Toronto Star

Editorial position[edit]

Like its competitor The Globe and Mail, the Star covers "a spectrum of opinion that is best described as urban and Central Canadian" in character. The Star is generally centrist and centre-left, and is more socially liberal than The Globe and Mail.^[57] The paper has aligned itself over the years with the progressive "Atkinson principles" named for publisher Joseph E. Atkinson,^[58] who was editor and publisher of the paper for 50 years.^[59] These principles included social justice and social welfare provision, as well as individual rights and civil liberties.^[59] In 1984, scholar Wilfred H. Kesterton described the Star as "perpetually indignant" because of its social consciousness.^[57] When Atkinson's son Joseph Story Atkinson became president of the Star in 1957, he said, "From its inception in 1892, the Star has been a champion of social and economic reform, a defender of minority rights, a foe of discrimination, a friend of organized labour and a staunch advocate of Canadian nationhood."^[59]


Another of the "Atkinson principles" has been a "strong, united and independent Canada"; in a 1927 editorial, the paper wrote, "We believe in the British connection as much as anybody does but on a self-respecting basis of equality, of citizenship, and not on the old basis of one country belonging to the other."^[59] The paper was historically wary of American influence,^[59] and during the debates over the North American Free Trade Agreement, the paper was frequently critical of free trade and expressed concerns about Canadian sovereignty.^[60] The paper has been traditionally supportive of official bilingualism and maintaining Canadian unity in opposition to Quebec separatism.^[59]


In the 1980s, Michael Farber wrote in the Montreal Gazette that the Star's coverage was Toronto-centric to the point that any story was said to carry an explanation as to "What it means to Metro."^[61] Conversely, Canadian sociologist Elke Winter wrote in 2011 that the Toronto Star was less "Toronto-centric" than its rival, The Globe and Mail, writing that the Star "consciously reports for and from Canada's most multicultural city" and catered to a diverse readership.^[57]


The advent of the National Post in 1998 shook up the Toronto newspaper market.^[62] In the upheaval that followed, editorial spending increased and there was much turnover of editors and publishers.^[63]