Harry Stemp was born in Uxbridge in 1934. He started his career with the Uxbridge Times-Journal as an apprentice typesetter at age 14. He soon began writing sports for the Times-Journal and eventually owned 10 community newspapers in central Ontario including the Times-Journal. He started writing his award-winning Stemp’s Stew in 1965. The column came to an end shortly after he sold his newspaper chain in 1989, but was rejuvenated in 2006 when Harry became a regular contributor to The Cosmos.
A keen eye
Is anyone really surprised with what was happening in the offices of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World in London, England? If so, they shouldn't be.
When a newspaper continually delves into the personal lives of celebrities exposing every little pimple, or flaw they have on their body, one must assume they have a ton of devious ways of coming up with the 'scoop'. Add to this the billions of dollars spent buying these 'rags' and one can soon understand why no amount of sneakiness or abuse of privacy is too much to get the story and beat out their competitors.
To understand what that special secret photo can earn for a photographer, I go back to a day in Barbados when I went down to the beach for an early morning swim. The beach was usually deserted, so my attention went quickly to three men on a large blanket and a camera that had a lens which reminded me of the cannon in Elgin Park.
Curiosity has always controlled me, so I wandered over and asked what they were doing. They pleasantly explained that they had flown in from the U.K. to Barbados to try and catch photos of a TV personality whose name I have forgotten. Apparently the TV star had been grossly overweight and had a campaign to lose about 75 pounds. The TV show was playing up how well he was doing.
However, publishers of the tabloid did not believe it, found out he was holidaying at the Sandy Lane Hotel so they were lying in wait to catch him walking across the beach to take a swim.
Wow, I remarked, flying to Barbados and back plus accommodation and living expenses does not come cheap. How much would they get paid for the photos? Their reply blew me away.
If they got exclusive photos and he resembled a baby elephant, they would be paid over $100,000. That will give you an idea what a scoop means to the owners of a tabloid.
So why are the scandal sheets so popular, while legitimate newspapers around the world are having trouble surviving - in fact many newspapers have gone under? Well, you can blame it on the millions of people - mostly women I should add - who idolize these scandal sheets, snapping up every issue as fast as they hit the newsstands. And the sad part, they believe everything they read.
Don't agree with me? Then I'll take you back to a happening in an airport terminal many years ago. My buddy and I were waiting for a return flight from a business trip, and we decided to grab a newspaper to pass the time. Standing in line I noticed a tabloid with an unbelievable headline - ‘B52 Bomber Found on the Moon's Surface’. The kicker line proclaimed ‘Pilot Erred Slightly'.
The two of us started laughing and I said to my buddy, in a loud voice, “Have you ever seen anything like that? What kind of idiot would buy that paper, and it would take an even bigger idiot to believe it”.
Not a good decision on my part. Several of the women in line gave me stares that came close to removing the beard from my face. Then one woman said something that convinced me why these rags are so popular: “I'll have you know that if they can print it, then it must be true.”
I was going to argue that she is right when it comes to legitimate newspapers which check leads and sources constantly, and a reporter had better have all his ducks in a row or the story is chopped. But my buddy stepped in between, settled me down, we paid for our papers and walked away chuckling at the encounter.
So sensational stories, true or not, and a gullible public that is willing to pay big dollars to get their weekly thrill means billions of dollars to the owners of the tabloids.
Until attitudes change, scandals such as what is happening to Murdoch and his News of the World will always be with us.
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News coming out of Oslo, Norway this week would turn the stomachs of right thinking people. More senseless killings of innocent people by a crackpot who has visions of changing the world, so it fits into his warped way of thinking.
Don't know about you, but I find it impossible to put my mind into his way of thinking. What thrill comes from targeting a building with powerful explosives that will kill and maim large numbers of innocent people you don't even know? And following through, travel to an island dressed as a police officer and coldly gun down wonderful young people enjoying a youth camp.
What goes through the human mind to carry out these hideous crimes and then proclaim that 'the more people killed the better'? And then have the nerve to plead self defence. From what? People sitting at their desks doing their job? Young people, maybe future leaders of the country, enjoying a fun time with friends?
It's hard to find a bright light out of all of this, but if there is one then it is the judge proclaiming, and the press agreeing, that the trial will be held behind closed doors.
Seems strange for someone like me who is part of the free press fraternity but, in this case, it is not hard to set those attitudes aside and agree with him. Reporters will be allowed to attend the trial to make sure that the principals of law and justice are followed. He will get a fair trial, even though his victims were not given breaks or considerations.
The judge said that he was not going to allow Anders Behring Brevinik to use his courtroom as a soapbox to broadcast his warped views and beliefs and spit in the face of relatives and friends of the victims. I'm sure his thoughts go back to the many war crimes trials where those charged laugh when victims, or relatives, testify.
In this case I agree with the judge. So long as this maniac receives a fair trial I am not interested in hearing what he believes in or what he has to say.
Not sure whether Norway has the death penalty. Regardless, no sentence can ever make up for the pain and suffering he has caused for the victims and their families. They will live with this horror forever.
The lesson that can be learned from this tragedy is there are crackpots walking among us, so keep a keen eye at all times.
