Friday 29 May 2009

Dreams shattered

TSF sincerely regrets the number of anonymous comments posted by readers over the years, often in fear of losing their Sun Media jobs.

But we'd rather air anonymous comments from journalists and other newspaper employees than reject their opinions outright.

We are reminded of the turmoil PKP and his Quebecor bean counters have caused since 1999 almost weekly in TSF e-mails and posted comments.

Comments like this one received yesterday:

"I worked for Sun Media for 29 years, starting very young. Didn't think I'd last that long, but certainly not expecting to be laid off and my whole department wiped out.

"I was counting the years 'til I reached 65, but alas that was not to be. It is hard finding a job at my age, apart from the fact that a lot of people are in my position, so jobs are few.

"I wish to thank all the people that treated me with dignity and respect, my friends who will forever be in my heart and I won't forget them."

Multiply those sentiments by hundreds and you grasp the volume of dreams shattered in the name of Quebecor's bottom line.

The gutting of the Sun tabloids and former Osprey and Bowes newspapers for no other reason than to create a minimalist chain of glorified shopping flyers has affected more than 1,000 employees, possibly 2,000.

One vet from the Toronto Sun's glory years summed it up for many of us who shared the early success and dreams of the Day Oners:

"It makes one weep to think of all that blood, sweat, tears and triumph being for nought."

The Toronto Sun Family would be a healthier family if we weren't so anonymous with out true feelings. There are exceptions, but just a few, and that saddens us deeply.

But please do share your feelings, anonymous or not.

And to the people who have created this foreign and paranoid atmosphere in newsrooms across Canada, we take you back to a famous exchange during the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s:

Mr. Welch: "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

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