Irene Gentle named Editor of the Star
Passionate and respected journalist is first woman to hold top job at 1 Yonge
To have earned any greater credibility with Toronto Star journalists, Irene Gentle would have had to be born in a newsroom.
Nowadays, having worked her way up the old-fashioned way to be appointed Thursday as the first female Editor in the Star’s 126-year history, Gentle pretty much lives in one as she leads through the biggest challenges the industry has ever faced.
It’s not for nothing, observed columnist Shree Paradkar, that Star journalists erupted in a spontaneous ovation when Gentle’s appointment was announced.
“Compassion in an editor — a quality Irene has in bundles, along with toughness — makes for great journalism,” Paradkar said.
“A female editor would be one thing; a female editor who doesn’t feel the need to be a man or the need to perpetuate male dominance is what makes this significant for me.”
Besides, Gentle has the sort of coming-of-age story loved by reporters.
As a teenager, she took stacks of newspapers to pore over in a coffee shop. She started out by hustling to piece together freelance gigs for community newspapers and the Star. Her first big story at the Milton Champion was the tale of a man shot and killed while sitting in an outhouse by the boyfriend of his teenage granddaughter.
Since writing it, Gentle has never looked back.
“I started in communities,” she said. “When you’re in communities you do a lot of everything. It didn’t take very long before I was writing a column. I was writing editorials. I was covering city hall.
“I’ve been city editor at two different papers; news editor, business editor at two different papers; assignment editor, which I think is an incredible grounding if you want to really dig into the guts of journalism and newsrooms and people.”
A career of constant learning is a vital attribute for a leader in a business rocked for decades by almost constant change.
Gentle, 48, was born in New York state and raised in Brampton. She joined the Star as business editor in 2011 and was appointed managing editor in 2016.
During that time, she has seen the newsroom traumatized by the loss to suicide of a colleague.
“It was the most painful point” of her career, she said. “I don’t think you ever get over those things.”
She has watched the Star go all-in on a tablet app that was an artistic and journalistic success but a commercial disappointment.
Sandro Contenta, a veteran Star foreign correspondent, said, “Irene has earned respect by showing real leadership when the newsroom was experiencing some very tough times.”
As managing editor, Gentle directed long-term projects and daily news coverage as well as overseeing the restructuring of the digital news operations and launching an editorial trust initiative to address growing public concerns about media credibility.
She unwinds, such as her schedule allows — “there isn’t a lot of unwinding” — with her husband, yoga, music, reading and her dogs, Cooper and Lola.
Sitting on a couch in her new office, contemplating putting one of her own paintings on a wall, Gentle said she takes the existential questions confronting news media as a personal challenge.
“It is daunting,” she said. “That is one of the reasons that I really want to do it.
There’s something “spiritually stirring” about defending a profession under pressure and under attack, she said.
“I deeply believe in the importance of both journalism and the Star’s place in journalism.
“To be in this position is actually inspiring to me because it’s never been as important to try to help the industry.”
Gentle said it was important to acknowledge previous female leaders in the Star newsroom, notably Mary Deanne Shears.
“You have to be able to see different types of leadership, different people in leadership, for others to be able to see a path.”
John Honderich, former Star publisher and current chair of Torstar, said, “ever since she arrived in the Star newsroom, Irene has made quality journalism and investigative features a priority.
“Her judgment, natural instinct for the great story and collaborative spirit have won her the tremendous respect of everyone.”
John Boynton, publisher of the Star, and president and CEO of Torstar, said Gentle “has a deep understanding and commitment to the values of the Star and to the transformation initiative now underway across our company” as it transitions to a more digital/data/ mobile world.
In her new post, Gentle succeeds Michael Cooke, who announced in March he would be retiring in June.