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Rick Mercer: Newspaper Executives Failed Canadians In Last Days Of Election

"Print is not dead. But with owners like that, it’s on life support."

Rick Mercer hasn’t forgotten about the dramedy of endorsements errs fronted by two of the country’s national newspapers, now he’s taking them to task one week after the federal election.

The Globe and Mail’s fourth endorsement for the Conservative Party was one written with “fantasy,” the comedian said on Tuesday’s episode of the Rick Mercer Report.

Published on Oct. 16, the “bizarre” piece launched an onslaught of jokes poking fun at the editorial board’s argument to support the party — but without Stephen Harper at its helm.

“If there was a Pulitzer Prize for the most idiotic editorial ever written they would win,” he said. “If there was a second prize for insulting your readership, they would sweep the night.”

Mercer then turned his sights to the National Post. He called out Postmedia executives for their handling of an opinion piece penned by the country’s “most astute political commentator” that didn’t toe the board’s pro-Harper line.

“Turns out the real reason they hired [Andrew Coyne] was so when it mattered the very most in the final days of the election, they could shut him up,” Mercer said.

On election day, he resigned from his role as the newspaper’s executive editorials and comments editor. Executives were concerned the column would have “confused and embarrassed the paper,” explained Coyne.

“Print is not dead. But with owners like that, it’s on life support,” Mercer said.

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