Torstar (owner of the Toronto Star) sold to a private company. Not sure what the purchaser plans to do with it. Despite its left wing bias I still liked to read the Star to get a sometimes different POV. Kevin Donovan (and Robyn Doolittle) broke the "Rob Ford" story.
Torstar Sold
- Thread starter Darts
- Start date
I thought it used to be a good paper. Not anymore: get woke go broke.
I was sick of the lack of common sense in it. The only good columnist was Rosie. It’s not worth their $164/yr subscription for one column.
I was sick of the lack of common sense in it. The only good columnist was Rosie. It’s not worth their $164/yr subscription for one column.
Sort of says everything you need to know about the United States of America today!
Most (all?) failed ideologists succumb to the enemy within. Very few fall to external enemies...
Perry
I used to be avid fan of Torstar. Then they got too left! They got too woke also. I felt that the biased was too left leaning and not enough conservatives view point. I then switch to Globe & Mail then later switch to National Post.
When they got too woke the Torstar, during the last 10 year ago. I vowed never to spent any money buying any Torstar paper. I figured that the best way to show my displeasure not buy the paper to read. Remember most conservative do spend money buying newspapers, but you become too one sided( too woke) . You just pissed off or alienate the other 50% paying consumers . Too much anti-conservative view point by their journalists.
So why spend money to read one sided opinion!! If they only had been more hiring maybe half the columnists with liberal and half with conservative view point . Then maybe they wouldn't alienate other readers.
When they got too woke the Torstar, during the last 10 year ago. I vowed never to spent any money buying any Torstar paper. I figured that the best way to show my displeasure not buy the paper to read. Remember most conservative do spend money buying newspapers, but you become too one sided( too woke) . You just pissed off or alienate the other 50% paying consumers . Too much anti-conservative view point by their journalists.
So why spend money to read one sided opinion!! If they only had been more hiring maybe half the columnists with liberal and half with conservative view point . Then maybe they wouldn't alienate other readers.
And then someone posted pictures of all their columnists and they all turned out to be white people :spit:
Typical white liberals. Anyway, what do the two guys (they don't seem like left wingers) who bought Torstar plan to do with The Star?
My 2 guesses are:
1. Use the paper as a tax write-off.
2. Maybe they have come up with some new concept to turn a newspaper into a money-maker.
I dont see how its number 2 though. It was ads that made newspapers prosperous.
People dont pay for ads anymore (or they pay very little).
Wanna sell something, you use kijiji or CL.
Want to hire some you use monster.ca.
I'm not gonna say print is dead, but its definitely on life support
I agree with you, however, the problem with the Star is not unique to the Star. Print media is taking a shit kicking these days simply due to the fact that not only has the internet killed it (print media), young people today simply don't want to read from a piece of paper. To them, they have grown up sitting in front of a computer monitor so everything they know is tied to a computer. I see it with the kids that I work with. Throw a code book in front of them, or a specification and they get all anxious. They want to be able to see it on a screen, in a pdf document, whatever.
Me, for anything technical, I hugely prefer a big book. I seem to be able to better read and process the information if it's in a hard format. Even if I'm composing a letter at work, I will compose on the screen, edit it, find mistakes, correct them, but then I will print it out and find a shit pile more grammatical mistakes and it's confusing to read. I check a document far far better when it's on a piece of paper as opposed to a screen.
But getting back to the Star, the stock is a dog and it's not going anywhere any time soon. As anyone knows who has ever worked for a publicly traded company, it's a bitch because share holders are ALWAYS looking / demanding growth. You can have a steady solid business, but no growth? The share price goes right in the toilet. Hence why you are seeing a lot of publicly traded companies being taken private these days. Simply a case of "if you aren't growing, you are dying.".
As to the Star itself, I agree it has become a leftist rag. It didn't always used to be as far left as it is now though. (Even the Globe and Mail I would now say is far left of center whereas 25 years ago, it was a more conservative paper.) Reading the Star now is painful with the exception of Rosie and Kevin Donavan as others have already mentioned.
Ok, I'll play tax accountant. Torstar probably racked up a ton of losses in recent years. They can't use the losses because they don't have any profits. If the purchaser have smart tax accountants they could probably structure the purchase in a way that will allow them to use the Torstar losses and already have a CRA tax ruling that supports them.
(Apparently, Eatons did that when they bought Sears.)
I really liked The Star's investigative journalism work. I hope the new owners keep it up.
Having said that, I resisted signing up for their overpriced subscription model. I recently revisited the idea and found if you sign up for a "free" trial, or introductory offer, you are committed by contract for the entire year. Totalling between $150 and $200 a year. That is NOT a viable business model. Hope the new guys have a better business model.
Having said that, I resisted signing up for their overpriced subscription model. I recently revisited the idea and found if you sign up for a "free" trial, or introductory offer, you are committed by contract for the entire year. Totalling between $150 and $200 a year. That is NOT a viable business model. Hope the new guys have a better business model.
Good point Darts. I used something similar maybe 20 years ago when I acquired a company in the same industry. Also cashed out tax-free of both (merged) companies a few years later with a healthy. non-compete agreement. (Like Conrad Black). However, that non-compete tax dodge got closed off a few years later. I wonder if the loss transfer tax break is still there?
Newspapers everywhere are in big trouble right now.
Advertising dropped off a cliff with the virus.
Its not just papers that are centrist or lean left.
Advertising dropped off a cliff with the virus.
Its not just papers that are centrist or lean left.
IMO, CNN ushered in the era of near instant access to news and was the beginning of the end for newspapers. We got used to getting news a few times a day not constantly through the day. There's basically no reason to have printed newspapers anymore because the story is old as soon as someone writes a story about it.
The Star is the mouthpiece for the NDP wing of the Council. When that became apparent, it was the last time I read it. There is more to Toronto than bike lanes and the nuts sleeping on the sidewalks. Neither does our city end at Spadina or Carlaw or St Clair. Good riddance and soon, I hope.
