The National Post
The front of the redesigned National Post, September 28, 2007
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner	CanWest Global Communications
Editor-in-Chief	Doug Kelly
Founded	1998
Political allegiance	Conservative [1]
Language	English
Headquarters	300 - 1450 Don Mills Road, Don Mills, Ontario
Circulation	203,781 Daily 217,115 Saturday[2]
ISSN	1486-8008
Website: nationalpost.com

The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, Ontario, a district of Toronto. A newspaper is a written Publication containing News, information and Advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called Newsprint. Broadsheet is the largest of the various Newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches or more Canwest Global Communications Corp () operating under the corporate brand Canwest, is one of Canada 's largest International media companies Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States This is a list of the daily Newspapers in the World by average circulation An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A newspaper is a written Publication containing News, information and Advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called Newsprint. Don Mills is a residential neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada, and claims to be the first " New town " planned and fully integrated post-war Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario The paper is owned by CanWest Global Communications and is published every Monday through Saturday. Canwest Global Communications Corp () operating under the corporate brand Canwest, is one of Canada 's largest International media companies It was founded in 1998 by media magnate Lord Conrad Black. Conrad Moffat Black Baron Black of Crossharbour PC, KCSG, OC, (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec) is

History

Origins

The January 11, 2007 front page of the Post

The Post was founded in 1998 by Conrad Black to provide a voice for Canadian conservatives and to combat what he and many Canadian conservatives consider to be a liberal bias in Canadian newspapers. Conrad Moffat Black Baron Black of Crossharbour PC, KCSG, OC, (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec) is Black built the new paper around the Financial Post, an established financial newspaper in Toronto which he purchased from Sun Media in 1997. The Financial Post was an English Canadian business newspaper which published from 1907 to 1998 Sun Media Corporation is the owner of several widely read Tabloid Newspapers in Canada. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Financial Post was retained as the name of the new paper's business section.

Outside Toronto, the Post was built on the editorial, distribution, and printing infrastructure of Black's national newspaper chain, formerly called Southam Newspapers, that included papers such as the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Calgary Herald, and Vancouver Sun. Canwest News Service is a national news agency with correspondents in Canada Europe Asia and the United States and is part of the Canadian Newspaper chain owned The Ottawa Citizen is an English -language daily newspaper owned by CanWest Global in Ottawa, Canada. The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity is now the only English-language daily Newspaper published in Montreal, The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary Alberta. The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912 The Post became Black's national flagship title, and massive amounts of start-up spending were dedicated to the product in its first few years under editor Ken Whyte. Kenneth Whyte (born August 12, 1960) is a Canadian newspaper and magazine editor.

Beyond his ideological vision, Black was attempting to compete more directly with Kenneth Thomson's media empire led by Canada's The Globe and Mail, which perceives itself as establishment newspaper. Kenneth Thomson 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet ( September 1, 1923 &ndash June 12 2006) was a Canadian businessman and art collector The Establishment is a Pejorative term used to refer to the traditional Ruling class Elite and the structures of society that they control

When the Post launched, its editorial stance was conservative. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined It advocated a "unite-the-right" movement to create a viable alternative to the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien, and was a very large supporter of the Canadian Alliance. The Liberal Party of Canada ( Parti libéral du Canada) colloquially known as the Grits (originally " Clear Grits " is a major Canadian political Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, (generally known as Jean Chrétien) (born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian politician who was the twentieth Prime The Canadian Alliance (in French Alliance Canadienne) formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (or in French Alliance réformiste-conservateur The Post's op-ed page has included dissenting columns by liberals such as Linda McQuaig, as well as conservatives including Mark Steyn, Diane Francis, Andrew Coyne and David Frum. Linda McQuaig (born 1951 is a Canadian Journalist, Columnist and Non-fiction Author. Mark Steyn, born in Canada in 1959, is a self-described conservative writer and commentator about politics arts and culture Diane Francis is a Canadian journalist and author and the editor-at-large for the National Post newspaper Andrew Coyne is the national editor for Maclean's, a weekly national Newsmagazine in Canada. David J Frum (born 1960 is a Canadian-born Conservative and journalist active in the both US and Canadian political arenas

