Memo: Sinclair Stewart named Globe’s deputy editor
Sinclair Stewart has been appointed Deputy Editor of The Globe and Mail.
Sinclair Stewart has been appointed Deputy Editor of The Globe and Mail.
I have made this appointment to provide further emphasis to what I believe the editorial department needs – consistently disciplined journalistic muscle.
Sinclair is no stranger to you but I wanted to explain the merit behind my decision.
Sinclair is a widely respected journalist. As a reporter his reputation continues to reverberate as that of a class act, better prepared than many of his subjects and underestimated at his peril. His pen was always fair but never unduly soft. We fought together in court to protect his sources in a vital legal case that had industry-wide implications. His work is principled and important.
He is the co-author of Wrong Way: The Fall of Conrad Black with Jacquie McNish, the award-winning national business book. His award-winning long-form feature writing has been repeatedly recognised by the industry and in 2008 he won a National Newspaper Award for his reporting of the financial crisis.
It is that work on the street that he has brought into the newsroom, performing a standout job first as national editor and now in his current role. He deserves this promotion because, constitutionally, he is a journalistic leader wherever he turns his attention.
As my deputy he and I are indivisible. He will represent me at the executive level when I am away. He is in charge of day to day operations and will continue to lead the story meetings. He enjoys the authority embedded in my office.
One common theme in my conversations with staff has been the desire to understand what managers actually do. Without knowing that how can any of us be effective?
As I move toward ending that confusion I lay out here the role of Deputy Editor:
Responsible for all content on all platforms existing or to be invented.
The senior masthead editor.
Commands the full authority of my office.
Talent acquisition.
Sinclair has provided an enormous glue of support in recent years to the newsroom as a whole and in recent months has taken on a more active direct role supporting Jim Jennings and Wendy Cox's team in British Columbia. I have now additionally asked Sinclair to push our western initiative further and harder as an advocate in Toronto and in BC.
Sinclair understands what needs to be done and working in a hand-in-glove approach with me, we will create and build a management team that delivers to you all a sense of expectation, clarity and accountability.
Please welcome Sinc to this challenging role. He starts on Monday.
David Walmsley, Editor in Chief
Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.