TORONTO — LeRoy St. Germaine is a cranky old senior citizen who’s probably going to be sued by a Toronto city councillor for doing what cranky old men have been doing for ages: complaining. What makes St. Germaine uniquely qualified to be the first-ever target of a City of Toronto-funded libel lawsuit is how he marshaled the power of citizen journalism to make sure his complaints and accusations couldn’t be ignored. He didn’t just write a letter to the editor. He didn’t just complain to family and friends. He started two eccentric, anti-establishment free newspapers and blogs (Ward 31 and Ward 32 ) and a NowPublic.com channel to publish his allegations that councillor Sandra Bussin’s involvement in a Beaches-area development was corrupt.
We’re not going to reprint St. Germaine’s allegations. Neither The Walrus nor I have any evidence that they’re true. It’s his use of media that interests me. When huge news conglomerates are in rough financial shape, eulogies for print news are printed frequently and old media doesn’t trust new media to pick up the slack, there’s something heartening about watching a regular guy start up two local rags, filled to the brim with ads, without the hand-wringing and doomsaying that’s been dominating the news – even if it’s going to get him sued.
So I called St. Germaine to find out how he does it, and I hoped to hear some good news about journalism. Some highlights, below the jump:
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Legong: I know I am replying to this pathetic, racist statement a little late and the whole ignorant rant probably doesn’t even deserve a reply. Wanhenglo, if we were all to generalise about...
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