Antiwar columnist Eric Margolis was fired in a shake-up at Sun Newspapers.
In what is unlikely a coincidence, it was recently revealed that Sun Newspapers is now receiving Canadian government money.
Margolis has written for the Toronto Sun newspaper chain for 27 years and his column has remained popular.
Margolis, like other high-profile Sun columnists who have been axed or forced into retirement without an opportunity to say farewell to readers, will remain visible online.
“My weekly columns on foreign affairs will still be available at EricMargolis.com each Sunday, and at Huffingtonpost.com and LewRockwell.com. I am also on Twitter and Facebook.”
As Eric says, there was a time during the glory years of the Toronto Sun when opposing views were welcomed by management and appreciated by readers. Quebecor’s newly-planted henchmen are putting an end to that editorial freedom.
Sun Media’s parliamentary bureau has lost five columnists in the past month: Greg Weston, Elizabeth Thompson, Christina Spencer, Peter Zimonjic and Kathleen Harris, who is still writing but as a national reporter from outside the bureau.
Of course none of this matters and newspapers are rapidly becoming outdated business models anyway. All this did was speed up Mr. Margolis transition to a more relevant web-centric model. While the short term may be difficult he'll be much better off in the long term.
He refused to transition and become PR officer for the Harper junta, forced upon Canada by the colonial representative of the Queen of England..
There is no need for JOURNALISTS of Mr. Margolis quality in Canada under Harpers junta.
PR officers posing as "journalist" are in brown-nosing competition for lifetime Senate appointments.
Mr. Margolis at least realized that it was the Red Army, not the Americans or the British, who won the war in Europe against the Germans in World War II.
The real losers in ww2 were the eastern Europeans.
Guess Poland joining the NAZI's in attacking Czechoslovakia wasn't such a good idea, eh?
What are you talking about.
Nope, I'm pretty sure we won the thing.
Mr. Margolis knows History and gets the FACTS before writing, like Jason mentioned his writings as well as of these other Canadian JOURNALISTS will be online.
This has been well-known to historians, even amatuer historians, for a long time.
Indeed.
Less well known in the US jingo pres–and among the US jingo military.
Indeed. The Soviets engaged approximately 70-75% of all Wehrmacht forces during the Second World War.
The Western forces however foolishly declared war upon Hitler, forcing his hand in the West. The idea of Hitler's ambition being world domination is interesting but tiresome mythology. He did however set upon the creation of an empire in the East, most notably, the European territory of the Soviet Union. As a result, Hitler was removed from Eastern Europe only to be replaced with an arguably even more brutal tyrant, Joseph Stalin. It would have been wiser for the Western Democracies to allow Hitler and Stalin wear each other to a frazzle and thus exhausting their armies rather than granting so much territory and money to the Soviet Union and thus empowering the most brutal ideology in history, Communism.
"more brutal tyrant, Joseph Stalin"
You poor lost soul.
Margolis has been out of step with conventional wisdom since the GWOT was declared. He has been down on the developing myth of Canadian militarism and critical of the purpose and nature of operations in South Asia.
He may not have much love for a jihadi, but the antics of the 'reasonable men' in 'freedom loving countries must drive him to distraction. Not that he had any worries or concerns about Sun media, he doesn't have any there now.
Gee, and the Poles and Czechs, as members of NATO, don't seem to have had much problem in attacking Yugoslavia, eh?
I'm pretty sure neither the Czechs nor the Poles, having been NATO members for less than two weeks at the time, participated in the bombing.
Then, of course, there was the veritable Prometheus Pilsudski:
"Józef Klemens PiÅ‚sudski[a] (Polish: [ˈjuzÉ›f piwˈsutski] ( listen), 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was Chief of State (1918–22), "First Marshal" (from 1920) and (1926–35) the authoritarian leader of the Second Polish Republic. From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland's politics, and was an important figure on the European political scene. He is considered largely responsible for Poland's regaining its independence in 1918, after 123 years of partitions. PiÅ‚sudski was unable to incorporate much of his Lithuanian homeland to the newly resurrected Polish State.
Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party. Concluding, however, that Poland's independence would have to be won by force of arms, he created the Polish Legions. In 1914 he anticipated the outbreak of a European war, the Russian Empire's defeat by the Central Powers, and the Central Powers' defeat by the western powers.When World War I broke out, he and his Legions fought alongside the Austro-Hungarian and German Empires to ensure Russia's defeat. In 1917, with Russia faring badly in the war, he withdrew his support from the Central Powers.
From November 1918, when Poland regained independence, until 1922, PiÅ‚sudski was Poland's Chief of State. In 1919–21 he commanded Poland's forces in the Polish-Soviet War. In 1923, with the Polish government dominated by his opponents, particularly the National Democrats, he withdrew from active politics. Three years later he returned to power with the May 1926 coup d'état, and became the de facto dictator of Poland. From then until his death in 1935, he concerned himself primarily with military and foreign affairs.
For at least thirty years until his death, Piłsudski pursued, with varying degrees of intensity, two complementary strategies, intended to enhance Poland's security: 'Prometheism', which aimed at breaking up, successively, Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union into their constituent nations; and the creation of an Intermarum federation, comprising Poland and several of her neighbors. Though a number of his political acts remain controversial, Piłsudski's memory is held in high esteem by his compatriots."
wiki
Well, well, well.
"'Prometheism', which aimed at breaking up, successively, Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union into their constituent nations"
You're kidding–really. Bet you his loyal ally Britain, which saved Poland from the NAZIs in WWII, really appreciated that, eh?
You really don't have a clue about much, do you.
lol NOBODY saved Poland from the Nazi's. Seriously, read a book people. 8)
Britain saved Poland from the NAZI's in World War II, didn't they?
Then, of course, Britain, France, and the US saved them from the Russians, right?
wrong, and wrong again.Do you get your information from reading the "Sun"?
Did the US and Britain, utterly unprovoked, attack Soviet Russia in 1918-19?
Really that can't be–Britain and the United States just don't do stuff like that.
Has to be Communist propaganda.
"Britain saved Poland from the NAZI's in World War II, didn't they? "
Yes indeed, only to transfer the Polish people from the hands of Hitler to the hands of Stalin.
Stalin offered an alliance with Britain, France, and Poland against NAZI Germany.
As part of the alliance, he requested from the Poles that the Red Army be allowed to cross Polish territory to meet the Germans on their own ground.
The Poles in their great wisdom refused.
Meanwhile, Britain and France played games.
Stalin concluded that their only goal was to have Russians do all the heavy lifting for them.
He was right.
The result–the Hitler-Stalin Pact.
Stalin was playing for time.
Stalin knew that Hitler would break the Pact, though he was surprised at how quickly it came.
The point was to establish a buffer zone in Poland against the Germans.
Hypotheticals are of limited use, but a good argument may be made that without the Stalin-Hitler Pactg Germany would have won WWII in Europe.
So there you are, those brilliant Poles, having learned what true loyalty is, go right out and join NATO.
Precisely why I don't read newspapers anymore. No problem, I'll just bookmark here on out…problem solved.
Where are all those defenders of freedom speach and the press when it really matters.Maybe if Mr.Margolis had been drawing ( cartoons) ,they would have rushed to defend him.
Mr. Margolis et all now join Gwynne Dyer on the blacklist. It'll be interesting to see how long you can run a dictatorship as a minority government; but it must be much easier without any media opposition. I can see buying the F-35's so we'll be ready to take on all two or three Russian fifth-gen aircraft when they're ready in fifteen years and we go to war with either Russia or China over either Georgia or Taiwan or both. What else would we need those aircraft for if not a war against a first-class enemy? So that's what they have in mind for us. A minority government can declare war, I guess. But does anyone have any idea how killing the Canadian census might fit into imperial plans?
