The new look Globe helps break my daily paper addiction

I have little to say about the new design of The Globe and Mail except that it’s ... well, colourful.

My concern is the eviction of my two favourite columnists. The two issues I always looked forward to the most were Friday’s, because of Rick Salutin, and Saturday’s, because of Tabatha Southey. With both gone, I now find it difficult to look forward to reading the Globe at all.

I have been addicted to reading a daily newspaper for more years than I can remember. For a social democrat in Calgary, this presents a challenge. We have four daily papers: two national, two local, all conservative. That’s the choice the vaunted free market offers me, something like the choice Henry Ford offered buyers of his Model-T -- any colour you like as long as it’s black. I can buy any philosophy of newspaper I like as long as it’s conservative. I have long chosen the Globe because it’s the least conservative. However, with the dismissal of their only left-wing writer with a regular column, I feel I’ve been squeezed out of the market entirely.

The Globe got a new editor-in-chief last year and I suppose a new boy always feels he has to put his stamp on the paper. Mark his territory, lift his leg on it, so to speak. In a rather presumptuous tone, John Stackhouse announces the new look Globe will launch a discussion that will "strike at the heart of how Canadians define ourselves, and our nation. It is meant to go beyond words. We hope it will become a turning point."

Well, sacking my two favourite columnists is a turning point for me. I am turning entirely to the Web. Not a difficult decision really. The Web has lots of choice, most of it free, and unlike the Calgary market it even offers some progressive dailies. I'll miss the rustle of newsprint and the ink on my fingers, but I'll adapt.