Article content

Columnists get called a lot of nasty things. Occupational hazard, as it were. But being called a “cancer on Canadian journalism” was, even after eight years in the biz, a new one for me.

That gem came from the front page of Toronto Star’s Saturday edition, promoting a column by business writer David Olive elsewhere in the paper. The column was titled, “The problem with Postmedia.” In 1,500 words, Olive explores the unfortunately precarious financial position of my company, slams us for having much of our corporate debt owned by U.S. investors, and offers some suggestions on how journalism could be funded going forward. He also seemed to be rather chuffed at the prospect that my company may one day be forced out of business, presumably meaning me and about a thousand of my buddies will soon be looking for work.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Matt Gurney: Postmedia is a 'cancer,' Torstar? Go tell that to Guelph Back to video

I get a lot of that, actually. As a columnist and editorial writer, me and those like me are the people taking the positions most likely to anger and offend people, who then write in just to tell us they hope we lose our jobs. I’ve never understood, though, why they feel that the vast majority of people I work with — photographers, sales people, HR managers, arts reviewers, court reporters — should also end up on the dole. I confess to some surprise that Olive, a fellow journalist, should also be among those apparently keen to see journalists lose their jobs. I wonder what our graphic artists and page designers ever did to piss him off.