Colleen Kirley was the Departments Editor of the Summer 2012 issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism. Media roundup: Valentine’s Day
When February rolls around, it seems as if every news outlet tries to find a way to accurately tackle the holiday that is honoured by few, humorous to many, and horrendous to most — Valentine’s day. Today we look at how five Toronto news sources managed to pack coverage of love, tears, and candygrams into newsstands for a full week.
Free weekly The Grid let its regular column, “Dating Diaries,” take over its pre-Valentine’s day issue, which filled almost the entire paper. The highlight was the cover story, which used a yearbook-style design to see what singles in Toronto are looking for and what they run away from. The Star’s Valentine’s Day section was filled with engagement stories—proposing on the CN Tower’s EdgeWalk, proposing with a coffee mug, and, well, just being bad at proposing.
The Star also ran a story on Monday, February 13, in which a study found that “youthful scent” is a key to attraction in fruit flies. Romantic. The National Post kept it simple, reviewing chocolatiers from around the city in its Retail Therapy column. Halifax’s Chronicle Herald talked chocolate, too—but took it a bit further, profiling a local shop. The Vancouver Sun followed suit with a sweets-themed Valentine’s Day blog post, leading with a delicious-looking photo of French macaroons. The Tyeeposted a story about love poetry in “The End of Love” (it’s less corny than you think). And surprisingly, BlogTO had the least amount of Valentine’s Day coverage, with but a single events post, harkening back to its summer series “The Best Makeout Spots in Toronto.”
Oh, boy. When do the Family Day–inspired stories hit the newsstands?
Lead Image via The Grid.
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