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Toronto Sun

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Toronto Sun
File:Toronto SUN.svg
The Sun cover from June 27, 2010.
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Sun Media
PublisherMike Power
Founded1971
Political alignmentPopulism
Conservative[1]
HeadquartersToronto Sun Building
333 King Street East, Toronto, Ontario
Circulation143,475 Daily
200,644 Sunday[2]
ISSN0837-3175
OCLC number66653673
Websitetorontosun.com

The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.

History

The Sun was first published on November 1, 1971, the Monday after the demise of the Toronto Telegram, a conservative broadsheet. As there was no publishing gap between the two papers and many writers and employees moved to the new paper, it is today generally considered as a direct continuation of the Telegram, and the Sun is the holder of the Telegram archives.

The Toronto Sun is modeled on British tabloid journalism, even borrowing the name of The Sun newspaper published in London, and some of the features, including the typically bikini-clad Sunshine Girl, who was on the same page as the British paper. (Unlike its British counterpart, The Toronto Sun has never had a "topless" Sunshine Girl.) News stories in the tabloid style tend to be much shorter than those in other newspapers, and the language Sun journalists use tends to be simpler and more conversational than language used in other newspapers.

As of the end of 2007, the Sun had a Monday through Saturday circulation of approximately 180,000 papers and Sunday circulation of 310,000.

The Sun is owned by Sun Media, a subsidiary of Quebecor. Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, once attempted to purchase the Sun. The paper, which boasts the slogan "Toronto's Other Voice" (also once called "The Little Paper that Grew") acquired a television station from Craig Media in 2005. SUN TV is the new face of Toronto 1. By the mid-2000s, the word "The" was dropped from the paper and changed to its current logo.

The Toronto Sun's first editor was Peter Worthington who remains a columnist for the paper. He was succeeded by Barbara Amiel who, in turn, was succeeded by John Downing, Lorrie Goldstein and Linda Williamson. The Editorial page editor today is Rob Granatstein, the editor-in-chief job is vacant and James Wallace is the Deputy Editor. The publisher is Mike Power[citation needed].

Editorial position

Editorially, the paper frequently follows the positions of neo-conservatism in the United States on economic issues and traditional Canadian/British conservatism. Editorials promote individualism, self-reliance, the police, and a strong military and support for troops. For instance, cartoonist Andy Donato drew a cartoon comparing David Miller to Adolf Hitler after he refused to allow a debate on Chief Julian Fantino's contract renewal. (Senior Associate Editor Lorrie Goldstein apologized after Miller and the Canadian Jewish Congress condemned the cartoon.)[3] The Sun also criticized Miller's flip-flopping on the issue of whether to renew the yellow ribbon decals on emergency vehicles (proponents argued that the decals showed support for the troops, while opponents claimed that it was an endorsement for the war in Afghanistan). Miller initially said that he supported the troops but refused to intervene to extend the campaign beyond September, 2007; after the deaths of several soldiers he changed his position and voted for the decals.[1][2]. Editorials condemn high taxes, high gas prices, and perceived government waste.

Despite its conservatism, the Sun has had both a prominent Liberal columnist, Sheila Copps and a left-wing columnist Sid Ryan. Copps resigned from her weekly Sun column in 2008, and Ryan writes for the paper infrequently. During the 2006 election, the Sun was strongly critical of a poster that attempted to link Ryan to the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

The Sun strongly criticized the Liberal Party of Canada over the Sponsorship scandal, which involved the misuse and misdirection of public funds intended for government advertising in Quebec. The paper's headings have been controversial. The day following a federal election call by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin of the on May 24, 2004, the Sun ran a front-page picture of Mr. Martin along with the headline "Throw the Bums Out!", as the Liberals supposedly wanted a renewed mandate before the results of the Gomery Inquiry became public and as this would not give the Conservatives time to consolidate. Several weeks prior to that headline, when former Progressive Conservative Party leader Joe Clark insinuated he would support the Liberals despite being implicated in the scandal, rather than the newly-minted Conservative Party of Canada in an impending federal election, the headline in the Sun the following day read "Joe Blows".

During the era when Pierre Eliott Trudeau was Prime Minister, and Joe Clark was leader of the official opposition, cartoonist Andy Donato lampooned both of them extensively. Joe Clark for years was drawn wearing children's mittens (attached to his suit with string), a reference to the time his luggage went missing on a trip to Israel. The final cartoon of the series came when Trudeau's airplane was hit by a bus, and pictured a puzzled Trudeau staring at the bus while one of his aides held up Clark's mittens and said, "We don't know who the driver was, but we found his mittens."

Sportsperson of the Year award

In 2004, the Sun began its annual George Gross/Toronto Sun Sportsperson of the Year award.[4]

Sister papers

The Toronto Sun's format has given rise to sister Sun tabloids in major markets across Canada, namely the Edmonton Sun, the Calgary Sun, the Ottawa Sun and most recently the Brampton Sun and York Sun, weekend-only papers distributed as sections of the Toronto edition. The Winnipeg Sun was originally launched by independent interests, only later coming under common ownership to the Toronto Sun, which subsequently elicited a redesign in Sun Media style.

The Vancouver Sun is not owned by Sun Media, but by Postmedia Network. The Vancouver Sun is a broadsheet, not a tabloid; the Vancouver Province, also owned by Postmedia Network, Inc, is that market's traditional tabloid daily.

Current Sun writers

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Sun alumni

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See also

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Notes

  1. ^ Goldstein, Lorrie (July 28, 2004). "Why I'm apologizing to Mayor David Miller". Toronto Sun.


References

  1. ^ "World Newspapers and Magazines: Canada". Worldpress.org. 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  2. ^ "2009 Canadian Circulation Data" (PDF).
  3. ^ Katherine Harding, "Hitler cartoon is ‘despicable,' Miller says", Globe and Mail, 24 July 2004, A9.
  4. ^ Elliott, Bob (December 14, 2008). "Doc delivers as role model: Our Sportsperson of the Year a champion on and off the pitching mound". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2011-01-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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