t exclusively about her reply.

Global’s got all this and more

𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐧 @ManishaKrishnan

I spoke to 12 current & former Global News employees who described a culture of racist microaggressions & retaliation for speaking out. They say the company laid off some of its most vocal critics while promising to do better on diversity. My latest:

vice.comGlobal News Laid Off Some Its Most Vocal Internal Critics on RaceA dozen current and former employees spoke to VICE News, alleging a culture of racist microaggressions, tone-deaf coverage, a lack of accountability, and retaliation for speaking out at one of Canada’s biggest media outlets.

Vice tied together recent allegations of discrimination at Corus Entertainment, which surfaced shortly before a round of layoffs at Global News, whose website pivoted to a focus on “fact-based journalism.” Global vice-president Troy Reeb further fed into the narrative by accusing Manisha Krishnan of being unethical with her reporting inquiries.

“No Reasonable Grounds to Criminally Charge any Toronto Police Service Officer in Connection with the Falling Death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet.” The concluding report from the Special Investigations Unit included a timeline of events. Jagmeet Singh is among those still blaming police intervention as the reason for the tragedy.

The bubbles popped by reality

The next Toronto Raptors playoff opener has been postponed as part of the NBA wildcat strike called in response to police shootings of Black Americans. But the Blue Jays still played in Buffalo, while other MLB teams took the night off. As for the NHL, it was analyst Kelly Hrudey who drew attention for expressing sentiments on Rogers Sportsnet:

Here's Your Replay ⬇️ @TheReplayGuy

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK "I don't think we should be here." @KellyHrudey 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Gerry McGhee dead at 58. The rock singer who joined a Niagara Falls, Ontario, band called Heart Attack had Canadian fame after its name was changed to Brighton Rock. Brighton Rock released three albums during the era of hair bands. McGhee was more recently running Canada’s primary vinyl album plant, Precision Record Pressing.

Finally, taking care of sundown

Cathy Evelyn Smith became a newsworthy name in 1982 after telling the National Enquirer that she inadvertently killed John Belushi. Then, before being extradited from Canada to spend 15 months in prison, she wrote a memoir focused on her celebrity relationships. Smith died on August 18 at age 73, leaving quite the obituary fodder behind:

Brad Wheeler @BWheelerglobe

My obituary of Cathy Smith, seen here with the love of her life, Gordon Lightfoot, backstage at a 2017 concert in Vancouver.

theglobeandmail.comCathy Smith, who admitted to killing John Belushi, was a woman of mysteryFor the one-time muse to Gordon Lightfoot, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t a cliche, it was her life