February 18, 2011 Brian Liu

Newsroom tour: National Post

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page Send by Email

As part of a series of newsroom photo galleries, Brian Liu treks up to The National Post and takes a closer look at Canada's cheeky conservative daily.

Welcome to Postmedia headquarters, home to the National Post. Nestled in North York, the building looks fairly nondescript—almost indistinguishable from its neighbours. Founded by Conrad Black in 1998, the Post has a circulation of roughly 160,000 readers.
Just past the reception desk, the hallway is lined with what look like newspaper boxes. I say “look like” because they aren’t actually newspaper boxes—they’re touch-screen versions of various papers in the Postmedia family. My visit came the day after the Montreal Alouettes won the 2010 Grey Cup.
It’s always the Toronto International Film Festival at Postmedia. The ground-floor elevators are decorated with delightful murals of celebrities. From left to right: Sean Penn, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Moore and Woody Allen.
This is the atrium; the cafeteria is just beyond the stairs. This is where journalists are given light and food, so they can grow and blossom.
The National Post newsroom—full of merriment, wonder and the sound of clacking keyboards.
Former Financial Post editor Howard Intrator brought this bust into the newsroom. When he died suddenly in 2000 due to an allergic reaction, the bust became a memorial to him. The Ryerson School of Journalism awards the Donner Canadian Foundation Howard Intrator Memorial Scholarship to a student who exhibits outstanding business writing.
The National Post meeting room. On the walls are time-lapse photographs of the newsroom under construction. The table is a repurposed Ping-Pong table.
One reason to become a journalist: the opportunity to receive tons of press kits, assorted review copies and miscellaneous products. This is where the arts department dumps it all.
It’s common for a newsroom to have clocks set to different time zones, but the National Post also has a goose. Beyond the glass are the National Post’s online servers. As for the goose…no one has any idea how it got there.
Apparently Post reporters like The Simpsons more than Dilbert.
Features editor Adam McDowell occasionally writes about alcohol for the National Post’s “Happy Hour” section. It’s a hard sacrifice for journalism, but he manages to enjoy this part of the job.
You know you’re in the sports department when you see TSN boxers hanging on the wall.
This is the natural environment of the sports journalist, decorated with press passes. The sports journalist is a wily creature, prone to absences for covering sporting events.
This poster celebrates the 2008 National Post hockey team, autographed by each member. The Post sponsors the Scotiabank Pro-Am Tournament, which supports the Gordie and Colleen Fund for Alzheimer’s.
What’s been changed with this poster of former Jetsgo president Michael Leblanc? Jetsgo infamously shut down without warning on March 11, 2005, stranding thousands of passengers.
This has been a tour of the National Post newsroom.