John Fraser (journalist)
Encyclopedia
John Anderson Fraser, CM
(born June 5, 1944), is a Canadian
journalist, author and academic who has served as Master of Massey College
of the University of Toronto
since 1995. As a journalist, Fraser has received multiple national awards and chaired the Canadian Journalism Foundation
until 2008. He teaches a course on Canadian newspaper history at St. Michael's College
, University of Toronto.
, Oakwood Collegiate Institute, Lakefield College School
in Lakefield, Ontario, and Jarvis Collegiate Institute. A classmate of his at Upper Canada College was Conrad Black
who, years later, was his employer when Fraser was editor of Saturday Night
magazine. He subsequently received a Bachelor of Arts
degree from Memorial University and a Master of Arts
degree from the University of East Anglia
.
and in following summers worked as a journalist at the Sherbrooke Daily Record and the St. John's Evening Telegram. In 1971, he was named music and dance critic for the Toronto Telegram and, after that newspaper's demise was briefly in the same position at the Toronto Sun
. He has also written regular columns for the Toronto Star
and the National Post
. From 1972 to 1987, he was a dance critic, theatre critic, China correspondent, Ottawa bureau chief, national columnist, national editor and London correspondent at The Globe and Mail
. From 1987 to 1994, he was the editor of Saturday Night magazine where he pioneered the use of mixed circulation with inserted copies in The Globe and Mail and other newspapers in the old Southam Newspaper Group across Canada, with circulation increasing from 115,000 to 400,000. He also began a "Saturday Night" imprint of books with the publishers HarperCollins Ltd. that produced nearly two dozen titles in five years.
Fraser's journalism has been published in many leading international journals and newspapers, including The New York Times
, The Washington Post
, the Christian Science Monitor, The Guardian
, The Daily Telegraph
, Time
, The New Republic
, George
, The Spectator
, Paris Match
and the Far Eastern Economic Review
. Twice during his reporting career he became the subject of international media attention: in 1974 when he was instrumental in the dramatic defection of ballet super star Mikhail Baryshnikov
, and in 1978 when he addressed tens of thousands of citizens in Beijing during the short-lived and brutally suppressed Xidan Democracy Wall
movement during the Beijing Spring
.
Library, St. Catherine's Chapel and handicap access to the college. Other achievements include increasing its endowment to approximately $12,000,000 ($7,577,184 in the college's 2005 tax return and $4,000,000 held for student bursaries at the U of T's School of Graduate Studies). Other achievements include tripling the number of senior fellows and increasing the number of non-resident junior fellows; creating bursary support to non-resident junior fellows; pioneering academic support programs for "Writers in Exile" and "Scholars at Risk"; and establishing the Quadrangle Society in 1997 which extended the college's mandate to be a bridge community between "town and gown". The Quadrangle Society originally started with 99 (one fewer member than the Junior Fellowship at the suggestion of the then don of hall, Marc Ozon) and has now expanded to over 200. He has taught university courses at York University
(drama criticism) and the University of Toronto
(Canadian culture, and currently the history of Canadian newspapers).
(D.Litt.), University of King's College
in Halifax, N.S. (D.C.L.), and York University
in Toronto (LL.D.). He has twice received medals from the Queen (Silver Jubilee, 1977; Golden Jubilee, 2002). In journalism, he has won three National Newspaper Awards, seven National Magazine Awards, and "Editor of the Year" from the Canadian Magazine Editors Society. His book, The Chinese: Portrait of a People was a Book-of-the-Month Club main choice in 1981 and nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award
in non-fiction. A book on the American Ballet Theatre and Mikhail Baryshnikov, Private View
, was a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate choice in 1989 and won a Dance Magazine
"book of the year" award. In 2001, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born June 5, 1944), is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
journalist, author and academic who has served as Master of Massey College
Massey College
Massey College is a postgraduate residential college at the University of Toronto, established in 1963 with an endowment by the Massey Foundation. Similar to All Souls College, Oxford, members of Massey College are nominated from the university community, and are elected by and as fellows of the...
of the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
since 1995. As a journalist, Fraser has received multiple national awards and chaired the Canadian Journalism Foundation
Canadian Journalism Foundation
Founded in 1990, the Canadian Journalism Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in Canadian journalism by recognizing outstanding journalistic achievement and by promoting dialogue between media, business, government and academe.The Foundation's awards...
until 2008. He teaches a course on Canadian newspaper history at St. Michael's College
University of St. Michael's College
The University of St. Michael's College is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil of Annonay, France. While mainly an undergraduate college for liberal arts and sciences, St. Michael's retains its Roman Catholic affiliation through its postgraduate...
, University of Toronto.
Education
During his teenage years Fraser attended four high schools: Toronto's Upper Canada CollegeUpper Canada College
Upper Canada College , located in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is an independent elementary and secondary school for boys between Senior Kindergarten and Grade Twelve, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The secondary school segment is divided into ten houses; eight are...
, Oakwood Collegiate Institute, Lakefield College School
Lakefield College School
Lakefield College School is a coeducational boarding school located north of the village of Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.The school's motto is Mens Sana In Corpore Sano...
in Lakefield, Ontario, and Jarvis Collegiate Institute. A classmate of his at Upper Canada College was Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
who, years later, was his employer when Fraser was editor of Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
magazine. He subsequently received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Memorial University and a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree from the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
.
