National Post 234342 224845304 2008-07-10T17:55:05Z Gaius Cornelius 293907 Tidy, typos fixed: Isreali → Israeli using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{refimprove|date=May 2007}} {{Infobox Newspaper | name = [[Image:Nationalpostmain 488x60.gif|250px|centre]]The National Post | image = [[Image:National Post 9-28-2007 Redesign.jpg|250px|centre]] | caption = <small>The front of the redesigned ''National Post'', [[September 28]], [[2007]]</small> | type = Daily [[newspaper]] | format = [[Broadsheet]] | foundation = 1998 | ceased publication = | price = | owners = [[CanWest Global Communications]] | publisher = | editor = | chiefeditor = [[Doug Kelly]] | assoceditor = | staff = | language = [[English language|English]] | political = [[Conservatism|Conservative]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldpress.org/newspapers/AMERICAS/Canada.cfm|title=World Newspapers and Magazines: Canada|accessdate =2007-11-02|publisher=Worldpress.org|date=2007}}</ref> | circulation = 203,781 Daily<br> 217,115 Saturday<ref>{{cite web |title=2007 Canadian Circulation Data |url=http://www.cna-acj.ca/client/cna/ult.nsf/ccrecords?OpenView&Start=1&count=10 |accessdate=2008-03-12 |date=2008-03-12}}</ref> | headquarters = 300 - 1450 Don Mills Road, Don Mills, Ontario | oclc = | ISSN = 1486-8008 | website = [http://www.nationalpost.com nationalpost.com] }} The '''''National Post''''' is a [[Canada|Canadian]] [[English language|English-language]] national [[newspaper]] based in [[Don Mills]], [[Ontario]], a district of [[Toronto, Ontario|Toronto]]. The paper is owned by [[CanWest Global Communications]] and is published every Monday through Saturday. It was founded in 1998 by media magnate [[Conrad Black|Lord Conrad Black]]. ==History== ===Origins=== [[Image:National Post frontpage.jpg|thumb|150px|left|The [[January 11]], [[2007]] front page of the ''Post'']]The ''Post'' was founded in 1998 by [[Conrad Black]] to provide a voice for Canadian conservatives and to combat what he and many Canadian conservatives consider to be a liberal bias in Canadian newspapers. Black built the new paper around the ''[[Financial Post]]'', an established financial newspaper in Toronto which he purchased from [[Sun Media]] in 1997. ''Financial Post'' was retained as the name of the new paper's business section. Outside Toronto, the ''Post'' was built on the editorial, distribution, and printing infrastructure of Black's national newspaper chain, formerly called [[Southam Newspapers]], that included papers such as the ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', ''[[Calgary Herald]]'', and ''[[Vancouver Sun]]''. The ''Post'' became Black's national flagship title, and massive amounts of start-up spending were dedicated to the product in its first few years under editor [[Ken Whyte]]. Beyond his ideological vision, Black was attempting to compete more directly with [[Kenneth Thomson]]'s media empire led by Canada's ''The Globe and Mail'', which perceives itself as [[The Establishment|establishment]] newspaper. When the ''Post'' launched, its editorial stance was [[Conservatism|conservative]]. It advocated a "unite-the-right" movement to create a viable alternative to the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] government of [[Jean Chrétien]], and was a very large supporter of the [[Canadian Alliance]]. The Post's op-ed page has included dissenting columns by liberals such as [[Linda McQuaig]], as well as conservatives including [[Mark Steyn]], [[Diane Francis]], [[Andrew Coyne]] and [[David Frum]]. The ''Post'''s unique magazine-style graphic and layout design won numerous awards. It was a [[retro]] look — with echoes of 1930s design — jazzed up with eye-catching touches, such as oversized headlines, layering of multi-coloured type, reverse type, and bold colours. ===Sale to CanWest Global=== The ''Post'' was unable to maintain momentum in the market without continuing to spend heavily and accumulate mounting financial losses. At the same time, [[Conrad Black]] was becoming preoccupied by impending troubles with his debt-heavy media empire, [[Hollinger International]]. Black finally decided to divest his Canadian media holdings, including the ''Post'' &ndash; a move that shocked ''Post'' supporters and delighted the paper's ideological adversaries. Black sold the ''Post'' to [[CanWest Global Communications Corp]], controlled by [[Israel Asper]], in two stages &ndash; 50% in 2000, along with the entire [[Southam]] newspaper chain, and the remaining 50% in 2001. CanWest Global also owns the [[Global Television Network]], and there has been heavy cross-promotion between the company's newspaper and television properties. In September 2001, the Aspers imposed an austerity regime on the paper, forcing editor [[Ken Whyte]] to drop the arts and sports sections. The move triggered a plunge in circulation from which the ''Post'' never fully recovered, even