January 4, 2015
SHARE
CANADALAND
#64 Andrew Coyne
Andrew Coyne joins Jesse for a wide-ranging conversation before he begins his new job as editor of the National Post's Opinion and Editorial pages.

Topics discussed:

(2:56): The culture of Trinity College, University of Toronto in the 1980s. Coyne attended Trinity with Malcolm Gladwell, Jim Balsillie and Atom Egoyan.

(5:10): The role of an Opinion Pages Editor and the power of the media in public discourse.

(6:30): The lack of diversity in the punditry and the preponderance of old white males on the National Post’s columnist roster.

(9:07): The political leanings of the National Post and the increasingly less relevant left-right rhetorical divide.

(11:11): Criticizing the Canadian media’s handling of the Senate Scandal and the Harper government.

(16:34): Why Andrew wants his new job as editor of the Post’s Opinion and Editorial pages.

(18:24): The value of columnists’ voices and what they bring to a newspaper as a product.

(20:27): New media, new content delivery models, Andrew’s [tongue-in-cheek] dream to lead a “print revival,” Andrew’s genuine thoughts on the value of reading as an experience.

(27:14): Andrew’s views on the CBC, public broadcasting and public funding and subsidies for media.

(30:20): Private media, public broadcasting, the free market and how to serve the public interest.

(33:42): The news as a service, and whether or not the industry’s capacity to serve its audience is growing in the face of structural changes to legacy institutions and the rise of new media organizations.

(36:33): Publishing climate change deniers in the pages of the National Post.

(39:53): Andrew’s role as a board member of the Energy Probe Research Foundation, and its views on climate change.

(41:01): Coming from a distinguished family with success in many fields, why Andrew chose to become a pundit.

CANADALAND live taping at Hamilton Public Library, Jan.9. Tix here: (link).

More from this series
We don't seem to question, at least not in the public discourse, what it means that the same investment firm is enmeshed with so many of our media companies. -Gemma Boothroyd
November 10, 2025
You’re an expert in something, so tell us what the media always gets wrong about your favourite thing.
November 6, 2025
“Just stop having this vibes based pump and dump hype economy and start paying attention to foundations and to human thriving.” -Cory Doctorow
November 3, 2025
“ The problem with saying who's gonna rule the fucking world is that there's someone else already claiming that title and they don't like the competition.” -Ian Thornton
October 27, 2025
Are we going to die Americans?
October 20, 2025
“At that period, everybody thought revolution was going to happen.” -Michèle Stephenson
October 13, 2025
 ”You've got a father who never respected you, you've got a family who doesn't respect you, and you have all of this power available to you that your family assumes you will never use.” -Michael Healey, author of Rogers vs. Rogers
October 6, 2025
We asked you to tell us where we messed up — a few of you caught us off guard.
October 2, 2025
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
CANADALAND