Pulitzer-winning journalist Paul Watson quits Toronto Star over ‘refusal to publish’ story on Franklin expedition
Pulitzer-winner Paul Watson has quit the Toronto Star over that paper's 'refusal to publish' a story about ‘distorted and inaccurate accounts’ of the expedition
Paul Watson, who won a Pulitzer prize in 1994, has quit the Toronto Star over that paper’s “refusal to publish a story of significant public interest” — an allegation the paper denies.
“There’s no truth to that suggestion,” a spokesperson told the National Post. “Suppressing stories of significant public interest is something the Star has never done and we don’t do.”
Watson announced his resignation on his blog Tuesday.
[np_storybar title=”Paul Watson’s resignation post” link=”http://www.arcticstarcreativity.com/blog/2015/7/6/on-resigning-from-the-toronto-star”]
July 7, 2015
At a meeting today in Vancouver, I submitted my resignation to the Toronto Star following the newspaper’s refusal to publish a story of significant public interest.
Resigning is the only way I can resume that reporting, complete the work and fulfill my responsibilities as a journalist.
My reporting is an attempt to give voice to federal civil servants and others involved in the grueling, High Arctic search for British Royal Navy explorer Sir John Franklin’s lost ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Several are experts in their fields.
For months, these individuals have been angry at what they consider distorted and inaccurate accounts of last fall’s historic discovery of Erebus in the frigid waters of eastern Queen Maud Gulf. They identify a peripheral member of the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition, who has access to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office as well as editors at The Star, as the source of these accounts.
I intend to continue my efforts to bring this important story forward and will endeavor, as I have throughout my long career as a journalist, to ensure full, fair and accurate reporting of the facts.
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Paul Watson
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“Resigning is the only way I can resume that reporting, complete the work and fulfill my responsibilities as a journalist,” Watson wrote.
The article Watson says he couldn’t publish at the Star centres on the search for the lost ships of the 1845 Franklin expedition, an initiative led by Parks Canada that had significant input and personal investment by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The discovery of one of the Franklin ships, HMS Erebus, was announced by the prime minister in September of 2014.
Watson says experts and civil servants who worked on the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition that found the wreck of the Erebus are outraged at what they see as “distorted and inaccurate accounts” of that discovery, which allegedly originated with a person close to the Prime Minister’s Office who also has influence within the Star.
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