Plushenko won't bother with figure skating Grand Prix season: by Rosie DiManno | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Plushenko won't bother with figure skating Grand Prix season: by Rosie DiManno

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Am I wrong in thinking that the Toronto Star is the principal newspaper in Canada's largest city?

I amend that. I just looked it up. The Toronto Star is apparently the largest newspaper in all of Canada. Which is a skating country, not like, say, Jamaica or Brazil. So this is whom they pick for their skating reporter? Color me completely confused.

The Toronto Star may have a large circulation due to its predominant position in Ontario, but I find the quality of their reporting inferior to Canadian newspapers with smaller circulations such as the Globe and Mail. It's not surprising they keep DiManno around as she's stirred up plenty of publicity and outrage over the years. By the way, DiManno's not actually a skating reporter per se, she's a general assignment columnist who basically writes on a whole range of topics, which often involve sports. Sadly it's actually a (relatively) good thing when DiManno writes about sports because her articles on politics and crime are even more infuriating and offensive...
 

pitterpatter

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Indeed it is very disappointing. I can't remember his name, but the reporter from Hamilton who passed away some time last year was a really good sport reporter. It's a shame that we don't have more decent journalists to cover skating. I would recommend Kurt Browning if you want to read Canadian skating comment. He's relatively impartial. P.J Kwong is OK.

Yes Kurt's great, his enthusiasm for the sport really comes through, and he's able to appreciate skaters from other countries without always having to relate them to Canada in some way. Shame he doesn't write more, but then again journalism isn't really his main job. PJ's a bit too biased for my personal preference, but at least she actually follows the sport and does a decent job. Maybe as the CBC skating rep their coverage has to be super pro-Canadian.
 

figuristka

Medalist
Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Here is a better article where Patrick talks about Plushenko. http://en.rian.ru/sports/20121206/177959555.html

I don't blame Patrick for the DiManno article. Shame on the Toronto Star for having her write about figure skating and attack certain skater's.Right now Hockey season is postponed and it leaves more room for Figure skating in Canada. I hope better articles are written. She is a joke and should never have been allowed to write about the sport.
 

phaeljones

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Am I wrong in thinking that the Toronto Star is the principal newspaper in Canada's largest city?

I amend that. I just looked it up. The Toronto Star is apparently the largest newspaper in all of Canada. Which is a skating country, not like, say, Jamaica or Brazil. So this is whom they pick for their skating reporter? Color me completely confused.

It has the highest circulation, but it is not influential. There are historical factors as well as polarizing factors why the Star is so established. Very complicated to explain. Not to sound elitist, but it is not read by the more educated portion of the population. They tend to read the Globe or the Post. It is no accident that some public figures refuse to even speak to Toronto Start reporters. The Star is not a paper that anyone goes to for deep insight or unbiased journalism. It is questionable whether anyone takes it seriously anymore. The trend in Toronto over the last four years in politics for instance is that people tend to vote against the politicians it endorses and elect those whom it attacks.

But if DiManno's article should mean anything to the skaters and participants at GPF, it is only that no good can come from talking to her or any reporter from the Star. Neither she nor her paper is not going to do you any favors. No good can come from it.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Yes Kurt's great, his enthusiasm for the sport really comes through, and he's able to appreciate skaters from other countries without always having to relate them to Canada in some way. Shame he doesn't write more, but then again journalism isn't really his main job. PJ's a bit too biased for my personal preference, but at least she actually follows the sport and does a decent job. Maybe as the CBC skating rep their coverage has to be super pro-Canadian.

I don't generally mind when a reporter from a particular country is a bit biased toward his/her country's skaters if that reporter is also well-informed and able to praise skaters from other countries. After all, the reporter is presumably writing for readers in that country and wants to appeal to them. I just take that into account while reading that reporter's articles. So I enjoy P.J. Kwong's writing when I get to see it.

Thanks for the description of the newspapers, Evangeline and Phaeljones. I've heard of both the Star and the Globe and Mail, but from my knowledge I couldn't have differentiated them. If this DiManno is so appalling at political and social writing also, I guess we skate fans can fall on our swords and keep her distracted with skating. It's the least we can do for the public good.
 

whitebamboo

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2012
First, I want to apologize as a newbie, for delurking here just to add my two cents at this point...Even though Ms. DiManno’s article is probably not worth it.