Journalism
At 16, Fraser started summer work as a copy boy and junior reporter at the Toronto TelegramToronto Telegram
The Toronto Evening Telegram was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at both the federal and provincial level. The paper competed with the liberal Toronto Star...
and in following summers worked as a journalist at the Sherbrooke Daily Record and the St. John's Evening Telegram. In 1971, he was named music and dance critic for the Toronto Telegram and, after that newspaper's demise was briefly in the same position at the Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
. He has also written regular columns for the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
and the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
. From 1972 to 1987, he was a dance critic, theatre critic, China correspondent, Ottawa bureau chief, national columnist, national editor and London correspondent at The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
. From 1987 to 1994, he was the editor of Saturday Night magazine where he pioneered the use of mixed circulation with inserted copies in The Globe and Mail and other newspapers in the old Southam Newspaper Group across Canada, with circulation increasing from 115,000 to 400,000. He also began a "Saturday Night" imprint of books with the publishers HarperCollins Ltd. that produced nearly two dozen titles in five years.
Fraser's journalism has been published in many leading international journals and newspapers, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, the Christian Science Monitor, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, George
George (magazine)
George was a glossy monthly magazine centered on the theme of politics-as-lifestyle co-founded by John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Michael J. Berman with publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in New York City in September 1995...
, The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, Paris Match
Paris Match
Paris Match is a French weekly magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. It was founded in 1949 by the industrialist Jean Prouvost....
and the Far Eastern Economic Review
Far Eastern Economic Review
The Far Eastern Economic Review was an English language Asian news magazine started in 1946. It printed its final issue in December 2009. The Hong Kong-based business magazine was originally published weekly...
. Twice during his reporting career he became the subject of international media attention: in 1974 when he was instrumental in the dramatic defection of ballet super star Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
, and in 1978 when he addressed tens of thousands of citizens in Beijing during the short-lived and brutally suppressed Xidan Democracy Wall
Democracy Wall
The Democracy Wall was a long brick wall on Xidan Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, which became the focus for democratic dissent. Beginning in December 1978, in line with the Communist Party of China's policy of "seeking truth from facts," activists in the Democracy movement—such as Xu...
movement during the Beijing Spring
Beijing Spring
The Beijing Spring refers to a brief period of political liberalization in the People's Republic of China which occurred in 1977 and 1978. The name is derived from "Prague Spring", an analogous event which occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968....
.
Massey College
In 1995, Fraser was elected the master of Massey College and chair of its governing corporation to a seven year term and was subsequently re-elected to another seven year term. Among his achievements at Massey have been a $3.5-million renovation to the Robertson DaviesRobertson Davies
William Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...
Library, St. Catherine's Chapel and handicap access to the college. Other achievements include increasing its endowment to approximately $12,000,000 ($7,577,184 in the college's 2005 tax return and $4,000,000 held for student bursaries at the U of T's School of Graduate Studies). Other achievements include tripling the number of senior fellows and increasing the number of non-resident junior fellows; creating bursary support to non-resident junior fellows; pioneering academic support programs for "Writers in Exile" and "Scholars at Risk"; and establishing the Quadrangle Society in 1997 which extended the college's mandate to be a bridge community between "town and gown". The Quadrangle Society originally started with 99 (one fewer member than the Junior Fellowship at the suggestion of the then don of hall, Marc Ozon) and has now expanded to over 200. He has taught university courses at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
(drama criticism) and the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(Canadian culture, and currently the history of Canadian newspapers).
Awards
Fraser has received honorary degrees from Memorial University of NewfoundlandMemorial University of Newfoundland
Memorial University of Newfoundland, is a comprehensive university located primarily in St...
(D.Litt.), University of King's College
University of King's College
The University of King's College is a post-secondary institution in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. King's is a small liberal arts university offering mainly undergraduate programs....
in Halifax, N.S. (D.C.L.), and York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
in Toronto (LL.D.). He has twice received medals from the Queen (Silver Jubilee, 1977; Golden Jubilee, 2002). In journalism, he has won three National Newspaper Awards, seven National Magazine Awards, and "Editor of the Year" from the Canadian Magazine Editors Society. His book, The Chinese: Portrait of a People was a Book-of-the-Month Club main choice in 1981 and nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
in non-fiction. A book on the American Ballet Theatre and Mikhail Baryshnikov, Private View
Private view
A private view is a special viewing of an art exhibition by invitation only, normal at the start of a public exhibition. Typically wine and light refreshments are served on the form of a reception. If the artworks are by a living artist, it is normal for them to attend the private view.An opening...
, was a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate choice in 1989 and won a Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine is an "influential" American trade publication for dance, currently published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as The American Dancer. William Como was its editor-in-chief from 1970 to his death in 1989. Wendy Perron became its editor-in...
"book of the year" award. In 2001, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.
Personal life
Fraser is married to Elizabeth MacCallum and has three daughters. In 2011 the family mourned the loss of their beloved Irish terrier, Molly Bloom. He is a committed Anglican and has served as both a Sunday school teacher and as rector's warden at his church, St. Clement's-Eglinton in Toronto. He is a monarchist.Selected bibliography
- Kain and Augustyn, 1977
- The Chinese: Portrait of a People, 1981
- Telling Tales, 1985
- Private View: Inside Baryshnikov's American Ballet Theatre, 1992
- Saturday Night Lives! Selected Diaries, 1995.
- Stolen China (novel), 1996
- Eminent Canadians: Candid Tales of Then and Now, 2000
- Mad About the Bay (with Elizabeth MacCallum), 2004