TORONTO – After winning the Stephen Glass award for excellence in journalistic integrity, the Toronto Star has determined the news of the award being granted merited a front page, above the fold story.
“Look, we’ve been doing this for a long time and there are certain thing we know people in this city really care about,” said editor-in-chief Michael Cooke. “And those things are global terrorism, a potential housing market collapse and the intricacies of how the Star is super-awesome.”
“Oh and also the Leafs. They are easily 90% of what we do,” added Cooke.
Other Star writers supported the decision, noting that an in depth report on how the Star’s reporting was superior to other newspapers was simply more informative and beneficial to its readers than coverage of the re-escalating conflict in the Sudan or an expose on suicide rates among transgendered Canadians, both of which ran at the back of the Life and Style online section.
“Ultimately, it is the sacred job of every newspaper not just to inform, not just to educate, but to inspire people to consider experiences and opinions beside their own,” said prominent columnist Rosie Di Mano in reference to the self – congratulatory piece that featured three misplaced commas and a misspelling of the word journalism.
Coverage of the award extended even further than advising of its receipt, with a separate piece detailing the red carpet arrival of all the Star journalists to the event, including a detailed breakdown of “who Royson James was wearing.”
“That is the kind of in-depth journalism you just don’t see in the Globe or the Sun!” exclaimed Di Mano.
At press time the newspaper was gearing up for a large feature piece addressing journalism ethics, which will happen to prominently focus on a controversy that has recently befallen one of its competitors.