The Post's unique magazine-style graphic and layout design won numerous awards. It was a retro look — with echoes of 1930s design — jazzed up with eye-catching touches, such as oversized headlines, layering of multi-coloured type, reverse type, and bold colours. Retro is a term used to describe denote or classify culturally outdated or aged trends modes or fashions from the overall postmodern past but have since that time become functionally

Sale to CanWest Global

The Post was unable to maintain momentum in the market without continuing to spend heavily and accumulate mounting financial losses. At the same time, Conrad Black was becoming preoccupied by impending troubles with his debt-heavy media empire, Hollinger International. Conrad Moffat Black Baron Black of Crossharbour PC, KCSG, OC, (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec) is Sun-Times Media Group (until recently Hollinger International) is the Holding company of a Chicago based Newspaper group Black finally decided to divest his Canadian media holdings, including the Post – a move that shocked Post supporters and delighted the paper's ideological adversaries. Black sold the Post to CanWest Global Communications Corp, controlled by Israel Asper, in two stages – 50% in 2000, along with the entire Southam newspaper chain, and the remaining 50% in 2001. Canwest Global Communications Corp () operating under the corporate brand Canwest, is one of Canada 's largest International media companies Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper OC QC OM ( August 11, 1932 - October 7, 2003) Southam is a small Market town in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. CanWest Global also owns the Global Television Network, and there has been heavy cross-promotion between the company's newspaper and television properties. Global Television Network (more commonly called Global TV or just Global) is a Canadian English language privately owned Television network

In September 2001, the Aspers imposed an austerity regime on the paper, forcing editor Ken Whyte to drop the arts and sports sections. Kenneth Whyte (born August 12, 1960) is a Canadian newspaper and magazine editor. The move triggered a plunge in circulation from which the Post never fully recovered, even when the dropped sections were restored. The Aspers' ownership of the paper, combined with drastic budget cuts and staff layoffs, triggered a number of staff defections as the newspaper's future seemed increasingly uncertain. Rumours about the Post's imminent closure were chronic.

In early 2003, Izzy Asper purged top management at the Post, including Whyte and deputy editor Martin Newland, due to political differences and the paper's heavy financial losses, which were estimated to have peaked at $60 million annually. Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper OC QC OM ( August 11, 1932 - October 7, 2003) Martin Newland (born 1962 is a British Journalist who was editor of The Daily Telegraph, a British Broadsheet Asper hired Matthew Fraser as editor-in-chief. Matthew Fraser may refer to Matthew Fraser (journalist, Canadian journalist and former editor of the National Post Matthew Fraser He had been the paper's media columnist from its inception and was regarded as close to the Aspers. Fraser's tenure at the helm of the Post was marked by further budget cuts, restructuring, and staff layoffs, while doubts continued about the long-term future of the money-losing paper in its commercial war with the Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail is a Canadian English language nationally distributed Newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities Fraser also was forced to fire two Post writers, including columnist Elizabeth Nickson, for plagiarism. Elizabeth Nickson is a Canadian writer and journalist who has been published widely for the past twenty years Another high-profile gossip columnist was fired for a salacious article about Canada's Governor General. The term governor general or governor-general refers to a vice-regal representative of a Monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription Staff defections continued, notably among high-profile columnists such as Mark Steyn, who were loyal to the conservative Post under Conrad Black.

