A tip of the Frank turban to the Toronto Star for its stellar investigative reportage of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal.
Virtually all the Ghomeshi scoops have come courtesy the Star–thanks to the sleuthing of former CBC sluggo Jesse Brown, and the paper’s head of inquisitions, Kevin Donovan.
Alas, the two gumshoes appear to have fallen out. Brown’s byline has disappeared and Donovan is beating the Ghomeshi file on his own. One newsroom alone can’t hold all that hubris.
Donovan was vastly unamused when Brown tweeted a picture of Donovan’s newsroom chair, bearing the decree: “This chair has been adjusted for Kevin Donovan. Please do not use or adjust the settings.”
Donovan is well up himself, as revealed in his Nov. 3 “My dinner with Jian” story, in which the pompous pranny declared: “And so, along with many other investigations the Star undertakes, this one was continuing. Sometimes it is best to play what I call the ‘long game.’”
It is an investigation that also has the distinct whiff of vendetta against the CBC.
A recent editorial foamer ripped CBC management for dereliction of duty and complicity:
“CBC managers, could not have been unaware of the gossip [about Ghomeshi, yet they] did nothing,” the Star huffed. (Of course, Star publisher John Cruickshank is familiar with Corpse culture. He was boss of CBC News a few short years ago.)
The Star piled on again last weekend, turning its opinion pages over to Jeffrey Dvorkin, director of the University of Toronto’s J-Skool.
Years ago, Dvorkin was a star with Corpse radio as Managing Editor and Chief Journalist (wat dat?!—ed.)
He eventually moved to the States, as NPR executive ombudsmidget, then returned to Toronto in 2008, with high expectations he would land a CBC appointment worthy of his self-regard.
Alas, the Corpse and most other outlets rebuffed him, and Jeffrey had to scramble to land a gig at something called the Real News Network.
In his Star turn, Dvorkin played the embittered ex-Corpsoid, still pining for the CBC of yore, when pinheads discussed big ideas at catered off-site meetings:
“This is not just about one man’s disgraceful and allegedly dangerous behaviour,” he thundered. “It is about the CBC – the institution that enabled Ghomeshi by putting ratings above everything else. This is a crisis of truly existential proportions for the CBC.
“Nothing short of a complete reinvention of public broadcasting in Canada can save it. And if it can’t be saved, we have no one to blame but ourselves.”
Amen.
The Star isn’t alone in kicking the crap out of the Corpse.
CTV News has also been putting in the boot, with chief bingo caller Lisa LaFlamme savoring every blow-by-blow account (up-to-the-minute, shurely?!—ed.)
Precisely who is feeding the gory Ghomeshi details to CTV is a mystery, but it should be mentioned that Star editor-in-chief Michael Cooke and Laflameout have been getting a legover for lo’ these many years.
We can only imagine the pillow talk between these two Giants of Journ—(that’s enough grisly details!—ed.)
Who’s Cooke?
Sorry, I spoketh too soon. Duh……
No, not at all. After reading, I still don’t know where this thingy called a Cooke and Journalism intersect. Except as a replacement for Stephano Faita. Perhaps “Too Many Cookes Boil the Froth”? LaFlamme-embroiled, of course. Perfect for the shut-in crowd.