Torstar bets on the Postmedia experience
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A change of editorship at the Toronto Star followed the news that its new owners plan a digital casino to fund journalism. Anne Marie Owens is taking the helm of a newsroom that’s still technically physical, two years after she left the National Post. Postmedia and Torstar merging has been rumoured ever since they swapped some newspapers.
A mall saved by the Swedes
The Shops at Aura remain a strange beast in downtown Toronto: a mall that was dead on arrival, in spite of being attached to what’s currently Canada’s tallest residential building. But those fortunes should change under new ownership. The Dutch holding company that owns most locations of Ikea will become the primary retail occupant.
The company that was about to buy Cineplex ended up losing $3 billion instead. Cineworld provided the figures showing the cost of having its movie theatres closed for most of the year: losing roughly the amount it had earlier intended to pay to conquer Canada. Cineplex was left to its own devices in wondering when it can reopen.
Tales of a tweeting professor
Amir Attaran being targeted by politicians for his tweeted views on racism in Quebec brought on the inevitable condemnation by countless columnists. The University of Ottawa professor also got Green leader Annamie Paul to join the condemnation. But the Conservative MP who told Attaran to go back to where he came from backtracked:
“A Bestselling Author Became Obsessed With Freeing a Man From Prison. It Nearly Ruined Her Life.” Vancouver-born novelist Sara Gruen’s success with Water for Elephants included getting letters from prisoners. The most unique stationery was from a first-degree murderer, whose claims of innocence she now regrets championing.
Finally, this is not a throwdown
Maestro Fresh Wes moving to Saint John is the quintessential CBC story, because he once passionately rapped about Toronto area codes. But relocating his family to New Brunswick led to a weekly radio show. Asked what he’s liked about living there in these times, Maestro cited the local Tim Hortons, Sobeys and No Frills, and the fish and chips: