Michael Cooke is a journalist and publishing executive. He was the editor of the Toronto Star, Canada's largest-circulation daily newspaper.
Life and career Cooke was born and raised in England. Cooke was first employed "in a small English coastal town" before making the move to Fleet Street.New York Daily News, News taps Cooke as Editor in Chief, January 7, 2005
Move to Canada Cooke then secured work in Canada as a copy editor for the Toronto Star from 1974–77, where he finished as Assistant National Editor.Staff report (February 11, 2009). Cooke named Star editor . Toronto StarToronto Star(February 11, 2009). Michael Cooke named Editor of the Toronto Star (press release).
He moved from Toronto to joined the Montreal Gazette in 1977 as assistant city editor. While serving as city editor, he was awarded a 1982 Southam fellowship, providing eight months of study at the University of Toronto.Central Press (April 29, 1982). Five journalists win fellowships. The Vancouver Sun He then took a position as a joint managing editor for the Gazette.
In 1992, he was appointed managing editor of the Edmonton Journal.Surridge, Grant. National Post, Michael Cooke named editor of Toronto star, February 11, 2009
In 1995 he transferred to assume the role of editor at the Vancouver Province. His focus on entertainment journalism and readership at the expense of other reporting has been discussed by journalism scholars.Pawlick, Thomas. "The Invisible Farm", 2001. , p. 93 He drew protests from within his own newsroom for what some described as "blatant political interference," such as ordering a professor's comments be removed from a story because they were too "left-wing."Edge, Marc (2007). Asper Nation: Canada's Most Dangerous Media Company, p. 105. New Star Books, Under his leadership, the team surpassed the Vancouver Sun in readership and became the largest newspaper in British Columbia.
He became involved as a founding editor of the 1998 creation of the National Post newspaper, and worked as the Editor-in-Chief of the Financial Post over the summer months as it prepared for the merger with the new publication. He still maintained his position with the Province for the next two years, before leaving for the United States.
Move to Chicago Sun-Times In 2000, Cooke was appointed Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, replacing outgoing editor Nigel Wade to whom he had been favourably compared, at the invitation of David Radler.Miner, Michael. Chicago Reader, Your new Sun-Times flight crew, April 28, 2000Siklos, Richard. "Shades of Black", 2005. p. 314 On January 18, 2000 he gave a lecture at the University of British Columbia entitled "Where To Get Story Ideas Your Boss Will Love".University of British Columbia, Calendar; January 16-29, 2000
In 2001, he chaired a 500-seat dinner to honor Martin Luther King Jr.Frey, Mary Cameron. Chicago Sun-Times, "Unity Dinner honors King", January 17, 2001 The following year, he was thanked in Steve Neal's preface to his compilation Eleanor and Harry: The Correspondence of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.Neal, Steve. "Eleanor and Harry: the correspondence of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman", 2002. In 2003 he was among those thanked by author Jim DeRogatis in the preface to his own book, Milk It: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90s, as he had worked under Cooke as a music critic.DeRogatis, Jim. "Milk It: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90s", 2003. p. xxi
In 2003, he was called to justify overseeing the publication of the identity and personal details of Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman after a foul-up at a playoffs game lost the baseball team its chance at a championship win.Strupp, Joe. Editor & Publisher, Sun-Times identifies Cubs foul ball fan, October 15, 2003 Under his direction, the paper "leaned increasingly on traditional tabloid newspaper staples: aggressive city reporting, heavy doses of sports and celebrities, and lots of pictures of scantily clad women", while still publishing its "important exposés".Miner, Michael. Chicago Reader, The Tabloid Trade, January 7, 2005
In 2005, he was again thanked in the opening to Knocking Down Barriers and The Immortal Bobby.Gibson, Truman Kella & Steve Huntley. "Knocking Down Barriers", 2005. p. xRapoport, Ron. "The Immortal Bobby", 2005. p. 330
Move to New York Daily News Cooke joined the New York Daily News in February 2005 to fill the vacancy left by Ed Kosner who had retired more than a year earlier.Block, Valerie. Crain's New York Business, "Michael Cooke joins New York Daily News", September 2005 His new position was blamed for several staff members' resignations and editorial gaffes including the re-printing of a story he had written in Chicago.Crain's New York Business, Daily News editor leaving after less than a year, December 2005
He described the paper's on-going rivalry with the New York Post stating "We put our foot on their throat every day and press down till their eyes bulge and leak blood, but still they won't die. We just have to keep at it till they do die".Hale, Mike. New York Times, The Week Ahead; July 23-39, 2006 This came after the Post had referred to him as "the Cookie Monster for the News"McGrath, Ben. New Yorker, "Tub War", April 11, 2005 However, after ten months he began to clash with Editorial Director Martin Dunn whom he described as "controlling", and eventually left the paper in 2005.
Return to Chicago Cooke returned to the Sun-Times where he was promoted to oversee approximately a hundred subsidiary papers.Mullman, Jeremy. Crain's Chicago Business, Former Sun-Times Editor Returning to Chicago, December 2, 2005Miner, Michael. Chicago Reader, Otherwise Engaged; Meet the New Boss, September 29, 2006 Both Mike HoulihanHoulihan, Mike. "Hooliganism", 2008. p. 1 and Richard Roeper mentioned Cooke in prefaces to their 2008 books.Roeper, Richard. "Hollywood Urban Legends", 2008. p. 3 He remained with the Sun-Times through 2009, and explained his belief in tabloid pagination stating that a front page requires two of the following: Power of presentation; humor; emotion; and attitude.
Return to Toronto Star He left Sun-Media, to return to the Star where he took over as editor,CBS, Sun-Times Media Group for Bankruptcy, March 31, 2009 while Don Hayner replaced him in Chicago. Maclean's columnist Paul Wells wrote in his defence that Cooke "was obsessed with declining readership, declining market penetration, the increasing reluctance of younger generations to take up the newspaper-reading habit", and noted that the Star stood a better chance of success with Cooke at its helm.Well, Paul. Maclean's, Blog: Toronto Star hires Michael Cooke as editor, February 11, 2009 In April 2009, he joined the International Newspaper Marketing Association.International Newspaper Marketing Association, New INMA members , accessed April 9, 2009 Cooke also sits on the board of Journalists for Human Rights.
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