Education support workers' strike, Sandy and Nora live and COVID reporting

Ontario: workers across the province are out today either on illegal, unlimited strike or in solidarity with them. I wrote about what’s at stake and why every single union member needs to fight against Doug Ford’s incredible attack on workers. You can find that piece here:

https://readpassage.com/author/nora-loreto/

Vancouver: Folks — Sandy and Nora is coming to Vancouver! We are excited to do our first live show in your city. You can grab your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sandy-and-nora-live-in-vancouver-tickets-461576546877

COVID: Last week, the Toronto Star published a big investigation into COVID and large industrial workplaces. The article contained this sentence:

"It is the first snapshot of the pandemic’s deadly workplace toll in Ontario. The reports reveal that manufacturing suffered the single greatest number of fatalities — more than any other sector, including health care."

This sentence was flat-out wrong. I had revealed this in early 2022 and it was published by The Walrus in May. You can read that report here: https://thewalrus.ca/why-is-the-pandemic-death-toll-among-workers-still-a-mystery/

I contacted the Public Editor to ask for a correction. He agreed that this was incorrect and then went back and forth between me and the writer/editor to come up with language that was more accurate. I had suggested that they just delete the sentence — it was wrong and the attempt to puff up the chest of the Toronto Star was not going to be fixed by adding adjectives. But the writer and editor refused and instead, replaced the first sentence with a line saying that it was the “first comprehensive report” … which was also a lie. They did not issue a correction notice so there’s no note to say that the original story had been changed.

I get that no one at the Toronto Star on the COVID beat read my book Spin Doctors, but it offered a comprehensive report back in December 2021. In fact, the same journalist’s own reporting also offered comprehensive looks into the pandemic *based on what was known at the time.*

This is the fourth time that the Star has ripped off my work and erased me in the name of a large investigation. It’s tiresome and I’ve lost a lot of respect for one of Canada’s like 4 labour journalists. Solidarity, but not in our own industry, right?

If she does ever read Spin Doctors, she’ll see how much I reference and praise her work. Anyway.

But, it’s nothing personal. It happened that same week to a Globe and Mail reporter. Here’s the original story: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-actors-say-toronto-talent-agency-compass-owes-them-more-than-230000/ and then, a day later, here’s what the Star reported: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2022/10/26/actors-allege-they-are-owed-thousands-after-toronto-talent-agency-ceases-operations.html