Harper's junta intends to remain in Afghanistan past 2011 in water well drilling capacity, perhaps F-35s will be used to assist well drillers should the need arise to revenge their deaths.
Popsiq is either a paid or unpaid brainwashed buffoon. Its not surprising these type of people, and they are very easy to spot, are popping up on message boards these days. What a pathetic attempt to smear Margolis and pump up a bankrupt foreign policy.
Too bad that Canada is not bombing Serbia. Then Margolis and Canadian government would have been in perfect sync. He could write more articles about Serbians being the Nazis for them.
Blood is thicker than water, Mr. Margolis is of Albanian descent it comes as no surprise to me that he would be pro-Albanian and anti-Serbian. Most Jewish Americans and Canadians place Israel's interest way above those of the USA or Canada as well, Mother Nature in action.
It is not a matter of being "pro-Albanian" or "anti-Serbian". It is a matter of being pro-empire or anti-empire, pro-war or anti-war and not least pro-lies or pro-truth.
It's funny. Some Lefties like Robert McChesney think that the US government's buying into dying print media would improve the content/editorial direction. As if USA Today or Newsweek would be more critical of gov't propaganda if they were given gov't money.
Your usual Right Wing self-serving definition of "Left".Not that the Corporate Fascist Imperialists on the other side of the duopoly don't go along with it.
You left out "and their running dogs."
Thanks for the correction, "the Corporate Fascist Imperialists and their running dogs."
That includes all US Republicans and almost all US Democrats.
Have a nice day.
"Robert Waterman McChesney is an American professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication. His work concentrates on the history and political economy of communication, emphasizing the role media play in democratic and capitalist societies. He is the President and co-founder of Free Press, a national media reform organization. McChesney also hosts the 'Media Matters' weekly radio program every Sunday afternoon on WILL-AM radio; it is the top-rated program in its time slot in the Champaign-Urbana area.[citation needed]
McChesney has written or edited seventeen books. He has also written more than 150 journal articles and book chapters and another 200 newspaper pieces, magazine articles and book reviews. His work has been translated into twenty-one languages. Since launching his academic career in the late 1980s, McChesney has made some 500 conference presentations and visiting guest lectures as well as more than 600 radio and television appearances. He has been the subject of more than 70 published profiles and interviews. In 2001 Adbusters Magazine named him one of the “Nine Pioneers of Mental Environmentalism.” Utne Reader in 2008 listed him as one of their '50 visionaries who are changing the world'….
Mental Enivronmentalism all right–the typical center Liberal's autoerotic fantasy.
Hint: Capitalism plus social welfare is not "Socialism."
Sun Newspapers have their collective heads up their collective butts with the sacking of Eric Margolis. Margolis has long been extremly populator, one of my favorite political commentators. His book, as are his columns, are nothing short of brilliant. Undoubtedly one of our most analytical and shrewd political thinkers. His recent book, "The American Raj" is brilliant and a must read for those who are not comfortable with the diktates from the FCM "Fawning Corporate Media." Eric I wish you well and continued success.
Hopefully Eric Margolis will no longer feel constrained about expressing his jounalistic opinion regarding the orchestration of 911. The internet is becoming more relevant by the day. Bye Bye, mainline rags!
Welcome to the new Canada. Our far-right government is kept in check by having a minority position in government but none the less has remained in power long after their past-due date. There is nothing of the American neocon agenda they don't want for Canada, but again, thankfully they are unable to completely implement the same policies that has sunk America militarily and economically.
When they cannot exert pressure right from the top of government onto the media in Canada they actually employ people to troll online news websites to leave comments favourable to their government. Same goes for radio and television. They were caught doing it and have even admitted to the fact.
Canada is a country held hostage by 30% of the voting public. The left and center need to join for at least one election to take back government for the majority who as most of you know are much more liberal, socialist and libertarian than the so-called "fiscal conservatives" now running the show.