when the dropped sections were restored. The Aspers' ownership of the paper, combined with drastic budget cuts and staff layoffs, triggered a number of staff defections as the newspaper's future seemed increasingly uncertain. Rumours about the ''Post'''s imminent closure were chronic. In early 2003, [[Izzy Asper]] purged top management at the ''Post'', including Whyte and deputy editor [[Martin Newland]], due to political differences and the paper's heavy financial losses, which were estimated to have peaked at $60 million annually. Asper hired [[Matthew Fraser]] as editor-in-chief. He had been the paper's media columnist from its inception and was regarded as close to the Aspers. Fraser's tenure at the helm of the ''Post'' was marked by further budget cuts, restructuring, and staff layoffs, while doubts continued about the long-term future of the money-losing paper in its commercial war with the ''[[Globe and Mail]]''. Fraser also was forced to fire two ''Post'' writers, including columnist [[Elizabeth Nickson]], for plagiarism. Another high-profile gossip columnist was fired for a salacious article about Canada's [[Governor General]]. Staff defections continued, notably among high-profile columnists such as Mark Steyn, who were loyal to the conservative ''Post'' under Conrad Black. Under Fraser's editorship, the ''Post'' gained notoriety in Canadian media circles for its regular feature called "CBC Watch" &ndash; inspired in part by ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'''s "Beeb Watch" in Britain &ndash; which pointed out errors of fact and supposed evidence of left-wing and anti-Israeli bias at the public broadcaster. "CBC Watch" infuriated the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]'s supporters, and critics claimed the ''Post'' was attacking the CBC to defend the commercial interests of the private television network, [[Global TV]], owned by the Asper family. [[Izzy Asper]] had long railed against the state-owned CBC, and once declared publicly that it should be "expunged". Izzy Asper died suddenly in October 2003, leaving his media empire in the hands of his two sons, [[Leonard Asper|Leonard]] and [[David Asper]], the latter serving as chairman of the ''Post''. Fraser departed in 2005 after the arrival of a new publisher, [[Les Pyette]] &ndash; the paper's seventh publisher in seven years. Pyette, a former publisher of the racy tabloid, ''[[Toronto Sun]]'', aggressively took the ''Post'' downmarket with splashy tabloid-style tone and look. Fraser's deputy editor, [[Doug Kelly]] succeeded him as editor, though Pyette was regarded as firmly in control of the newsroom as a hands-on publisher. Pyette suddenly departed only seven months after his arrival, replaced by [[Gordon Fisher]], a career [[Southam]] newspaperman who had briefly served as interim publisher a few years earlier. ===The Post today=== Since Israel Asper's acquisition of the ''National Post'', the paper has become a strong voice in support of the state of Israel and its government. The ''Post'' was one of the few Canadian papers to offer unreserved support to Israel during its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon during 2006. <ref>[http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=b0d85941-2565-4b47-b853-4041944114ee The media war against Israel<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> One of its columnists referred to Hezbollah as "cockroaches." Canadian pundits argue whether the ''Post'''s support of Israel is a legacy of its late founder's political ideology or a shrewd business manoeuvre. <ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/asper/ CBC News Indepth: Israel Asper<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The ''Post'' during Ken Whyte's editorship was strongly associated with the personality of proprietor Conrad Black, just as the paper during Matthew Fraser's editorship was associated with Izzy Asper. Today the ''Post'' has to some extent abandoned the [[neo-conservative]] ideology that, while often controversial, gave the ''Post'' a distinct voice and loyal readership. Many of its rival papers, meanwhile, have copied its unique design and layout features. In a national newspaper market considered too thin to sustain two products, the ''Post'' has struggled against the ''[[Globe and Mail]]'', which has the advantages of a loyal readership and a history stretching back to the mid-19th century. The ''Post'''s entry into the Canadian newspaper market, while dazzling during its aggressively marketed start-up phase, was poorly timed because the entire newspaper sector was entering a period of structural decline, which continues today, as readers turn towards the Internet and other sources for information and distraction. The ''Post'' effectively abandoned its claim as a national newspaper in 2006 as print subscriptions were dropped in [[Atlantic Canada]] <ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2006/03/29/nb_postdist20060329.html National Post limits Atlantic distribution<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and then print editions were removed from all Atlantic Canadian newsstands except in [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax]] as of 2007.