Elizabeth Thompson (I really need to get a better picture of her), who was The Gazette’s Ottawa Bureau Chief until she accepted a buyout and the paper closed its bureau, accepted an offer for a job at Sun Media yesterday, she tells Fagstein.
As promised, she will continue to cover Parliament Hill, though instead of focusing on Quebec issues in Ottawa she will be dealing with national issues as part of its team of five reporters on the hill.
Her articles will appear in Sun Media papers, including Ottawa/Toronto/Winnipeg/Edmonton/Calgary Suns, the London Free Press, 24 Hours/24 Heures, Kingston Whig-Standard (and other Osprey papers) and, of course, the Journal de Montréal and Journal de Québec.
That probably means that her articles could be used in scabbing the Journal, but unfortunately she has no control over that (and neither do wire services like Canadian Press, or the journalists at the Journal de Québec).
Thompson wouldn’t comment on salary or other aspects of her contract, but a source close to the issue said she has been given her own office, assistants and corporate jet, along with a lifetime supply of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey and an apartment at the Château Laurier. (You know, I should probably stop using that source.)
UPDATE (June 18, 2010): Well, it lasted a year and a half.
Does the Gazette actually have an “Ottawa bureau”, or is it more like they have an “Ottawa reporter” (but not anymore)?
They used to have an actual bureau, but for the past few years it was just Thompson working out of the offices of Canwest News Service.
Would this be considered a step up from the Gazette?
I suppose that’s a matter of opinion. She won’t be limited as much though. When she worked for the Gazette, she’d have to avoid duplicating Canwest News Service stories. Now she’ll be part of the national team.
Sun Media also has more (albeit smaller) newspapers, so her byline will probably appear in more places.