Toronto Star and National Post newspaper boxes in downtown Toronto on Oct. 29, 1999.KEVIN FRAYER/The Canadian Press
In hindsight
Re “50 years after Nixon’s resignation, the moral questions of Watergate are as tricky as ever” (Opinion, Aug. 3): What’s notable is that from the distance of 2024, the Watergate cover-up actually makes Richard Nixon look good: At least he knew right from wrong; at least he was capable of shame. The comparison with Donald Trump, Mr. Nixon’s successor-in-crime, is obvious.
The temptation here is to apply our current debased standards of political conduct to Mr. Nixon and go easier on his legacy. I’d much prefer we go back to the 1970s and renew the more admirable expectations of high office that prevailed then.
Brian Green Thunder Bay
Re “Tim Walz is the everyman saviour the Democrats needed” (Aug. 9): The juvenile antics of Donald Trump’s Republicans have long put me in mind of a high-school classroom full of unruly adolescents. It’s high time the Democrats put a teacher into the mix.
Dermot Nolan Hamilton
Breaking news
Re “Please stop helping us: the newspaper bailout is a comprehensive policy failure” (Opinion, Aug. 3): As someone who reads both online and print news, including large and small publications, some subsidized and some not, I don’t agree that “the first effect of subsidy is sedation.”
There can be good analysis in any of these forums, but not always. Some rely on sensation to make profit.
I think subsidized media does more in-depth (read: expensive) investigations that can expose corruption or hold governments to account. This is what I fear losing in an entirely market-driven Wild West model.
Carol Town Hamilton
As the publisher of a media startup, I agree on the impact of subsidies. The Jasper Local is an all-digital, locally owned and operated community newspaper that competes with a state-subsidized incumbent.
Readjusting subsidies to target startup costs would be an improvement. The first year of operations should focus on building audience. Neither subscriber nor advertiser revenue are viable sources of income until the audience exists.
Local Journalism Initiative funding cannot be applied until one full year of operations. As media entrepreneurs often fund startup costs through underpaying themselves, the Canadian journalism labour tax credit based on salaries paid can be equally inaccessible.
Removing or retargeting subsidies would level the playing field between small players and regional or national news organizations. It would be a good start to re-energizing our community media landscape.
Andrea Ziegler Jasper, Alta.
The news industry has changed dramatically over the past many years, yet it seems traditional media continues to refuse to do much about it. The sales process, paper makeup and article lengths look almost identical to 30 years ago.
Stop the subsidies, and that includes the CBC, and force the industry to confront meaningful change.
Jack Denneboom Collingwood, Ont.
News is all around us, with screens available to most of us almost every waking hour, telling us what is happening while it is actually happening. Despite that, newspaper coverage of events that happened a day ago still has a place on many breakfast tables.
When it is well done, it is an organization of news into a complete package which we do not see on our screens. Somebody somewhere has done a lot of work to lay it all out for us to digest at our leisure, in a manner that allows us to make decisions about where we want to start, and where we want to go.
Read as much or as little as we want. Analyze as we go. Believe it or not. Agree or not.
If it takes government subsidies for this to continue, I am very much in favour of that.
Karlis Poruks Edmonton
Meanwhile
Re “Google surcharge on Canadian ads provokes mixed reviews from businesses, experts” (Report on Business, Aug. 3): So Google wants to impose a 2.5-per-cent surcharge on Canadian ads? I have pulled up Microsoft’s Edge browser and personalized the news section for all the Canadian sources I would like to follow.
Goodbye to Google.
Karen Andersen Toronto
Rock on
Re “Welcome to the tribute band era, where the covers are as good as the real thing” (Arts & Books, Aug. 3): While I agree that tribute bands are often lots of fun and more affordable than seeing major acts, I have never been interested in seeing artists whose concerts strive to recreate their recordings.
Why would I pay money to hear it, generally with poorer sound quality than on CD or even streaming? I guess I was spoiled growing up in Marin County in California. By the time I graduated from high school in 1962, I had seen jazz greats such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck and many more.
When the rock ballroom scene started, there were years of great experimentation: Paul Butterfield, John Handy playing with Ali Akbar Khan, Seatrain, Grateful Dead, Kaleidoscope, Charles Lloyd, Mose Allison. Not every show was great, but they were rarely boring, and even more rarely, precise recreations of recordings.
Let live music be an adventure for both audiences and musicians.
Mark Hazell Duncan, B.C.
Mess around
Re “In praise of ‘puttering’ ” (Opinion, Aug. 3): As I sit here in my nightie by the open window, sipping my second coffee, hearing our neighbour hammering and power-sawing next door and my husband making the bed upstairs, I wish to say thanks for a humorous and redeeming article.
Might reading The Globe and Mail on a lovely weekend morning be considered puttering? It’s become one of my favourite things to do – I mean puttering, although I do like reading The Globe. I’m happy to hear it’s a very human form of activity.
Now I must consult the list on the kitchen counter and choose a putter-worthy household task for myself. A bit of pottering in the garden sounds right.
Liz Primeau Mississauga
Re “Can happiness be taught? Academics who hope to answer that have found reasons to smile” (Aug. 3): I don’t know if happiness can be taught, but it can certainly be learned.
I have become happier as I have aged. Now, at the ripe age of almost 66, I can say I am the happiest I have ever been.
I am retired and have a decent pension, so I can pretty well do what I want, like being out on the water rowing my single at my local club. As for my husband, he says he is never happier than when he is puttering (and productive, I might add).
Maybe happiness and puttering are related. Those researchers should check it out.
Jane McCall Delta, B.C.
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