RePost

I, Antonia Zerbisias, do solemnly swear that henceforth I will turn a years-of-much-too-loud-music-listening deaf ear to all rumours of the impending death of the National Post.

It's alive! It thrives! So said its senior management at a (not-so) top-secret townhall meeting of all staffers in the Don Mills cafeteria this morning. Those who could not attend will get a DVD of the event for their viewing pleasure.

Present were chair David Asper, who rallied the troops by performing a bit from Shakespeare's Henry V, publisher Gordon Fisher who called the powwow, editor-in-chief Doug Kelly, circulation guy Craig Barnard, marketing and promotions maven Lori Morgan and new advertising veep Kirk Allen who apparently wowed the huddled masses.

The meeting was opened with a plea not to tell the competition what was discussed at the meeting.

Ooops. I guess I didn't get that memo.

"I am very disappointed that people couldn’t see fit to respect the first thing asked at the meeting, which is to respect the fact that everybody is working their butts off and we need discretion and confidentiality," Asper told me when I called to confirm the leaked deets of the meeting. ''Somebody in that room, or some people, is letting everybody else down. And I find that sad but you know what? It’s not gonna stop us.

"We're going to compete."

Fisher was also not very candid -- and really who can blame him?

"The ownership has made again today a very strong commitment to this newspaper," he said, adding that the meeting  "was highly positive, very strong on the future of the Post. Lots of initiatives. Lots  of new ideas. But I am not going to get into the specifics.

Here was what I was able to glean from my sources, but was unable to confirm or get much info on.

On the upside: The first half of this fiscal year has been good and the hope is to break even by 2008. There is a new ad strategy ready to go. The online side will get overhauled. There has been some hiring and there will be more hiring in editorial. There be a renewed focus on Toronto.

Downside: No more home delivery in the Maritimes where apparently there are only some 2,000 subscribers. Toronto will be targeted for growth.

Another sign of the Post's survival: Today Asper confirmed to me that he has indeed bought a home in Toronto but he wouldn't tell me where. Until now, he and his brother Leonard, CanWest CEO, had been sharing a corporate digs in town. But, because David Asper plans to spend more time here, it's easier to be based in Toronto rather than in Winnipeg, where CanWest is headquartered.

"Leonard and I are breaking up," Asper joked. "We had a wonderful 20 years or so in our apartment. But now we’re old enough to live on our own."

 

Comments

[Bill Lee]

It's the old "Minerva's Owl" the flourishing (for floriding) of a civilization (or NatPost) before the collapse. Marshall McLuhan (in his book The Gutenberg Galaxy) was quoting Harold Innis' presidential address the Royal Society of Canada in 1947, who was himself quoting Hegel... The address appears in Harold Innis' book The Bias of Communication, University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1951, page 5.

Harold Innis wrote:

Minerva's owl begins its flight only in the gathering dusk ...

and later:

...Hegel wrote in reference to the crystalization of culture achieved in major classical writings in the period that saw the decline and fall of Grecian civilization. ... the flight began not only for the dusk of Grecian civilization but also for the civilization of the West

And later he alludes to Minerva's's owl and last flourishes of dying cultures

[Justin Beach]

The Post is kinda like Keith Richards, it may yellow - it may start to decompose, it may be oblivious to it's surroundings but it may never actually lay down and stop breathing.

[dru]

"...if the cause be not just, the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make"

Oops, wrong Henry V quote!

[Paul Wells]

This is good news. It's that simple.

[sooey]

ooh, man. SOMEBODY needs to buy a clue. NOTHING says "desperado" like an all-staff meeting. and i'm not a REAL newspaper owner but how the hell are readers gonna know the natpost is "going to compete" if staffers don't spill the news to other papers. hehehe - that tape cruising the net of david asper doing henry v is pretty hot, though. better'n paris hilton doing her boyfriend, anyway.

[Dana]

Oh yes, anything that assists CanWest in maintaining their pulpy stranglehold on the west coast must absolutely be seen as nothing but good news. Oh frabjous day. Oh glorious dawn. Oh fuck it.

[Carla]

This is good news, if it's true, if it lasts. I haven't been a regular Post reader since it began to lose some of its livelier columnists. Healthy newspaper competition is good and only makes reporting and commentary better. Someone should tell that to Vancouver - which in my view suffers from too damn much CanWest, none of it very good.

[Antonia]

I just love it when all the girls weigh in.

[Robert McClelland]

"This is good news. It's that simple."

I do admire how you can maintain your sunny disposition and quiet demeanor even as the shiv is slowly twisted in your profession's back.

Dentists must love you.

"Some novocaine, Mr. Wells?"
"Nah, just get in there and start yankin, Doc. It won't bother me a bit."
"Oh dear, I've extracted the wrong one."
"No worries, just give it another go."

[D. B. Scott]

I have only one question: If they aren't delivering the paper in the Maritimes, can it still call itself the NATIONAL Post?

[Bill Lee]

.. and if you aren't delivering it,
will bulk "sales" carry the advertisers.

It's a vanity project for Dumber to hire
a few front men and women for lobbying.

Like the B.C. edition of the Grope and Flail
it will loose so much money that they
will give up and offer online subs
to fill out any subscriptions.
They have already had many "holiday issues" web only.

On the West Coast with two Canwest dailies
and a freebie from them and two other freebies,
no one picks up the paper anymore other
than over-habitude.

[Paul Wells]

It's so cute that Robert McLelland still thinks he is a legitimate part of any conversation anywhere on earth. And I quote: "Fuck the Jews." Shocked? He isn't. Pathetic loser.

As for the entirely more legitimate D.B. Scott: he does have a point. I wonder whether he bothered making the same point in the 80s, when the Globe began calling itself "Canada's National Newspaper" with a distribution network far more rudimentary than even the new Post's.

[Greg Felton]

If the Graspers want Canadians to buy their propaganda piffle sheet they should make it less abrasive and more absorbent.

[Robert McClelland]

Careful, Paulie. I've lured better men than you down into the gutter so they could make a spectacle of themselves.

[Bill-Muskoka]

It struck me as hilarious that the Toronto Sun is NEVER a paper of mention. Maybe that is because people, who are literate, have a greater depth of interest than the pretty girl/boy pics? LOL

[Antonia]

In my case, it's the lack of home delivery. I usually get it later in the day, from the corner store, while walking the dog.

But lately, I have been getting mysterious freebies dropped at my door late at night. No doubt they're trying to boost readership.

I suspect the Post and others will soon be doing the same in Toronto.

The newspaper war continues into its -- what is it now -- almost 9th year?

[William Macdonell]

As opposed to what, the ugly Communist Poster Girl/Boy Pic's the Star doesn't show because Lefties don't do bikini's (Thank-god, we're spared from scantily clad Andrea Dworkin wanna be's)

[Bill-Muskoka]

Freebies on your doorstep? Gee, they could really impress you with something more useful, like theater tickets, booze, meal vouchers, etc.

Thankfully we do not get that here in Cottage Country. If a copy of the National Compost landed I would have to handle it like toxic waste, and fortunately do not have a pet to worry about errantly being exposed to its deadly emissions. LOL