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public editor

Globe and Mail editorial interns, with senior editors.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail

It is always inspiring for us in the newsroom to welcome our summer staff. Without exception, they are an enthusiastic group of smart, well-educated journalists keen to make their mark and pursue a life-long career as reporters, editors, photographers and designers. Their passion for the business and their understanding of multimedia and online journalism is very impressive.

This year's group includes graduate students, several who worked in the student press, a religious studies graduate, a former senior policy analyst for the government, a former accounting intern, a former television producer, an award-winning photographer and many with experience at other newspapers. We are very proud to have them here and wish them great success.

They have already battled about 400 other applicants to be offered a summer job here. That's a process we start in the fall and I will write more on that when the process starts again in October for next summer. Earlier this month, we also welcomed 22 summer interns to other parts of the business, including advertising and digital.

This year we welcome 18 new or returning summer staff in editorial. As part of their welcome this week, our night production editor Martina Blaskovic produced a guide to life at The Globe.

Included in the booklet are fun facts such as:

  • the publisher has stairs leading directly out of the building. A former publisher (a long time ago) had his own chauffeur who would wait by the side door.
  • the outside deck off the cafeteria and overlooking the Gardiner Expressway was featured on a former HGTV show called Pools, Patios and Decks when it was built.
  • there used to be a large wall of windows so people taking tours could see the presses operating. The presses are all off-site now and the windows closed off. Behind that we recently had a circus school which took advantage of the three-storey height for trapeze training.
  • the rooftop parking lot is the scene of snowball fights in the winter.
  • Globe readers drink more wine than the general population (about 50 per cent consume some in the past week versus 36 per cent for adult Canadians).

Also included was a gift bag with post-it notes, a free coffee coupon and Tylenol, but apparently not enough because a few have already run out.

Editor-in-chief John Stackhouse wrote a welcome note and met the group for lunch. He told them he applied three times for the Globe's summer program and was rejected. He finally won a spot at the Toronto Star where he tried hard to stand out.

"One weekend, when I heard on the radio about a prison break in Muskoka, I drove two hours to Gravenhurst so I could call the desk and say I happened to be in the area and could file. When a tiger escaped from its cage in the Royal York (hotel), I found some traumatized guests in the lobby bar. (Unimpressed when I couldn't find anyone with injuries, the desk told me to come back to the newsroom.)"

John went on to tell the summer group to absorb everything like a sponge. "You have a chance to invent the future."

If you want to comment on this please do so below or send me an email at publiceditor@globeandmail.com

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