June 28:
There’s a story on section A, p. 5 about our New Brunswick fishermen and the low price they get for lobsters, the lowest of any Atlantic province. There has always…
Graeme Decarie
June 27: Let me save you some money…..
Today’s Moncton Times and Transcript is only for those with an uncontrollable passion to read ads. The NewsToday section has six pages of ads. Make that six and a half…
June 26: Mea culpa
Yesterday, the Moncton Free Press got it right; I got part of it wrong; and the Moncton Times and Transcript didn’t get it at all. The big story was that…
June25: Moncton Free Press scoops TandT
The Moncton Free Press, a news service on the web staffed by volunteers, is way ahead of The Monctron Times and Transcript, though the TandT has a paid staff of…
June 23: Why is it called a newspaper?
The Moncton Times and Transcript for today must be well over half advertising. Then there are more, damned grad photos. Then there are pages of comics, advice columns, horoscopes. And…
June 22: will the grad season never end….?
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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?…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…