Mailbag: Journalist impostors, Star sports coverage and more
This week, I dip into the inbox to address some reader concerns and complaints.
To start, here’s a complaint that typically lands on a Monday morning: “The Star’s sports section doesn’t carry enough (insert favourite sport here).”
Not enough cricket. Not enough soccer. Not enough Formula 1. Not enough American college football. Too much American sports. Not enough focus on the Canadian Football League. Where are the tennis results?
Sports editor Dave Washburn is sympathetic to the reader feedback. Priority is given to hometown teams, such as the Leafs, Jays and Raptors. But the editorial team in sports recognizes that readers’ interests extend to other sporting events and effort is made to provide a variety of coverage. With a finite number of pages and a busy weekend of sports, pleasing all the readers with the story choices for the print edition can be tough. As a reminder, additional sports coverage can always be found at thestar.com.
Another question is why sports content sometimes appears in two separate sections of the paper. This is known as a split sports section, and it happens at times due to deadlines and production considerations.
On these days, the deadline for the sports section is earlier in the day due to printing constraints. But because games happen at night, a few pages are set aside in the paper’s A-section, which is the last to be printed. That gives editors the opportunity to include more up-to-date results, stories, columns and scores.
Editors recognize that it’s not ideal for readers, but having some sports in the first section of the paper helps ensure the latest results make it into the print edition.
Déjà vu story: Star readers enjoy the writings of Washington bureau chief Edward Keenan. But not so much they want to see a column they read on Saturday reprinted in the paper just two days later.
“Mr. Keenan is a capable, interesting journalist, but I do not need to read — and purchase! — duplicate copies of his work,” wrote one reader.
Keenan’s article about the visit of Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister and finance minister, to Washington appeared first on Oct. 16. On Monday, a slightly longer version of the same article appeared again, on the front page no less.
“It was a very unfortunate oversight,” said Jason Paul, news editor, production. “The weekend team thought the article had not run yet and missed that it had in fact ran on Saturday. We’re reinforcing our protocols to avoid such a mistake going forward.”
Stymied conversation:
Since July, Star readers have left close to 40,000 comments in the Conversations sections of online articles. But we occasionally hear from readers frustrated when their comment is removed. Brian Bradley, the acting associate public editor, was part of the team that set up the Conversations feature and wrote its code of conduct. He says the goal was to assure civil and constructive discourse.
“A Star team worked to set up moderation standards to assure that could happen and readers had a safe space,” he says. “The moderation tool requires readers stay on topic, and be respectful of each other.”
The code of conduct outlines what will result in comment deactivation, including namecalling, abuse, vulgar language, and perceived attacks on other users or Star employees. Occasionally, a seemingly innocuous comment will get caught in the filters. In that case, the best bet is to tweak the comment and try again.
Journalist impostors: Twice in the last month, the public editor’s office has received complaints about people posing as Star reporters. In the first case, a man claiming to be a Star journalist in an Ontario city prompted several complaints, including one from the local police force, because of his offensive behaviour.
More recently, a man showed up with a group at a tourist attraction. Several people did not have proof of vaccination and ID and were not allowed on the tour. The individual made a scene and blocked other travellers from checking in.
“The man introduced himself as an employee of the Toronto Star, and repeatedly said that he intended to write negatively about our crew and company,” said an employee who reached out to the Star.
The behaviour in each case was unprofessional and unbecoming of any journalist. I wasn’t surprised then to confirm the individuals had no connection to the Toronto Star.
Threats of bad coverage or demands for special treatment are a red flag that you may be dealing with an impostor. If you have doubts, never hesitate to demand identification — either a business card or a press card. Ask to speak to their editor. In the case of a freelancer, ask to see confirmation they are doing a story for the Star. Or send a note to publiced@thestar.ca and we’ll be happy to confirm the identity of a Star journalist. Column update: I wrote a few weeks ago about the need for journalists to be allowed access to newsmaking events. I cited the ongoing protests over logging on Vancouver Island and the decision by a B.C. court to deny an extension to the injunction on the protests. Since then, a judge with the B.C. Court of Appeal reinstated the injunction pending a November hearing. Stay tuned.