Cathal Kelly - Gossip Columnist??

[bgnewf]

Here is a list of some of the "journalism" Cathal Kelly has been doing over at The Toronto Star lately...

- True love story: Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett - May 02, 2009
- Born lucky? Then pay for it - Apr 25, 2009
- Any schmo can run a marathon - Apr 23, 2009
- Mr. Math aims to convert Canadians - Apr 20, 2009
- Victory-starved city abuzz over Jays - Apr 19, 2009
- A doomsayer, and a father, with a heart of faint hope - Apr 19, 2009
- 'Beauty is on the inside' and other lies - Apr 14, 2009
- Lifesaver's focus: Sex and death - Apr 14, 2009


Notice anything missing??

Only one sports piece, and a fluff piece at that about the Jays...And nothing about Soccer or TFC for a month since he wrote his infamous "firm" piece.

Dare I say it, but did the Editors over there get the fact that this kind of trash is about all this idiot is qualified to write? If they have I want to thank the Management of the Toronto Star for doing something at least partly right. Too bad he was not fired but at least this is a start.

[Eastend]

I have noticed he was absent from our pages lately....nice to see he's where he belongs.

[Ageroo]

I have noticed he was absent from our pages lately....nice to see he's where he belongs.

I am pretty sure the reason being is Denime does not post his articles....but I have noticed he has not written anything for a while. I think the Star might have told him to cool his heels for a little on TFC....:)

[Steve]

Dare I say it, but did the Editors over there get the fact that this kind of trash is about all this idiot is qualified to write? If they have I want to thank the Management of the Toronto Star for doing something at least partly right. Too bad he was not fired but at least this is a start.

More than likely, yes. Here's the problem, he went and pissed off the owners of three of the largest teams in Toronto, including THE largest one. I know sometimes the press can try to throw their weight around (by refusing to cover, or threatening to cover something badly) but in this case, the star is out of their league. What happens if MLSE revokes the star's press credentials for the leafs? That isn't a situation the star would ever risk, so they had to play ball this time.

And good on MLSE for standing up for the little brother franchise (ok, maybe bigger than the marlies, but still).

[spezz44]

More than likely, yes. Here's the problem, he went and pissed off the owners of three of the largest teams in Toronto, including THE largest one. I know sometimes the press can try to throw their weight around (by refusing to cover, or threatening to cover something badly) but in this case, the star is out of their league. What happens if MLSE revokes the star's press credentials for the leafs? That isn't a situation the star would ever risk, so they had to play ball this time.

And good on MLSE for standing up for the little brother franchise (ok, maybe bigger than the marlies, but still).


never even thought of it like that. Very good point! Cathal Kelly is a looser.

[Kevvv]

Or maybe they finally figured out that the sport should be covered by someone who appreciates the game. What kind of coverage would baseball or hockey get by someone who doesn't particularly like the sport?

[Oldtimer]

More than likely, yes. Here's the problem, he went and pissed off the owners of three of the largest teams in Toronto, including THE largest one. I know sometimes the press can try to throw their weight around (by refusing to cover, or threatening to cover something badly) but in this case, the star is out of their league. What happens if MLSE revokes the star's press credentials for the leafs? That isn't a situation the star would ever risk, so they had to play ball this time.

And good on MLSE for standing up for the little brother franchise (ok, maybe bigger than the marlies, but still).

We know that Paul stood up for TFC with the Star. Maybe they realized that Cathal's "yellow journalism" was not earning them anything, wan't helping their reputation, and they couldn't afford to alienate MLSE with that kind of garbage.

[Roogsy]

Paul did mention they were working "behind the scenes" on this issue and that they couldn't do anything public. They got publicly razed on this board and others for not stepping up to protect their fans, but it could be that we all ripped into them without knowing the facts.

Either way...I am glad Catheter is no longer covering TFC. He wasn't objective, he wasn't adding anything positive and instead he alienated a large portion of the community he was covering. He's an idiot and deserves this outcome.

[Parkdale]

don't forget his classic article in the Sytle section: "looking for the perfect speedo"

[Carts]

Also remember, a few of us wrote to the Star about not purchasing the paper because of Cathal...

