Elementary teachers in Waterloo Region boycott local paper because they don’t like one columnist’s views

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario in Waterloo Region is asking members
to boycott the local paper because it doesn't like one columnist's opinions.

An elementary teachers’ union in Ontario is asking its members to boycott the only local daily newspaper in one region because it doesn’t like one columnist’s “anti-teacher rhetoric.”

Local leaders of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario voted in January to boycott the Waterloo Region Record. Then, earlier this month a memo went out to area teachers asking them to cancel their home subscriptions to the paper and avoid using it in the classroom.

“We are advising our membership to boycott the Waterloo Region Record newspaper due to of the ongoing teaching bashing by columnist Luisa D’Amato,” the memo read. It accuses the paper of “one-sided reporting” and says “D’Amato continues to write scathing anti-teacher rhetoric” despite many letters sent to protest her opinion pieces.

D’Amato has worked with the paper since 1984 and covered education on and off as a beat until she was promoted to the position of columnist in 2011. She covers many issues, but during recent unrest in Ontario public schools, she was very critical of ETFO’s work-to-rule campaign, which sparked teachers’ ire.  (more...)

Elementary teachers in Waterloo Region boycott local paper because they don’t like one columnist’s views