I used to think the only newspaper I have ever seen that is more vapid than The Moncton Times and Transcipt is another local effort called Snap or Snapshot. It is page after page of photos of groups of strangers smiling at the camera. Reading it is like finally getting a girl
Continue readingAuthor: Graeme Decarie
The Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 21: The Queen must be doing a great job….
….she got a pay raise of 20% for a total of over $57million Canadian dollars a year. I’m so happy. It’s even higher than the 16% paid to corporation executives in Britain. And way more that the average of 1% for the common people who line he streets to wave
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 20: The forgotten summer heat of 1814
Not sure what today’s column will be about or, as I write, even what the title will be. But I am struck by two items on the editorial page. the cartoon and Norbert’s column. An editorial cartoon has two components, a good artist – and one with a knowledge of
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 19: What to say…..
I have spent two hours going through this wretched newspaper.It’s like watching an infant drooling as he (boys drool longer) goes through the slow process of mastering the skills of getting the food from bowl to spoon, from spoon to lips, from lips to mouth, and mouth to stomach and
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 18: An inspirational photo….
Its top of the front page, and it features premier Alward harnessed onto a wire way up in the air. It is a treasure that I have carefully folded and shall forever carry in a pocket next to my heart. The picture and story are about Cape Enrage, which now has a
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 17: late on a Sunday evening…..
Well, it is Sunday. And I am a religious person. I don’t attend a church because I cannot stomach the hypocracy of the churches. But I was thinking tonight of churches and hippies and the current protest movements and where all this came from and where it’s going. The starting
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 16:
First, the news.Remember back to May 25 when the news was that the Syrian government had slaughtered a hundred civilians in a place called Houla? It was a big story, with The Moncton Times and Tribune carrying it as a report from Reuters. It was a gruesome story of the
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 15: A late start…..
Years of desparately bad journalism in The Moncton Times and Transcript have dulled me. This morning, I could only look at it and wonder – what can I say that I have not said? I do have a couple of ideas. One is drawn from The Lord’s Prayer. Really. It
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 14: Scotland the Brave….
As an officer (captain-lieutenant) of the Fraser Highlanders (a Scottish regiment, to be sure), I was delighted to see a photo on p. 1 of section D of what appeared to be a piper of my regiment. Alas, the regiment was disbanded just a few years after its victory under Wolfe
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 13:A new low – with not a single bright spot
There’s a curious story on p. 1. “SPCA lifted by casino donation.” Now, speaking for all the lost dogs and cats of Moncton, I thank the casino. But front page? And it’s a long story, running to almost half a page in all. Now, such donations are daily news, with photos,
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 12: First things first
Most newspapers of any quality place the most important news of the day on the front page. This is the news that we need to know about. Currently, for example, the Canadian government is ramming through the longest and most complex piece of legislation in the history of this country.
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 11: A vicious attack on Premier Alward
Every day, I remain in touch with old friends in journalism – mostly in Montreal, but also scattered to London, Japan, and China. Their politics range anywhere from moderate liberal to neo-conservative and libertarian. (Contrary to a common impression, most journalists are not raving leftists. Most of those I have
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 10: Miss Marples, killers and shale gas
In the time I worked as a volunteer at a penitentiary near Montreal, I met weekly with some 25 prisoners in a big room. And I never met one who was a criminal. Loose the goose was a little guy in for robbery. “Hey. I took my chances. I robbed houses
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 10: How the news media got so bad…
Until the 1890s, newspapers were too expensive for most people; and news took a long time to travel. Accordingly, early newspapers were heavy on shipping news, official statements from the colonial governor, legal announcements, and very old and very brief reports of events around the world, reports that might commonly
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 9:Wow! an NHL player will visit Moncton….
Front page, for sure. And that reminds me – my uncle was a big number in the Montreal sports world; and his New Year’s Eve parties frequently featured many of the Montreal Canadiens. Occasionally, when I was a child I would meet some of them – like Maurice Richard, Toe Blake.
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 8: Teacher makes great sandwiches
That’s front page stuff in the Moncton Times and Transcript. Then there’s a story by Brent Mazerolle about how Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Wilson explained why Royal Oaks was chosen for the new high school. The only weakness in the story is that he didn’t explain anything. He gave us the
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 7: Yawn…
Today’s Moncton Times and Tribune can’t even contrive to be its normal lying and obscuring self. It’s just, plain boring. Perhaps the biggest story is p. 1 of NewsToday. “PM gets audience with Queen” It even has a photo of Harper shaking the royal hand. And, it even carries bits
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 6: A bad day…
The United Nations has named Canada as a nation in violation of international law because it provides protection and safety for those being sought for war crimes. Canada has also cooperated with torturers (turning over Canadian citizens who were quite innocent to be tortured by the CIA.) And our very
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: June 4: Nuthin’ about nuthin’….
The big story is about a girl who lost her virginity, and now feels used. That’s in the Dear Abby section. One you’ve read that, there’s not a whole lot else to read in today’s Moncton Times and Tribune. Page one has another one of those big stories that really
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Junw 3: Time marches on….
When I was a child, torture was evil, disgusting, something so brutal it was done only by Naziis. But we’re more broad-minded now. The US no longer bothers to keep it a secret that it tortures people on an industrial scale. It has Guantanamo, of course. It also has prisons
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