The gang that couldn’t write straight

If The Globe and Mail hadn’t posted this story on their own website, I might not believe it. Canada’s national newspaper has signed a long-term printing contract with Transcontinental Inc. for $1.7 billion, yes billion, that runs from 2010 to 2028. Does the Globe know something that other newspapers don’t? Do they really think there will still be carriers throwing copies on doorsteps twenty years from now?

What about the growing numbers of people who only read newspapers on the web or, long before 2028, via some other form of delivery? Or, just as likely, what if circulation continues to head down until the graph finally reaches zero?

As a life-long reader (with photographic proof of me crouched on the kitchen floor at age six reading the Globe) I can’t help but wonder if they know what they’re doing. First off, the website is a shadow of what it should be with too few updates on any given day.
Worse, the editorials have become trite. Two examples this month will suffice. In the first case, the Globe commented on the decision by the good burghers of London, Ont. to ban the sale of bottled water by saying that’s OK as long as the city increases the number of public water fountains. In the second example, the Globe thoughtfully suggested that cities could fight congestion by making available shareable bicycles. How long did it take to hammer out those silly solutions at their editorial board meetings? I weep for my former profession.