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I started my first real job at @TorontoStar 24 years ago today. It was a huge organization occupying several floors of One Yonge St. And there was SO. MUCH. MONEY. floating around.
I was a member of a newly created team of analysts tasked with seeking new revenue streams for the Advertising Department. They called us the "Whiz Kids".
That 1st week, I and my new colleagues were sent on an overnight tour designed to teach us all about The Daily Miracle that we were now a part of. We watched late arriving ads being placed, then moved up to the newsroom to watch the paper close.
It wasn't at all like the crazy deadline rush you see in the movies. It was more of a deadline hush. A small group of editors huddled in the centre of the room looking at a computer monitor. A little debate. A decision made. And it was done.
Then we watched the front page be faxed (from a fax machine the size of a Volkswagen) to the press centre located several miles away, in the north of the city.
We got in our cars, and drove to the press centre, were we 1st watched a video, the sole purpose of which seemed to compare the Star's presses to other very large things. "There's enough ink in these wells to do the work of a million ball point pens!"
From there, we watched the papers fly off the presses and into bundles which were then loaded on trucks. We got back in our cars and followed those trucks to one of dozens of distribution sites across the city.
There, we watched as the bundles were distributed, one by one to a long line of carriers, who were waiting in their cars, some with sleeping children in the back seat.
I realized that I was a part of something bigger than myself. Something important. I was proud of the work we did, and the paper's ability to reflect, affect and connect Toronto and the people who live here.
Over time, all that money began to dry up. More complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity crept in. After a long period of denial, costly and ineffective decisions were made.
After 13 years of service, I was "structured out" of the Star, but even after that, I always wished it and the dedicated people working there well.
Sad to see it go for such a low price. Hoping for the best. But...