Under Fraser's editorship, the Post gained notoriety in Canadian media circles for its regular feature called "CBC Watch" – inspired in part by The Daily Telegraph's "Beeb Watch" in Britain -- which pointed out errors of fact and supposed evidence of left-wing and anti-Israeli bias at the public broadcaster. For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia. "CBC Watch" infuriated the CBC's supporters, and critics claimed the Post was attacking the CBC to defend the commercial interests of the private television network, Global TV, owned by the Asper family. Global Television Network (more commonly called Global TV or just Global) is a Canadian English language privately owned Television network Izzy Asper had long railed against the state-owned CBC, and once declared publicly that it should be "expunged". Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper OC QC OM ( August 11, 1932 - October 7, 2003)

Izzy Asper died suddenly in October 2003, leaving his media empire in the hands of his two sons, Leonard and David Asper, the latter serving as chairman of the Post. Leonard Asper (born May 31, 1964, in Winnipeg Manitoba) is a Canadian Businessperson and Lawyer. David Asper was born in 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. David Asper is a Canadian Businessman and Lawyer. Fraser departed in 2005 after the arrival of a new publisher, Les Pyette – the paper's seventh publisher in seven years. Pyette, a former publisher of the racy tabloid, Toronto Sun, aggressively took the Post downmarket with splashy tabloid-style tone and look. The Toronto Sun is an English language daily tabloid Newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fraser's deputy editor, Doug Kelly succeeded him as editor, though Pyette was regarded as firmly in control of the newsroom as a hands-on publisher. Pyette suddenly departed only seven months after his arrival, replaced by Gordon Fisher, a career Southam newspaperman who had briefly served as interim publisher a few years earlier. Southam is a small Market town in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England.

The Post today

Since Israel Asper's acquisition of the National Post, the paper has become a strong voice in support of the state of Israel and its government. The Post was one of the few Canadian papers to offer unreserved support to Israel during its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon during 2006. ^[3]

One of its columnists referred to Hezbollah as "cockroaches. " Canadian pundits argue whether the Post's support of Israel is a legacy of its late founder's political ideology or a shrewd business manoeuvre. ^[4]

The Post during Ken Whyte's editorship was strongly associated with the personality of proprietor Conrad Black, just as the paper during Matthew Fraser's editorship was associated with Izzy Asper. Today the Post has to some extent abandoned the neo-conservative ideology that, while often controversial, gave the Post a distinct voice and loyal readership. Neoconservatism (or Neocon is a Right-wing political philosophy that emerged in the United States from the rejection of the Social liberalism, Moral relativism Many of its rival papers, meanwhile, have copied its unique design and layout features. In a national newspaper market considered too thin to sustain two products, the Post has struggled against the Globe and Mail, which has the advantages of a loyal readership and a history stretching back to the mid-19th century. The Globe and Mail is a Canadian English language nationally distributed Newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities The Post's entry into the Canadian newspaper market, while dazzling during its aggressively marketed start-up phase, was poorly timed because the entire newspaper sector was entering a period of structural decline, which continues today, as readers turn towards the Internet and other sources for information and distraction. The Post effectively abandoned its claim as a national newspaper in 2006 as print subscriptions were dropped in Atlantic Canada ^[5] and then print editions were removed from all Atlantic Canadian newsstands except in Halifax as of 2007. Atlantic Canada, also known as the Atlantic provinces, is the region of Canada comprising four provinces located on the Atlantic coast: See also Halifax Nova Scotia See also Halifax Regional Municipality municipal election 2008 Halifax Regional Municipality is the capital ^[6]

Politically, the Post has retained a conservative editorial stance under the Aspers' ownership, but has become markedly less strident. The Asper family has long been strong supporters of the Liberal Party, though they have always had libertarian leanings. The Liberal Party of Canada ( Parti libéral du Canada) colloquially known as the Grits (originally " Clear Grits " is a major Canadian political Izzy Asper was once leader of the Liberal Party in his home province of Manitoba. Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116  sq mi of North America The Aspers had controversially fired the publisher of the Ottawa Citizen, Russell Mills, for calling for the resignation of Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien. The Ottawa Citizen is an English -language daily newspaper owned by CanWest Global in Ottawa, Canada. Russell Mills is the name of a number of people Russell Mills (publisher, a former Canadian newspaper publisher Russell Mills (artist Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, (generally known as Jean Chrétien) (born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian politician who was the twentieth Prime

