Things that revolve around Sun Media

Not satisfied that they own media outlets from coast to coast, now Sun Media is dominating the news stories themselves.

Sun Media, the outlet the rest of the media loves to hate, is very much in the news this week.

Today Kory Teneycke, former spokesperson to Stephen Harper, announced he’s stepping down from the project to start a right-ring television station called Sun TV (“Fox News North” to its critics). Teneycke’s links to the Conservatives had led to allegations the government was meddling with the CRTC in order to fastrack Sun TV’s license.

Sun TV has also caused concern for many left-leaning Canadians, who feel it might bring American-style militant conservative media to this country. Writing in The Mark yesterday, M.J. Murphy says that to assuage its critics Sun TV should follow the example of its ideological nemesis Al Jazeera English, which eased its transition onto Canadian airwaves by reaching out to Jewish organizations. Sun TV could do the same with leftist groups.

Reactions to former Liberal staffer Ian Davey’s comments that the Sun is “a newspaper for people who can’t read” are still filling ope-ed columns. The Edmonton Sun defends its editorial style, saying “We speak the way average Canadians speak, and do not force our readers to run for their thesaurus.” Sun columnist Lorrie Goldstein advises Davey, “if you’re going to try to mock us, could you at least be funny?” and suggests he use this gem he once heard: “The Globe and Mail … is read by people who think they are running the country but aren’t. The Toronto Star is read by people who know they should be running the country, but aren’t ... And the Sun is read by people who don’t give a damn who’s running the country, as long as she has big boobs.”

In the National Post Jonathan Kay says now that Eric Marglis has left the Sun after 27 years, his recent writings has revealed himself as “a full blown 9/11 conspiracy theorist.” Margolis was one of the few Sun contributors who could be described as left-leaning, but Kay says now “that he no longer has Sun editors setting boundaries, I suppose he’s free to let his mind roam where it will.” It’s wandered into a weird place, apparently.