EIGHT QUESTIONS WITH
ANTONIA ZERBISIAS

Guide us through an average day in the Antonia Zerbisias column creation process.

Nothing much to it. I wake up, lie there and just free associate for a while. Sometimes, it's the only time to hear myself think. I often get my best ideas or leads this way. Then I eat breakfast and read the three papers that get delivered (The Star, Globe and Post) while surfing Newsworld, CNN and MSNBC. When I walk the dog, I pick up the Sun. Depending on the day, what's happening, or whether ''news'' is expected, I may make phone calls to set up interviews or get more information. I have a number of contacts I speak with regularly just to gossip. I often hear a lot of stuff I don't use because my column isn't really news-focused.

Late morning, I hit the computer and groan under the onslaught of 200+ emails per day. Some from readers, others from students seeking help with projects, others from publicists pushing things, most from online sites alerting me to content and stories. I try to answer everybody, including the hate-mailers. But sometimes I don't. It's just too exhausting.

I have about two dozen web sites and about a dozen blogs I check everyday. That takes me to mid-afternoon. I usually don't start writing my column until around 5 when I have a sense from the editor of how much space there is on the page for me and whether a picture will accompany the column. Coming from a TV journalism background, I like to refer to the photo in some way.

That's pretty much it. The hardest part is deciding what to leave out. I spend more time trimming columns down to 750 words or so than I do writing them in the first place. That's why I envy bloggers. They're not locked in to certain days of the week or certain lengths. Sometimes, one sentence and a link is worth a thousand words. (Mind you, I like the pay and the benefits.)

I am always behind in my reading; my house is filled with back issues of Harpers, The Nation and other periodicals. The only time I read fiction is on vacation. There's just too much. That's because I not only write about the media but about how the media cover events -- which means I need to understand the events as well.

I go to physiotherapy twice a week, and try to have a weekly massage, to combat severe wrist, elbow and neck problems caused by RSI. I wear a brace when I work. And I work out like a fiend. There's an exercise bike by my desk at home and I try to get on every hour for a few minutes. After I file my column, I hit the weights at the gym. If I didn't, I'd be a big fat atrophied blob from all this media consumption.

Who are your favorite newspaper columnists (U.S? Canada?). What about specifically media-criticism writers?

I admire many mainstream columnists, including Molly Ivins (a heroine and model), Helen Thomas, Paul Krugman, Robert Scheer, Richard Cohen, Maureen Dowd, Katha Pollit, David Corn, Lewis Lapham, etc. Too many to mention. Online folks include Norman Solomon, Danny Schechter, Bob Somerby, Josh Marshall, Atrios, and on and on.

In Canada, The Star's Haroon Siddiqui, Chantal Hebert, Joey Slinger, Linda McQuaig, Rosie DiManno and Tom Walkom, The Globe's Rick Salutin, John Doyle, Paul Knox, Heather Mallick, Lynn Crosbie  and Eric Reguly. I also admire the Post's Anne Kingston, Andrew Coyne and, just for fun, Shinan Govani.

The best media critics are Schechter and Eric Alterman. I loathe Howard Kurtz because he is not upfront about his right-leaning bias.

You were host of CBC's Inside Media before being replaced for this years program. Can you fill readers in on what led to your departure from the show? Did the White House have you canned for getting a little too wise with the authorities?

Yeah, the CIA sent out a hit squad. 

Kidding.

Nothing dramatic. Budget cuts, really. The show was cut to half an hour from an hour and it was cheaper to go with a staff journalist (Susan Ormiston) who would never opinionate. If they used me as a host, CBC journalism policy would probably mean that I would have to be balanced by a conservative foil. After Matthew Fraser left to become editor in chief of The Post, there really was nobody who was politically opposite me, who was informed about media matters, including the workings of the CRTC, and who could perform on TV. Inside Media kept me on  as a ''special contributor'' and allowed me the opportunity to do commentaries. I said whatever I wanted, without any interference.

I hear the show will only be back for a couple of months this fall before Newsworld's primetime gets a massive overhaul. I doubt I will be back because CBC is facing serious money problems, which will be even worse if there's a hockey lock-out.

Tell us a bit about your background. Education? Past writing/journalism work? How'd you start with the Star?