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/story/2007/08/09/natlpost-no-atlantic.html National Post limits Atlantic sales to Halifax<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Politically, the ''Post'' has retained a conservative editorial stance under the Aspers' ownership, but has become markedly less strident. The Asper family has long been strong supporters of the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]], though they have always had libertarian leanings. Izzy Asper was once leader of the Liberal Party in his home province of [[Manitoba]]. The Aspers had controversially fired the publisher of the ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', [[Russell Mills]], for calling for the resignation of Liberal prime minister [[Jean Chrétien]]. However, the ''Post'' &ndash; careful to retain the loyalty of its conservative readers &ndash; endorsed the [[Conservative Party of Canada]] in the [[Canadian federal election, 2004|2004 election]] when Fraser was editor. The Conservatives narrowly lost that election to the Liberals. After the election, the ''Post'' surprised many of its conservative readers by shifting its support to the victorious Liberal government of prime minister [[Paul Martin]], and was highly critical of the Conservatives and their leader, [[Stephen Harper]]. The paper switched camps again in the runup to the [[Canadian federal election, 2006|2006 election]] (in which the Conversatives won a minority government). During the election campaign, David Asper appeared publicly several times to endorse the Conservatives. The ''Post'' continues to lose money &ndash; financial analysts estimate annual losses at about $15 million &ndash; and rumours persist that the Aspers will close down the ''Post'' due to its lack of profitability. Others believe, however, that the Aspers will keep the newspaper going in order to have a political voice in Canada, notably on issues such as Israel. The ''Post'' today operates under the editorial direction of David Asper, an outspoken and controversial figure who is generally considered to lack the stature and business acumen of his late father. The ''Post''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Toronto]] edition is printed at the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' presses in [[Vaughan, Ontario]]. The ''Star'' is one of the ''Post'''s commercial rivals in the fiercely competitive Toronto newspaper market: Toronto is the fourth largest media centre in North America, after [[New York City]], [[Los Angeles]] and [[Chicago]]. On [[September 27]], [[2007]], the ''Post'' unveiled a major redesign of its appearance. Guided by Gayle Grin, the ''Post's'' managing editor of design and graphics, the redesign features a standardization in the size of typeface and the number of typefaces used, cleaner font for charts and graphs, and — perhaps the most striking portion of the redesign — the move of the nameplate banner from the top to the left side of Page 1 as well as each section's front page. ==Criticism== {{main|2006 Iranian sumptuary law}} On [[May 19]], [[2006]], the newspaper ran two pieces alleging that the Iranian parliament had passed a law requiring religious minorities to wear special identifying badges. One piece was a front page news item titled "IRAN EYES BADGES FOR JEWS" accompanied by a 1935 picture of two Jews bearing [[Nazi]]-ordered [[yellow badge]]s. Later on the same day, experts began coming forward to deny the accuracy of the ''Post'' story. The story proved to be false, but not before it had been picked up by a variety of other news media and generated comment from world leaders. Comments on the story by the Canadian Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] caused Iran to summon Canada's ambassador to Tehran for an explanation. On [[May 24]], [[2006]], the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, [[Doug Kelly]], published an apology for the story on Page 2, admitting that it was false and the ''National Post'' had not exercised enough caution or checked enough sources.