The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper with a rich heritage dating back to 1844, launched a new era in its relationship with its readers today with the first in what will be a monthly "Ask the Editors" series of live on-line discussions with the senior editors of the newspaper and the Web site.
We're pleased that Edward Greenspon, editor-in-chief of The Globe, was our first guest. Mr. Greenspon, pictured here accepting the Michener Award for journalism from Governor General Michaelle Jean in April, was on-line earlier today, taking questions.
The questions and answers are at the bottom of this page.
Mr. Greenspon has been editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail since July, 2002.
He has an honours degree in journalism and political science from Carleton University and was a Commonwealth Scholar at the London School of Economics, earning a masters degree in politics and government with distinction in 1985.
Mr. Greenspon began his journalism career at The Lloydminster Times and also worked for The Regina Leader-Post and The Financial Post before joining The Globe in 1986 as a business reporter specializing in media industries. He has held various positions over the years, among them, European Correspondent, Managing Editor Report on Business, Executive News Editor, Founding Editor of globeandmail.com, and Ottawa Bureau Chief.
Since 2000, Mr. Greenspon has been closely involved in challenges facing all newspapers in an increasingly electronic world.
He is also co-author of Double Vision, The Inside Story of the Liberals in Power, for which he shared the 1996 Douglas Purvis Award for the best public policy book, and Searching for Certainty: Inside the New Canadian Mindset. He has also won the Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism.
Editor's Note: The same rules will apply to this live discussion as normally apply to the "reader comment" feature. Globeandmail.com editors will read and approve each comment/question. Not all comments/questions can be answered in the time available. Comments/questions will be checked for content only. Spelling and grammar errors will not be corrected. Comments/questions that include personal attacks, false or unsubstantiated allegations, vulgar language or libelous statements will be rejected. Preference will be given to those who ask questions under their full name, rather than pseudonyms.
Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Ed, thanks for joining us today. I know the readers of The Globe and globeandmail.com are looking forward to the opportunity to put questions to you. Let me start by asking you to outline how you see the newspaper and its Web site and the way it delivers its journalism evolving over the next few years.
Edward Greenspon: Many people in the newspaper industry seem to feel threatened by the Web. I'm not. I see it as a tremendous opportunity to tap into new story-telling techniques.
These are not rival platforms, but complementary ones. After all, journalism is about telling stories and, it seems to me, the more ways you can tell them, the better. Newspaper companies have advantages in this new world. We have journalistic cultures that put a premium on accuracy and reliability. We have people working for us who know how to find things out and interpret the meaning of events.
But the Web will not be merely an electronic version of the newspaper just as the paper will not be a print version of the Web. They each have their own attributes: the Web is immediate and interactive. It is without space limits and possesses tremendous computing power. It can display audio and video along with text. It can host a live discussion like this one. And it's still just an adolescent; so we're still only discovering its story-telling power.