Strictly middle-class third generation Greek-Canadian kid who grew up in a predominantly Jewish 'hood in Montreal. Anti-Vietnam war protesting baby boomer child of the 60s who majored in sex'n'drugs'n'rock'n'roll as an undergrad. 

Got my first newspaper job in 1973 with a now defunct Montreal tabloid, moved to Toronto for my first TV job with Columbia Pictures in 1974. Joined CBC back in Montreal in 1975 where I became a TV reporter. Went back to school in the 80s to get an MBA. Was a reporter/producer for CBC's Venture in Toronto after that.

Joined the Star in 1989 as TV columnist, then moved back to Montreal to cover the post-Meech Charlottetown Accord circus, returning to Toronto in 1993 where I've been since as TV columnist and now, media columnist.

The Star has been great to me. I was hired by former entertainment editor Sid Adilman, now retired, for whom I used to work while getting that MBA. He used to be the Canadian editor of the trade Variety which hired me as its Montreal correspondent. It was a great gig because it got me into all the cool parties while helping me to learn the business. I remember Robert Lantos when he was broke. When Sid became entertainment editor at the Star, he gave me a call and that was that.

It's a perfect cultural/political fit for me. Any other place would have tossed me out on my ass by now. But the Star tolerates a lot. How else could it have two Mediterranean whack divas like Rosie and me in one room?

Any plans for a book? And on that note, what's the last one you've read?

I am often approached by publishers. It's very ego-gratifying. But I have no ''brain space'' for a book. Too many things run through it right now relating to my work. I'd have to take time off and there's no way a book about the Canadian media would sell enough to compensate for my loss in salary.

If I did write a book, it would likely be fiction. I have a great idea, and an outline, for a romantic novel, a real Oprah pick. I also have a unique marketing idea to go with it. It would make a great chick flick. If my personal life changes direction in the near future, I might just do this one.

The last book I read was Alan Dershowitz's The Case For Israel. I found it full of the most amazing and amusing contradictions. If I ever committed mass murder, I'd be sure to hire Dershowitz. Otherwise, I'd prefer never to hear from him again.

If you could make one change to the Canadian media--and one to the American media--what would it be?

If I could change one thing about Canadian media, it would be to double CBC's budget, and take away its advertising, while making its board member appointment process more transparent. It would allow the privates to pick up several hundred million in revenue which they would, in a perfect world, spend on improving their Canadian programming.

As for the U.S. media, well, it would be great for the world's greatest democracy to have more responsible mass media that put the public interest before profits. It would also be great for no kittens to go without mittens and for every girl to have thin thighs.

You seem to have a problem with bloggers. They, apparently, don't like you very much. Is blogging a worthless activity populated by scumbags, mostly?

No, I have no problem with bloggers. Bloggers have a problem with me. I am devoted to many bloggers, on the right and the left. If I had the time -- not to mention the computer know-how -- I'd be blogging too.

The ones who don't like me are the bitter, twisted right-wingers who don't admit that Bush is a lying fool who has made the world a more dangerous place. Their most recent mass attack on me was because I wrote that terrorism incidents have increased. They came after me, citing a very flawed U.S. State Department terrorism report. Well, guess what? A few weeks after I wrote that, State revised its Global Terrorism Report, restating the figures to show that incidents were at a 20 year high. Only one blogger had the class to correct himself: Damian Penny. The others just moved on to their next ''fisking.'' They arte accountable to nobody and nothing, including the facts.

You're a left-of-centre columnist for a left-of-centre newspaper, the Toronto Star. Do you try to overcome this as best as you can by striving to be as fair as possible, or do you feel that you have a role to play as a counterbalance (a counterbias, if you will) to a Canadian media that is moving progressively to the right -- say, a check on their power?

I am a small-l liberal columnist for a small-l liberal paper. I don't think The Star is to the left of most Canadians. That's why we're so successful as a newspaper! We reflect their values and politics.

I try to be fair and accurate but I don't feel the need to be balanced. I am paid to have opinions.
I really don't think about what I do as a check on anybody's power. Oh, if only I had the power to check the power of others ... The world would be a much better place, believe me.

Originally Published July 15 2004
--Counterbias.com