Who canned Rick Salutin? And why?
For heaven's sake, this mystery is already shrouded in almost as much speculation as the disappearance of Judge Crater!
In fact, the widely reported demise of Salutin's Friday column in the Globe and Mail is yet to be confirmed by that august publication. A look at the Globe's website suggests that Salutin is still on board as a columnist.
Reports of Salutin's unwilling departure seem to have begun on Sept. 28 on Murray Dobbin's blog, which was reprinted here on rabble.ca. A few other websites catering to readers with progressive views have also noted the report. Now the not-so-progressive National Post has weighed in.
Dobbin suggested that the Globe's decision to drop Salutin's column was evidence of the "economic elite's betrayal of the country’s traditions and values." He proposes a boycott of the Globe until Salutin is reinstated.
David Beers, writing in The Tyee, said on Sept. 30 that the official reason for Salutin's departure is that he didn't fit in with the Globe's redesign, but that the real reason may have been the contents of his last two columns. The penultimate column argued Stephen Harper has been influenced by the anti-democratic teachings of Leo Strauss (which should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention). The last mildly criticized extremist Toronto mayoral candidate Rob Ford.
Others have suggested that the 60-something Salutin was just too darned old for the Globe's latest, desperate attempt to win younger readers. He will be replaced in the spot by Irshad Manji, who at 42 is presumably what passes for youthful in the corner offices of major Canadian newspapers nowadays.
To me, the replacement of Salutin by a younger writer of a faintly progressive persuasion suggests that whatever happened, it was not so much because he offended Canada's "Quisling elite," but because Globe management grew tired of him for their own inscrutable reasons, as newspaper managers do now and then.
One supposes that if we knew for sure the Globe is still publishing Jim Stanford's always informative and thoroughly left wing economics column, we would understand more about Globe management’s motivations. Or maybe not.
The Globe itself, meanwhile, maintains a steely silence, saying nothing at all about Salutin's fate. Nor does there appear to have been anything heard from Salutin in the past few days. In the absence of any denial by either the Globe or Salutin, we have to assume Dobbin got it right. Bring on the boycott!
Readers may also have noted the timing of Salutin's reported departure just days after the unintentionally hilarious editorial published by the Globe on Sept. 10 lauding the multi-bazillionaire Thomson family for its deep commitment to publishing the bestest, most honestest, most wonderfulest journalism in the whole wide world.
At any rate, said the editorial, the latest hereditary Lord Thomson has "made it clear that his family will continue to respect the autonomy of these pages and the independence of Globe staff to pursue the finest, most accurate and reliable journalism available to Canadians."
Now, it seems to me that in the Salutin case, the Globe has both a business and a journalistic crisis on its hands.
On the business side, they have done again what newspapers have been doing over and over for 30 years, to wit, dumped a feature liked by many existing readers in hopes of attracting new, younger, richer readers who are not engaged by newspapers just at this moment. The net effect has been to drive away loyal readers while failing to attract the hoped-for new ones.
If the Globe's bosses, the young Lord Thomson included, were as smart as they'd like us to think, they'd find a way to bring back Salutin if only to pacify their few remaining lefty readers. Sort of like the return of Coke Classic. The chances of this are small, however. As King Solomon, who was reputed to be quite wise, once rightly observed: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
On the journalistic side, they find themselves at the middle of a news story, one that they no doubt wish would go away. Alas for them, these things never do. When the media is hounding you, sound public relations advice calls for the publication of a clear statement explaining everything frankly, including the unpleasant parts.
This goes for newspapers, just like any other enterprise. The Globe should remember that if Richard Nixon had owned up to everything the morning after the Watergate burglars were arrested, chances are he would have completed his term as U.S. president.
Accurate and reliable journalism of the sort David Thomson has promised to permit is what's needed to solve the Globe's problem.
The time has come for the Globe to issue a statement that clears the air. If they won't do that, they deserve a boycott, although I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble. Most of us haven't bought a copy of their lousy paper in months.
