Toronto Life blog aims to take media down a peg or two

Well, Conrad Black is going to jail, and thereafter there won't be as much to write about him, so Toronto Life's Douglas Bell -- compere of the late, often hilarious Conrad Black website that followed every nuance of his Lordship's trial and conviction -- has turned his sights on the media. He has launched a new blog called Spectator. It's subhead says "Media, money, egos".

In this blog, I aspire to cast a gimlet eye on the stories of power—of money and media and influence. These days, conventional journalism is full to brimming with pompous windbaggery and is, as ever, in need of knocking down a peg or two. Here you will gain insight into the New York Times’ latest cave-in to vested interests, the Toronto Star’s latest bleeding heart lament, Chatelaine’s latest firing, Gerry Schwartz’s latest buyout, Heather Reisman’s latest faux pas and David Thomson’s latest… whatever.

The blog's first few items include an item about (natch) Conrad Black and commentary on Jeanne Beker's unfortunate turn on the red carpet at the Oscars on behalf of CTV.

Toronto Life has developed a number of web-based extensions of its print version, of which Spectator is one. Others include Phillip Preville on Politics, James Chatto's Digest (food and such), David Lawrason on Wine, plus weeky free subscription e-letters

Bon voyage, Spectator. Have at 'em.

[UPDATE] Douglas Bell is interviewed by Mastheadonline (sub req'd).