The federal Conservatives have gone to unprecedented lengths to control the news agenda, says Torstar Corporation Chair John Honderich.

“What the Harper government has done to restrain the flow of information and hold press conferences is simply outrageous,” he told a group of Ryerson University MBA students on Wednesday.

The class had invited Honderich to address their second annual lecture series held at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management.

The event was part of a graduate course co-taught by Distinguished Counsel in Residence Ralph Lean, who moderated the discussion.

One student asked why media outlets, including Torstar-owned Toronto Star, had not fought harder against media protocol introduced in 2008 which muzzled government scientists.

“A lot of stories were done and this issue was given great prominence, but guess what? The public doesn’t care,” countered Honderich. He pointed to a recent attempt by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to ban a CTV cameraman who lobbed a question at him during a photo op.

“We’ve got to a situation where a Prime Minister’s office thinks they can ban a photographer because he asked, by the way, a very legitimate question….

“…They have been able to manage and control the flow of news and what’s going on more than any federal government ever has.”

Honderich fielded questions about paywalls, the future of newspapers, and the Star’s investigation of Mayor Rob Ford. He said the highlight of his tenure at The Star, which includes postings as business editor and publisher, was an award-winning 2000 series on racial profiling

Having once imagined himself a trial lawyer in the spirit of Perry Mason, Honderich began his journalism career as copy boy at the Ottawa Citizen after deciding not to practice once he completed law school.

“I know a lot of people today are in a huge hurry to get themselves forward to become a foreign correspondent, become the editor, whatever. Start from the bottom, get a foundation, find out where you’re going is really, I think, one of the best ways you can possibly go forward.”

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