If you want to get them where it really hurts, delete their app from your iPhone.
This post also appears on the nearly-60-something David Climenhaga's blog, Alberta Diary.
The Globe and Mail also fired columnist, Tabatha Southey. She is a witty, dynamic voice
in Canadian media. What I love so much about her column is its surprise factor and
versatility. One week she defends teenagers with such creativity and humour, the next
she is on the streets going toe to toe with a burly, bullying police officer at the G20 Summit.
Like Salutin, her progressive voice and creative, witty criticisms of the Right have lost her a job.
We are all much poorer for it. The beauty of writing is its rich variety of perspectives to savour. I'm afraid, however, that the Globe and Mail has lost its flavour.
It is just plain sad that the Globe & Mail has chosen to let Rick Salutin go. His columns always struck me for their clarity and reason. His thinking is nuanced and complex and stirs one to consider issues in a thoughtful way. His intellectual curiosity is infectious. I will miss him, and think less of the Globe for dismissing him. I wish him well and hope he will take this time to write a book, a book I for one will most definitely read!
It had nothing to do with him being old but the quality of his writing. Increasingly over the years, he's gotten very staid and you knew what to expect from his writings. Nothing that would ever challenge your worldview. I believe he worked 15-20 years at the Globe..in journalism that about 4 or 5 whole careers. He's had a good run but let's see how Irshad does. I don't agree with her but she keeps my point of view sharp. I also find it hilarious that Rabble would see the naming of a gay, minority, female, socialist writer to replace Rick as a 'pro-Harper conspiracy'!
criticalthinker is quite right. I don't know if it's still on Youtube, but at one time you could find a spine-chilling interview of Irshad Manji conducted by none other than Glenn Beck. The interview opens with Manji saying: "Put 'er there partner!" and they shake hands in the warm glow of their mutual respect. They then trade rants about the threat of Islam - each one-upping the other. Being openly gay and female does not, alas, make one progressive (nor even 'faintly progressive'). Not surprisingly, she's been embraced by the likes of the WSJ, NYT, and now the G&M. She's also shamelessly and irritatingly self-promotional. So far, that's working for her - but not within any serious left or progressive circles.
Check out Justin Podur's brilliant dissection of her book, here: http://www.zcommunications.org/a-multifaceted-fraud-by-justin-podur
Good article but you are mistaken in thinking that Irshad Manji is progressive. She threw her hat in with the interests of global capital long ago and gained status as a media darling in the process.
I guess Climenhaga missed Salutin's own confirmation that he is no longer a columnist for the Globe. It was printed here in rabble.ca, in the unedited version of Salutin's last column for the Globe.
I don't think there's a "crisis" here for the Globe at all. Paradoxically, everyone who likes Salutin's columns stopped buying the Globe years ago, for other reasons.
Very good column, David. Being just shy of 60 myself, I have memories of earlier reincarnations of the Globe, usually involving the firing of someone who doesn't fit whatever fictional idea of the "Globe reader" they are intent on pursuing...
June Callwood & Heather Mallik come to mind...
I'm sure that long-time Globe readers can think of more.
Excellent piece, David & thank you. In response to Murray's column, a whole lot of people from all across Canada mailed letters to Stackhouse & 2 other editors directly, asking questions & registering the serious displeasure over Salutin's firing. Many belong to a couple of Facebook Groups whose members were very upset by this move. To date, not one person has yet had a response from the Globe's editors, which seems if nothing else to be a poor pr decision. People are already cancelling subscriptions & boycotting the paper.
David, I emailed John Stackhouse and asked him whether Salutin jumped or was pushed. Believe it or not, he has yet to respond. I had thought maybe someone like Leo Panitch, or maybe Murray Dobbin would be a good replacement if Salutin is indeed banished for good. However, it looks like they've made their decsision - best of luck to Irshad. She'll need it.