October 29, 2007
Star Pupil
The Toronto Star is known for a lot of things, but editorial consistency isn't one of them. This Saturday's paper contained a particularly flagrant example of the ongoing conflict between Star's left and right brains.
A six-page section called "Counterfeiting" was dedicated to exposing the evils, perils, and all-around immorality of making, buying, or using any kind of knockoff goods ranging from electronics to clothes. One article warns us sternly that trafficking in counterfeit goods "costs the Canadian economy billions of dollars, depressing innovation, funding organized crime, risking the health and safety of consumers, and damaging Canada's international reputation." Shocking. Buying counterfeit goods will probably make you go blind, too.
Just when the Star—and section sponsors The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network—had convinced you that you're a terrible human being for even knowing someone who has a fake Chanel bag, you flipped over to the Weekend Living section to find "Bagging a Bargain" on page 3, an article extolling the virtues of chasing down knockoff bargains in Manhattan. Hell, a sidebar to the story even contained directions—including the cost of a cab fare—to the place where you can buy every "fake must-have" at rock-bottom prices. It seems that counterfeit goods aren't such a "moral issue" after all, as long as they're really cool.
Will the real Star please stand up?
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Since "sponsored sections" are just ad inserts without the honesty, you can assume that the Star's editorial position is safely populist-consumerist: pro-knockoff.
And, when it comes to jeans and bags, why the heck not? It's Burberry, not antibiotics.
Despite contrary claims, the Star is nothing more than a poorly written advertising suppliment. For all their socialist and environmental bluster, it's nothing more than a mediocre advertising vehichle.
I'm amused at their endless articles on the environment. Especially, considering they run a fairly fat and juicy section on new cars every week; a section which extolls the virtues of the latest gas guzzlers.
This made it to Boing Boing which linked to this blog post
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2332/125/
The Star seems to lack a key feature: editorial independence. When a section of the newspaper is little more than poorly written corporate propaganda (e.g. this "Counterfeiting" section or the cars section), it should be clearly marked as an "advertising supplement". Doing otherwise is just dishonest.
Don't they wrap their front pages in half-width ads now? And you're expecting some sort of journalistic integrity to trump ads? Are these rhetorical questions?
I couldn't help noticing that the typeface for the top of the page closely resembled that of the National Post.
Look at the word Counterfeiting and compare that to the lettering for National Post.