However, the Post – careful to retain the loyalty of its conservative readers – endorsed the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2004 election when Fraser was editor. The Conservative Party of Canada ( Parti conservateur du Canada) colloquially known as the " Tories " is a conservative The Canadian federal election 2004 (more formally the 38th General Election) was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of The Conservatives narrowly lost that election to the Liberals. After the election, the Post surprised many of its conservative readers by shifting its support to the victorious Liberal government of prime minister Paul Martin, and was highly critical of the Conservatives and their leader, Stephen Harper. Paul Edgar Philippe Martin. PC, MP (also known as Paul Martin Jr WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Stephen Joseph Harper PC The paper switched camps again in the runup to the 2006 election (in which the Conversatives won a minority government). The 2006 Canadian federal election (more formally the 39th General Election) was held on January 23 2006 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the During the election campaign, David Asper appeared publicly several times to endorse the Conservatives.

The Post continues to lose money – financial analysts estimate annual losses at about $15 million – and rumours persist that the Aspers will close down the Post due to its lack of profitability. Others believe, however, that the Aspers will keep the newspaper going in order to have a political voice in Canada, notably on issues such as Israel. The Post today operates under the editorial direction of David Asper, an outspoken and controversial figure who is generally considered to lack the stature and business acumen of his late father.

The Post's Toronto edition is printed at the Toronto Star presses in Vaughan, Ontario. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario The Toronto Star is Canada 's highest-circulation newspaper though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario. The Star is one of the Post's commercial rivals in the fiercely competitive Toronto newspaper market: Toronto is the fourth largest media centre in North America, after New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. The City of New York Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States.

On September 27, 2007, the Post unveiled a major redesign of its appearance. Guided by Gayle Grin, the Post's managing editor of design and graphics, the redesign features a standardization in the size of typeface and the number of typefaces used, cleaner font for charts and graphs, and — perhaps the most striking portion of the redesign — the move of the nameplate banner from the top to the left side of Page 1 as well as each section's front page.

Criticism

Main article: 2006 Iranian sumptuary law

On May 19, 2006, the newspaper ran two pieces alleging that the Iranian parliament had passed a law requiring religious minorities to wear special identifying badges. On May 19, 2006, the National Post of Canada published pieces by Amir Taheri and Chris Wattie falsely claiming that the Iranian One piece was a front page news item titled "IRAN EYES BADGES FOR JEWS" accompanied by a 1935 picture of two Jews bearing Nazi-ordered yellow badges. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The yellow badge (or yellow patch) also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order Later on the same day, experts began coming forward to deny the accuracy of the Post story. The story proved to be false, but not before it had been picked up by a variety of other news media and generated comment from world leaders. Comments on the story by the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper caused Iran to summon Canada's ambassador to Tehran for an explanation. WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Stephen Joseph Harper PC

On May 24, 2006, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Doug Kelly, published an apology for the story on Page 2, admitting that it was false and the National Post had not exercised enough caution or checked enough sources. ^[7]

The controversy surrounding the falsehood of the articles had badly affected the Post's credibility and journalistic integrity. Critics alleged that hasty production of the article without any fact checking is a clear sign of the paper's sensationalism. Sensationalism is a manner of being extremely Controversial, loud or attention grabbing

Another major criticism of the Post is its unadulturated support of Israel. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Because it is one of the few media outlets in Canada that supports its occupation of Palestinian land, some have pointed out that it sees itself as the "lone ranger" in the Isreali cause. The status of territories captured by Israel is a matter of discussion It is also criticised by some Canadian pundits of romanticizing and downplaying the plight of the Palestinians in the conflict.

