Top Canadian Newspapers
As befits a country of its size,
Canada has numerous newspapers and magazines which cover every possible field of human activity, from business and politics through sport and entertainment to specialized topics, such as medicine, healthcare, and different branches of science. Ninety-five percent of all Canadian publications are written in English or French, the country’s two official languages, with only a small fraction of them using the maternal language of the local immigrant communities (e.g., Spanish, Russian, and Japanese, among others). Taking advantage of the global tendency to read publications over the Internet, an increasing number of Canadian newspapers feature free articles on their websites, some of which enjoy even greater readership than their material counterparts.
Below is an overview of some of the best newspapers and
magazines in the country: the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, La Presse, Vancouver Sun, and Le Journal de Montréal. The newspapers have different foci, political orientation, and readership.
The Globe and Mail
This is one of the two nationally distributed newspapers and has a readership of almost one million. The Globe and Mail covers mainly news from the world of politics and economics, but also features sports and entertainment articles. It is considered to represent the voice of upper class Canada, as the newspaper represents the views of Toronto’s financial community, leading university intellectuals and the large business corporations.
Ever since its inception in 1844, the newspaper’s political leanings have meandered between Liberals and Conservatives; however, in recent years its stance has been staunchly aligned with the political agenda of the latter.
Toronto Star
As the name suggests Toronto Star is a daily newspaper based in the largest city in Canada. Toronto Star is a daily newspaper which focuses on News and stories from the GTA and also has Business, International, Entertainment, Sports, and Horoscopes Sections. People can also read the parer online at Thestar.com.
La Presse
Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, this newspaper is the largest French-language daily in the country. La Presse is leftist and liberally oriented and has supported causes, such as same-sex marriage legislation, protests against the war in Iraq and the recent student strike in the country. Since 2001, when the current editor Guy Crevier assumed his post, the newspaper has undergone significant changes in its design, format and writing staff, which lead to an increase in its circulation, especially among its young readers.
Vancouver Sun
As the name suggests, Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper based in the largest west coast city in the country, which focuses on news and stories from the region. Besides its business and political sections, every Thursday the periodical publishes a tabloid entertainment supplement and on Saturdays, a section on the current scientific advances and discoveries. Every year in the fall, Vancouver Sun publishes an editorial feature called ‘BC's Top Employers’ which enlists and profiles the local companies with the best employee policies.
Le Journal de Montréal
Although lacking the long and well-established traditions of the above newspapers, the French-speaking Le Journal de Montréal has found its own niche on the market by concentrating mainly on the world of entertainment and often striving for overt sensationalism in its features. As far as its style is concerned, this tabloid is a close relative of the UK published The Sun, the German Bild and the US Variety.