His column alone would have been sufficient to make Newman one of the two or three most important journalists of his time, but he was also an editor, first at the Toronto Star when it was easily the largest-circulation newspaper in the country, and later at Maclean’s, the largest-circulation current-affairs magazine. He kept things vivid and relatable, focusing on the mannerisms and personalities of the people he covered as much as what they had to say. From John Diefenbaker through Pierre Trudeau to Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien, Newman would lionize them on their way up and eviscerate them on their way down. And his loyalties shifted over time, especially with regard to prime ministers. It wasn’t always clear in his columns where his loyalties lay, whether he was representing the people or the insiders. Educated at Upper Canada College and groomed at the blue-chip Financial Post, he was comfortable in corridors of power and adept at courting and earning the trust of those he encountered there. Newman liked to work both sides of the street, operating as an insider on behalf of his readers. Journalists tend to be outsiders, observing and commenting on events of the day and holding to account people in positions of authority. It was unusual behaviour, even at the time. They needed Newman, and he exploited their need by wedging himself deep inside their world. Politicians and business leaders then needed the likes of Newman in order to address a mass audience there was no going straight to the people through YouTube. That influence was rooted not only in the scale of his audience but also in his proximity to the people running Ottawa and our business world at the time – something else that’s difficult to explain to people who only know the current environment. There’s never been a single journalist influential enough to make or break political careers, but Newman came closest. If he said an issue was important, it was important. He had easily the biggest audience and the grandest profile of any journalist in the land, and what he had to say about national politics and business affairs – the two subjects that preoccupied him – hugely mattered. Newman, as the most successful syndicated columnist in the country, was in virtually every Canadian newspaper.
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