I actually cancelled a subscription I signed up for only 8-days earlier. And, I wrote the Editor, head of sales, head of marketing, and CC'ed CTV, City TV, and CBC on the e-mail (nothing like the thread of a media story!)...

His coloumn is dogshit - and if they start losing subscriptions over it, maybe they decided to take his soapbox away...

Carts...

[Roogsy]

I cancelled my office subscription over it and told them as well.

In an age where newspapers are barely surviving, they are stupid for enraging any segment of their readership. They wouldn't risk doing so if they provided objective factual reporting as opposed to the tabloid crap Catheter was spewing.

[ensco]

This may be more of a comment on the screwed up politics of places like this. What happened to the editor responsible?

I blame the Star's editors more than I blame the writer.

When a writer submits something idiotic, it's the editors job to reject it. Instead, they ran it page A1.

[Redcoe15]

Cathal Kelley not covering TFC anymore?
:hurray::party::hurray:
:drunk: :drunk::drunk:
:pbjtime::pbjtime::pbjtime::pbjtime::pbjtime:

PARTY!!!:D

[james]

Or maybe they finally figured out that the sport should be covered by someone who appreciates the game. What kind of coverage would baseball or hockey get by someone who doesn't particularly like the sport?

i think it would kind of be like how the NHL is run by a guy who doesnt care about hockey, that being bettmen.

[FluSH]

Anti-soccer and Anti-supporter...

Only covering the Euros or WC to please the masses as all media suddenly love Futbol & multicultural Toronto around this time... other than that... it's back to the anti-soccer stance.

[jloome]

This may be more of a comment on the screwed up politics of places like this. What happened to the editor responsible?

I blame the Star's editors more than I blame the writer.

When a writer submits something idiotic, it's the editors job to reject it. Instead, they ran it page A1.

Uh, no, it's not. He's a columnist, which means the only way he'd be pulled is if it were libellous. If a paper muzzled columnists every time they disagreed or thought their opinion was ill-conceived, there'd be no independent voices left in media, dumb or otherswise.

It's not an editor's job to ever "kill" a story; typically, that's up to an assignment editor or an editor-in-chief. Rank-and-file story editors don't make decisions that important. And usually no one short of the EIC or op-ed editor kills a column.

[ensco]

Uh, no, it's not. He's a columnist, which means the only way he'd be pulled is if it were libellous. If a paper muzzled columnists every time they disagreed or thought their opinion was ill-conceived, there'd be no independent voices left in media, dumb or otherswise.

It's not an editor's job to ever "kill" a story; typically, that's up to an assignment editor or an editor-in-chief. Rank-and-file story editors don't make decisions that important. And usually no one short of the EIC or op-ed editor kills a column.


I can't speak to the issue of which editor to blame, sounds like you're saying it's the EIC. Fine. But we're not talking about Jeffrey Simpson here. He may be a columnist, but that piece had a pretty newsy feel to how it was run/displayed.

I respect journalistic independence, but still somebody has to own the responsibility of managing a columnist who has gone off the reservation. The Star is not supposed to be the RPB Boards, where anything goes.

Most of my point remains. What made that story was its placement on page A1. Whoever made that call, that was the biggest blunder of all.

[sully]

I had a long episode/series of correspondence with the public editor of the Star..she finally basically told me to go f*ck myself in the end, in so many words.

The Ontario Press Council told me over a month ago that they had to decide if they would offer adjudication...well they haven't bothered to let me know anything since.

I'm not going to chase people for accountability anymore as I'm tired of it. However, I guess if you make noise it might be heard.

[FluSH]

It's great to see that we didn't go down without a fight... thanks Carts and Sully for your letters and correspondence. If more lies are written by this tabloid trash journo then I too will be writting and making my voice heard.

[prizby]

Here is a list of some of the "journalism" Cathal Kelly has been doing over at The Toronto Star lately...


Only one sports piece, and a fluff piece at that about the Jays...And nothing about Soccer or TFC for a month since he wrote his infamous "firm" piece.



He?, I always thought it was a female name :S

[Kevvv]

don't forget his classic article in the Sytle section: "looking for the perfect speedo"


Dave sent that to you?