I had two reasons to read the sun …Eric Margolis and the extreme right tilt of the paper..It amazed me that the Sun published Eric .. it did provide balance .. That is now gone and the Sun is falling on its own blunt sword..
So they're buying newspaper coverage now. No biggie really, because nobody reads newspapers any more – except for old people, government employees, and people working in heavily subsidized and regulated industries who need to know the party line.
But it makes me wonder … how many "new media" sources are being subsidized and bribed, either above or under the table? In the name of like "encouraging diversity and inclusiveness", or whatever baloney excuses the government is using to buy newspaper coverage.
I don’t know much about the Toronto Sun so I went to Wikipedia to get a hint. The Sun is described as a tabloid type newspaper that features shorter stories, simpler language and a good dose of soft porn (bikini clad “Sunshine Girls”.are a constant feature). Its editorial bent was described as similiar to American neo-con. Accepting Canadian Government money says all that needs to be said regarding the newspaper’s integrity.
I should think that Mr. Margolis would be relieved to part company with this foul rag.
The Sunshine Girls? Reminds me of the British style of news tabloids. Gotta hand it to them… some things still work on both sides of the pond.
For the love of God! What starts off as an article about Margolis getting the axe from management morphs into a never ending history lesson on the role the Russians played in WW2. Damn it all…. stick at least close to the topic at hand.
I completely agree with one of the other bloggers. Newspapers are on their way out, big time. Haven’t bought a newspaper in 2 years. Why would I when I can just go to the many FB pages that address my interests in politics, people, etc. and I can click and get a very accurate, honest and professional report – some from alternative media sources. I’ve lost all confidence in the integrity of news reporting – particularly since the police fiasco during the G20!
Good luck, Mr. Margolis. You will be missed! Keep up the good work online. I will read you even more regularly now!
I have been reading articles by Eric Margolis for years. I know that he is a honest, honorable and truthful journalist. Shame on Sun Newspapers!
I'm sure it's bad for Mr. Margolis' bottom line, but it matters not to me since I've been led to his articles from LRC. He's one of my favorites and will continue to be. I look forward to his articles in the future. It's probably for the best when the establishment gets rid of a man like him. It means he's too close to the truth.
Hearing that Eric Margolis was fired was a real day-wrecker. Truth forever on the scaffold, etc. Unlike worshippers of the Internet, however, I do wonder how Margolis will earn a living. Huffpost, LRC, and the rest will never make anyone rich, let alone afford a humble cottage.
Good luck to Margolis anyway. And a giant fart blown towards the canucks who did the sacking.
Eric Margolis has been a beacon of progressive thinking through his articles and his book “The American Raj”, which should be required reading in today’s world of war and aggression.
He will be missed indeed.
But, what is our role, as citizens in this? Is it not to boycott the Toronto Sun and all other papers that eat out of the hands of Harper, who is indirectly muzzling dissent?
I found Eric Margolis book,American Raj, impressive, until page 243 and the swipe that he takes at the Canadian health care system, calling it in-"adequate" and "broken down". Having survived colon cancer (20 years ago), a heart pacemaker implant (4 years), 2 cataract surgeries, and a hernia operation, as well as several other aggravations, while my wife survived breast cancer 17 years ago, and earlier, a bone marrow transplant to a sister near death from leukemia, I can only be thankful for the system that we have.. The only costs to each of us were for telephone, bedside television, and parking . There certainly are improvements needed, – hip and knee surgery wait times, overcrowded facilities – but we are surely a long way from having a "broken down system!"
How careless is the rest of his book? R.H.C.
Yes newpapers are becoming outdated – time they realized that.
One can get all the news one wants from the internet and hacks like sue ann levy are going to be a thing of the past.
Perhaps unions have seen better days but newspapers have to realize that thier days are numbered too.
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