I want to say that as a Plushenko fan, I am not terribly offended by Chan's words "pretty good for someone who's--what?--36, 37 years old". I just don't quite know what to make of it. It's not a matter of whether Plushenko is relatively old or not, as a competitive figure skater. Of course he's "old", in the purely factual sense of numbers, and in the relevant sense that it does affect what his body can do. To myself, it's rather a matter of whether Chan's joke (assuming it is a joke: for all I know, maybe Patrick really did think that Plushenko is 36 or 37 years old) was "at Plushenko's expense". From Ms. DiManno's gleeful "Ba-da-bing" right after it, and in context of her tone in the entire article, perhaps she contributed to the impression that it was--that somehow Plushenko's age was a base for contempt or condescension. I don' t know if that was deliberate (to stir up controversy) or because she in fact interpreted Patrick's words that way.

Maybe it is true that some Plushenko fans were sensitive toward this instance of what Chan said about Plushenko's age, and of course I can't speak for everyone, but I think that possibly this sensitivity was also influenced by what Chan had said about Plushenko's age before. For me, I guess I really don't know. I can imagine with a certain tone and expression, these words can be interpreted as meaning a certain amount of disrespect (especially if one adds in possible cultural differences), but of course, we don't know with what tone he said it at all.

As for DiManno, I know that one should certainly not generalize to the media of an entire country from the words of one person, but this is the largest paper from the largest city in Canada, her name is on it and she's being paid by them. So I think she does reflect, at the very least, on one fairly major part of the "Canadian press". One can't expect others, especially those outside of Canada, to be aware of her history of nastiness toward apparently pretty much everybody, or that her words should be treated only with ridicule. At least if the Star had opened the comment field beneath this article, people could have explained about this, perhaps.

(And thanks for quoting the comment about DiManno’s article I wrote, plushyfan! It’s certainly okay; I feel very flattered. Though now that I’ve learned a little more about DiManno, perhaps I shouldn’t even have bothered...)
 

Dragonlady

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
It has the highest circulation, but it is not influential. There are historical factors as well as polarizing factors why the Star is so established. Very complicated to explain. Not to sound elitist, but it is not read by the more educated portion of the population. They tend to read the Globe or the Post. It is no accident that some public figures refuse to even speak to Toronto Start reporters. The Star is not a paper that anyone goes to for deep insight or unbiased journalism. It is questionable whether anyone takes it seriously anymore. The trend in Toronto over the last four years in politics for instance is that people tend to vote against the politicians it endorses and elect those whom it attacks.

OK this is not correct. The Star is an award-winning newspaper that is highly respected throughout Canada. The paper you're describing is the Toronto Sun, which is a reactionary rag. As for influential, articles in the Star have lead to changes in nursing home legislation, and government programs. It's voice is very powerful in Canada. The Star has a left of centre point of view, the Globe is right of centre paper, and the National Post is far right. The Sun is just opposed to whoever is in government.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Thanks for your thoughts, Whitebamboo, and welcome to the forum. Post often, post long! :rock:
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
OK this is not correct. The Star is an award-winning newspaper that is highly respected throughout Canada. The paper you're describing is the Toronto Sun, which is a reactionary rag. As for influential, articles in the Star have lead to changes in nursing home legislation, and government programs. It's voice is very powerful in Canada. The Star has a left of centre point of view, the Globe is right of centre paper, and the National Post is far right. The Sun is just opposed to whoever is in government.

I see. Thanks!
 

phaeljones

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
OK this is not correct. The Star is an award-winning newspaper that is highly respected throughout Canada. The paper you're describing is the Toronto Sun, which is a reactionary rag. As for influential, articles in the Star have lead to changes in nursing home legislation, and government programs. It's voice is very powerful in Canada. The Star has a left of centre point of view, the Globe is right of centre paper, and the National Post is far right. The Sun is just opposed to whoever is in government.

I feel compelled to answer because your post, no doubt given in good faith, dealt with my post. I have been a Toronto resident for 53 years, and I have actually worked for both the Star and the Globe at various times. I disagree with pretty well everything you say other than that the Sun is rag and The National Post is right of centre (it is aimed at a higher income and highly educated demographic . . . at least that is its intention . . . its articles are, however, very well written).