Since 1998, the Canadian Islamic Congress has been active monitoring media coverage for anti-Muslim or anti-Islam sentiment and has issued reports highlighting its findings. The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC refers to itself as Canada's largest national non-profit and wholly independent Islamic organization without affiliation to any It has opposed the use of phrases such as "Islamic guerrillas," "Islamic insurgency" and "Muslim militants" saying that terms like "militant" or "terrorist" should be used without a religious association "since no religion teaches or endorses terrorism, militancy or extremism. "^[8] The Congress has singled out the National Post as being "consistently is No. 1" as an anti-Islam media outlet. ^[9]

A number of writers for the National Post have responded to the the CIC's accusations. Alexander Rose, wrote that "judging by its [CIC's] support for the [2001] Durban Conference, during which hook-nosed Jews were equated with apartheid and genocide, the CIC doesn't seem to have problems with some kinds of truly inflammatory racist language" and that the CIC's "fetish for censorship in the interest of "social harmony," as the CIC puts it, reeks of the very authoritarianism oppressing Muslims in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Alexander Rose (died 1720 was a Scottish Academic, minister and Bishop of the 17th and early 18th century The World Conference against Racism ( WCAR) are international events organized by the UNESCO in order to struggle against racism ideologies and behaviours " In addition, Rose stated that "By editing out bad language, it seems, the CIC believes that correct thoughts will result, even at the necessary expense of reporting the truth. "^[10] Robert Fulford wrote that the CIC "justifies its existence mainly by complaining about acts of prejudice that haven't happened" and that "it's ridiculous to suggest that we avoid the subject of religion when crimes are committed in the name of that religion by men and women considered part of it. Alternate use see Robert Fulford (croquet player for the English croquet player "^[11] whileJonathan Kay wrote that "the folks at the Canadian Islamic Congress purport to be the arbiters of what can and can't be said in this country" and that CIC President Elmasry is "the country's self-appointed judge of all that is hateful. " ^[12]

Editors in chief

• Kenneth Whyte, 1998–2003
• Matthew Fraser, 2003–2005
• Doug Kelly, 2005–present

Current editorial positions

• Doug Kelly, Editor-in-Chief
• Stephen Meurice, Deputy Editor
• Jonathan Harris, Executive Editor
• Jonathan Kay, Managing Editor, Comment
• Sarah Murdoch, Managing Editor, Features
• Ian Karleff, Managing Editor, Financial Post
• Terence Corcoran, FP Editor
• Diane Francis, FP Editor-at-large

Columnists

• Conrad Black
• Don Martin
• John Ivison
• Shinan Govani
• Terence Corcoran
• Robert Fulford
• George Jonas
• Jonathan Kay
• Barbara Kay
• Gerald Owen
• Jacob Richler
• Rick Spence
• Fr. Kenneth Whyte (born August 12, 1960) is a Canadian newspaper and magazine editor. Matthew Fraser may refer to Matthew Fraser (journalist, Canadian journalist and former editor of the National Post Matthew Fraser Terence Corcoran (born 1942 is editor and columnist for the Financial Post section of the Toronto -based National Post. Diane Francis is a Canadian journalist and author and the editor-at-large for the National Post newspaper Conrad Moffat Black Baron Black of Crossharbour PC, KCSG, OC, (born 25 August 1944, in Montreal, Quebec) is Terence Corcoran (born 1942 is editor and columnist for the Financial Post section of the Toronto -based National Post. Alternate use see Robert Fulford (croquet player for the English croquet player George Jonas (born June 15 1935) is a Hungarian -born Canadian writer Barbara Kay is a columnist with the National Post. Kay is a graduate of the University of Toronto where she earned an undergraduate degree in English Jacob Richler is a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist and the son of novelist Mordecai Richler. Raymond J. de Souza
• George Torok

See also

• Media in Canada
• List of Canadian newspapers
• List of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation

Notes

External links

• Official website
• Guide to the Post's September 2007 redesign
• Video from Global Ontario on the Post's September 2007 redesign
• False National Post Story
• Lack of proper journalism boggles the mind