Forty years ago, the Ottawa Citizen Advertising Features Department was created.
Actually, I was the department. And the position was called Advertising Features Writer, and I was the first to hold it.
By late 1984, the Editorial department didn’t want to write articles for the Advertising Department, and there was more and more demand for that. So a new job vacancy was posted internally, for an “Advertising Features Writer.” Fortunately for me, my friend Paula was working at the Citizen and told me about the job posting; I had just moved back to Ottawa from Toronto and was looking for work.
I went for an interview with my scrapbook of clippings, but a man was given the job instead. However, a few weeks later, I received a phone call asking if I were still interested. The man couldn’t take the pressure, I was told, and had quit.
I loved the pressure, and stayed for 25 years. That was despite being told at the job interview, “you’ll likely do the advertising job for six months or a year, and then move into the news department.”
That wasn’t to be. In those times there was a big divide between advertising and news, and once I was working for advertising, I couldn’t even walk through the editorial department without being suspect. Editorial didn’t share photos or stories with me; I had to re-invent the wheel every time. It became a joke how we were experts on everything. Even Frank Magazine noted that “the bridal chicks” had written about commercial real estate.
And we weren’t supposed to use the same type fonts or design; the uglier our pages looked, the happier Editorial was that it couldn’t be mistaken for news.
Nevertheless, the size of the department grew to four employees, two writers and two designers, and in vast numbers of special pages, features and sections, and glossy magazines. Over the years, staff writers included Sheila Brady, Eppo Maertens and Pamela Tourigny, and graphic designers Chris Macknie and Alain Chan, and dozens of freelance writers. In the heyday, we held a Christmas lunch for freelancers every year. There were hundreds of features to keep freelance writers busy on a regular basis. While the news department did put together technology and homes sections, and various other topics, we still had dozens of company profiles that were booked into those sections.
Our pride and joy was Challenge Life with Cancer magazine we produced for the Regional Cancer Centre Foundation, the suggestion of Citizen publisher Jim Orban.
It’s hard to believe now, but one of the big complaints from readers was that the newspaper was too big and breaking their mailbox. Or that a “zoned” glossy section had been delivered to the neighbour across the street, but not to them.
Because we had sections on practically everything, any time I met someone who wanted a story, I was able to find a place for them. No story was wasted, and I gathered stories everywhere. I wrote on napkins on tables at the many gala events the Citizen supported. There was Celebrate Summer, Celebrate Winter and everything in between. Was the individual over age 50? There was always a 50 Plus section looking for articles on “seniors”. I still believe in my head that when I go to a seniors’ event, I’m “covering” seniors; it’s not because I am one.
It was a 60/40 split news-to-advertising, so we didn’t know the size of a section until after a very tight deadline. Hence “the pressure”. I am really adept at writing really, really quickly.
Many businesses and individuals ordered pages with their article on good paper, which they were constantly picking up from the Citizen front counter. Malen Framing did a landslide business. I still come across restaurants with their faded Citizen profile on the wall.
So when you complain to me that the current newspaper is “so small” it’s not worth buying, please remember that wasn’t always the case. It’s not being done on purpose, and we know where all those advertising dollars have gone.
