Joseph E. Atkinson
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Joseph E. Atkinson (December 23 1866 – May 7 1948) was a Canadian newspaper editor and activist. Under his leadership the Toronto Star became one of the most largest and most influential newspapers in Canada. Atkinson amassed a considerable fortune, eventually holding the controlling interest in the paper he edited. On his death control of the paper passed to the trustees of the Atkinson Foundation, a major canadian charity.
Atkinson was born near Newcastle, Ontario in 1865. His early life was difficult, creating conditions which would eventually lead to his social activism. His father died when he was six months old, his mother when he was fourteen.
At the age of eighteen he went to work at a newspaper in Port Hope. He worked at a number of Newspapers including The Globe, one of the newspapers which would become The Globe and Mail. In 1899 he was hired by a group of Liberal leaders as editor of the Toronto Evening Star. Atkinson's task was to save a failing newspaper. He accepted the job on condition that he be paid mostly in stock.
Atkinson succeeded in turning the fortunes of the paper around and by 1913 it had the largest circulation of any Toronto newspaper.
Further reading
- Harkness, Ross (1963).J. E. Atkinson of the Star.Toronto : University of Toronto Press.
External links
- [Atkinson foundation website]
- [Government of Canada biography]
- [Toronto Star history]
- [Vision TV documentary]
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