Monday, January 4, 2010
Ryerson Review of Journalism: The Star, the Atkinson Principles and Uutsourcing
Via Ryerson Review of Journalism:
The Toronto Star is considering outsourcing its editing. Joe Atkinson was “committed to the rights of working people”—including his own staffers’. Whose core values will prevail?
Dan Smith, chief steward, editorial, for the Toronto Star, and Kathy Vey, an active member of the Southern Ontario Newsmedia Guild, are handing out black-and-white stickers to staff on December 3, which SONG has declared Core Values Day. Some of the stickers say, “Star to the core!” or “Editors are core!” or “I’m hard core!” Others are blank for people to fill in.
The “core” theme comes from the bombshell memo Star publisher John Cruickshank sent to staff via e-mail on November 3: “The Star’s strategic plan calls for a fundamental transformation from a newspaper company into a multi-platform news and content organization…. We must find the best way to operate our business at the lowest possible cost, including contracting out non-core functions where there is a sound business case to do so…. Changes will affect every job in every corner of the organization.”
Ironically, the date was the 117th birthday of the paper whose history is strongly rooted in the Atkinson Principles, a set of values articulated by Joseph E. Atkinson, the publisher from 1899 to 1948, which include a commitment to help the common man and support the rights of workers.
Read Seema Persaud’s full article.