The websites supported by the Star, its writers and the organizations that receive its support are perhaps the source of your information, or perhaps it is the paper you follow and believe. I think, with all due respect, the facts, however, speak somewhat differently.

I won't go on ad nauseum, but let's just say it is very questionable that the Star has much influence with its readership. If it did, Ford would not have been elected Mayor of Toronto with 50 per cent of the vote, and Harper (our prime minister) would not have won a single seat in Toronto (he won more than a few). Other examples, are too numerous to mention. (As you have written to the Star, I am sure you are familiar with what goes on in Toronto.) I am not saying that the Star was wrong in its political position (maybe even it has been proved right), but if you want solid proof of that newspaper's influence, those are two good examples.

Its writers are like DiManno: there for entertainment, not to persuade. That is how they are read. They can write good articles as well as bad, but the nasty ones are taken with a grain of salt. It is well read, but, with social media, it has no longer the impact that it perhaps might have many years ago.

The nursing home and goverment legislation comment is a bit of a red herring, but:. Ya, newspapers pat themselves on the back and give themselves awards and, through marketing, call themselves things. (This brings back memories of The National Enquirer and its marketing campaign.) And anyway, my point is that where influence really matters is with the readership.

Regarding your comments about the Globe and Mail being right of centre, people who read it everyday might beg to differ. Both of its lead editorial writers, Martin Lawrence (who wrote the authorized biography of Jean Chretien) and Jeffrey Simpson are big L Liberals. John Stackhouse, the editor, is certainly no Tory either (and when he took over the editorship, he made significant changes in the columnists to bolster the slightly centre-left of centre slant. (Margaret Wente, who is painted right wing, voted Liberal in the last election, btw.) This is our "national paper" and it is read and thought highly of as a quality paper by people of all stripes. Now, this paper does have some traction. But again, my point is that what matters is the effect on the readership (and who that readership is). There is a reason why Starbucks carries Globe and Mail newspapers, but not the Star.

If you were to go to the Toronto Cricket Club (ie probably the demographic most interested in skating) and ask people which newspaper they read, the vast majority would tell you the Globe and Mail. That is no stretch.

Yes, everyone who really reads and follows figure skating will read at least the two newspapers in Toronto, combing for news of figure skating. Pretty well any press is good press given the state of coverage in Canada. But there is a difference between readership and influence.

The bottom line, going back to the purpose of this thread, is that no one took notice of the article or, if they did, were not influenced by it.
 
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Dragonlady

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
I have lived in Toronto for nearly 40 years and I'm well aware of what I speak. The ability of ANY newspaper to influence the outcome of an election, is grossly exaggerated. The Star back McGuinty and he was re-elected and Smitherman and he wasn't. That doesn't mean the paper doesn't have influence. Maybe those who work for newspapers think they have that influence, but I've not seen any evidence whatsoever that it does.

All Toronto newspapers consistly support the same parties and yet sometimes the Conservatives win, and sometimes the Liberals win and the newspapers continue to support the same parties.

And yes, the Sun is, was and always has been a tabloid rag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Sun
 
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phaeljones

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
I have lived in Toronto for nearly 40 years and I'm well aware of what I speak. The ability of ANY newspaper to influence the outcome of an election, is grossly exaggerated. The Star back McGuinty and he was re-elected and Smitherman and he wasn't. That doesn't mean the paper doesn't have influence. Maybe those who work for newspapers think they have that influence, but I've not seen any evidence whatsoever that it does.

All Toronto newspapers consistly support the same parties and yet sometimes the Conservatives win, and sometimes the Liberals win and the newspapers continue to support the same parties.

And yes, the Sun is, was and always has been a tabloid rag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Sun

Forget the Sun. It has nothing to do with anything in this thread. You like the Star and think it has influence. You think it is a great newspaper. Great. Got it.

If I upset you, I apologize.

I have no bone with you or your opinion as you seemed to have with mine. All fair. I merely responded point by point as you quoted my quote. (I would not have otherwise. Truly, I am sorry for even responding to your quoting my quote.) It is all fair comment. The world is bigger than either of us or both of us. Let's change the tenor, just show some class and agree to disagree.

Peace.
 
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