<ref>[http://groups.google.com.au/group/MEPForum/msg/080bfa36eef2293a?dmode=source]</ref> The controversy surrounding the falsehood of the articles had badly affected the Post's credibility and journalistic integrity. Critics alleged that hasty production of the article without any fact checking is a clear sign of the paper's [[sensationalism]]. Another major criticism of the Post is its unadulturated support of [[Israel]]. Because it is one of the few media outlets in Canada that supports its [[Status of territories captured by Israel|occupation of Palestinian land]], some have pointed out that it sees itself as the "lone ranger" in the Israeli cause. It is also criticised by some Canadian pundits of romanticizing and downplaying the plight of the Palestinians in the conflict. Since 1998, the [[Canadian Islamic Congress]] has been active monitoring media coverage for anti-Muslim or anti-Islam sentiment and has issued reports highlighting its findings. It has opposed the use of phrases such as "Islamic guerrillas," "Islamic insurgency" and "Muslim militants" saying that terms like "militant" or "terrorist" should be used without a religious association "since no religion teaches or endorses terrorism, militancy or extremism."<ref>Hess, Henry, "Media's portrayal of Islam criticized", ''Globe and Mail'', [[September 24]], [[1998]]</ref> The Congress has singled out the ''National Post'' as being "consistently is No. 1" as an anti-Islam media outlet.<ref>Petricevic, Mirko, "When religion's in the news; Faith groups often voice outrage about unfair media reports, so scholars are trying to determine if the complaints are valid", ''Kitchener-Waterloo Record'', [[August 25]], [[2007]]</ref> A number of writers for the National Post have responded to the CIC's accusations. [[Alexander Rose]], wrote that "judging by its [CIC's] support for the [2001] [[Durban Conference]], during which hook-nosed Jews were equated with apartheid and genocide, the CIC doesn't seem to have problems with some kinds of truly inflammatory racist language" and that the CIC's "fetish for censorship in the interest of "social harmony," as the CIC puts it, reeks of the very authoritarianism oppressing Muslims in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia." In addition, Rose stated that "By editing out bad language, it seems, the CIC believes that correct thoughts will result, even at the necessary expense of reporting the truth."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-rose121201.shtml |author=Alexander Rose|title=Islamist Purging|date=December 12, 2001 |publisher=National Post (retrieved from the National Review Online (NRO)}}</ref> [[Robert Fulford]] wrote that the CIC "justifies its existence mainly by complaining about acts of prejudice that haven't happened" and that "it's ridiculous to suggest that we avoid the subject of religion when crimes are committed in the name of that religion by men and women considered part of it."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://http://www.robertfulford.com/2005-07-08-elmasry.html |author=Robert Fulford|title=Elmasry's fantasy outrage |date=July 8, 2005 |publisher=National Post (retrieved from Robert Fulford's website}}</ref> while[[Jonathan Kay]] wrote that "the folks at the Canadian Islamic Congress purport to be the arbiters of what can and can't be said in this country" and that CIC President Elmasry is "the country's self-appointed judge of all that is hateful."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/05/05/jonathan-kay-on-the-hate-speech-experts-at-the-canadian-islamic-congress.aspx|author=Jonathan Kay|title=Jonathan Kay on the hate speech experts at the Canadian Islamic Congress|date=May 05, 2008|publisher=National Post}}</ref> ==Editors in chief== * [[Kenneth Whyte]], 1998–2003 * [[Matthew Fraser]], 2003–2005 * [[Doug Kelly]], 2005–present ==Current editorial positions== * [[Doug Kelly]], Editor-in-Chief * [[Stephen Meurice]], Deputy Editor * Jonathan Harris, Executive Editor * [[Jonathan Kay]], Managing Editor, Comment * Sarah Murdoch, Managing Editor, Features * [[Ian Karleff]], Managing Editor, Financial Post * [[Terence Corcoran]], FP Editor * [[Diane Francis]], FP Editor-at-large ==Columnists== The National Post has many columnists. Amongst them are: * [[Conrad Black]] * [[Terence Corcoran]] * [[Robert Fulford]] * [[George Jonas]] * [[Barbara Kay]] * [[Lawrence Solomon]] * Fr. [[Raymond J. de Souza]] ==See also== * [[Media in Canada]] * [[List of Canadian newspapers]] * [[List of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation]] == Notes == {{reflist|2}} ==External links== * [http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/index.html Official website] * [http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/posted/archive/2007/09/27/the-new-post.aspx Guide to the ''Post's'' September 2007 redesign] * [http://video.canada.com/Global_VideoContentHTML.aspx?30849&vc=1&popup=1 Video from Global Ontario on the ''Post's'' September 2007 redesign] * [http://allpoliticsnow.com/content/view/13/ False National Post Story] * [http://allpoliticsnow.com/content/view/17/ Lack of proper journalism boggles the mind] {{CanWest Global Communications}} [[Category:National newspapers published in Canada]] [[Category:Newspapers published in Toronto]] [[Category:CanWest publications]] [[Category:Publications established in 1998]] [[de:National Post]] [[fr:National Post]] [[nl:National Post]] [[fi:National Post]]