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NEWSPAPERS / MEDIA INFO
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN--------------------------------- THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------B3
Quorum, which contains about 30 pages of news stories culled from
papers across the country, is a must-read on Parliament Hill
Parliament
Hill's
biggest
little newspaper
The Quorum clipping
service is the House of Commons' true national daily
BY TOD MOHAMED
· Each issue of Quorum contains about 30 pages of news stories culled from papers across the country. It is effectively a mini-newspaper on federal issues, with its run of 1,500 copies reserved strictly for the Hill.Like other newspapers, there is a lead story for each issue, big stories are up front, less important ones moved to the back, and many others simply left out altogether. And it is essential reading - sometimes the only source of print news - for MPs, cabinet ministers and their staff.
· Ms. McLean and Ms. Powell began putting out Quorum in 1979. They regularly receive complaints from reporters and papers upset that their stories aren't being picked up.
FULL STORY:-
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN--------------------------------- THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, MAY 8, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------B3
Quorum, which contains about 30 pages of news stories culled from
papers across the country, is a must-read on Parliament Hill
Parliament
Hill's
biggest
little newspaper
The Quorum clipping
service is the House of Commons' true national daily
BY TOD MOHAMED
While the National Post and the Globe and Mail battle for the title of Canada's national newspaper, another little-known publication on Parliament Hill may already have the contest locked up.
And it is put out by two government workers with little more than scissors and a role of tape.
Each day the duo of Trina Powell and Linda McLean take turns going into work at 5:30 a.m. to compile Quorum, the Library of Parliament's daily digest of national news.
Each issue of Quorum contains about 30 pages of news stories culled from papers across the country. It is effectively a mini-newspaper on federal issues, with its run of 1,500 copies reserved strictly for the Hill.
Like other newspapers, there is a lead story for each issue, big stories are up front, less important ones moved to the back, and many others simply left out altogether. And it is essential reading - sometimes the only source of print news - for MPs, cabinet ministers and their staff.
"It's impossible to read all the papers," said Reform MP Inky Mark, who, like most MPs, plows through Quorum each morning along with other reading selected by his staff.
"It's tough just to get through the clippings."
Other MPs have one or two favourite papers that they read for pleasure. But when they get to work, Quorum is on the top of the reading pile.
"I do read Quorum, there's no question about that," said Conservative Elsie Wayne, who subscribes to the National Post, but has little time for other formal dailies. "In the House, you'll see lots of MPs asking pages to get it for them."
Such is the currency of the library clipping service that many print journalists on the Hill view having their stories picked by it as a minor victory; they know their version of the previous days events is being read by the top policy makers and other journalists.
Getting left out of Quorum's rough cut-and-paste pages can be the beginning of a bad day in the competitive business of political news coverage.
Ms. McLean and Ms. Powell began putting out Quorum in 1979. They regularly receive complaints from reporters and papers upset that their stories aren't being picked up.
"It's nothing personal," said Ms. McLean. "You can tell everyone we don't have any favourites." (In a recent addition of the Quorum, the Globe and Mail came out on top with lo clippings, while the National Post was second with nine stories. The Ottawa Citizen was third, with eight stories.)
Ms. McLean and Ms. Powell also have to tread carefully to make sure they are not seen as biased towards right- or left-wing coverage.- That's not always easy, as they have space for just one article on a given storv.
Language requirements are also tricky. About 30 percent of the service must
be in French, selected from papers like Le Devoir and La Presse.
Editorial cartoons, however, are a definite no-go zone. "We tried that a long time ago and it wasn't really appreciated," said Richard Pare, the Parliamentary librarian. And editorials often get squeezed out because of space.
"It breaks our hearts not to be able to print some of those editorials," Ms. McLean said.
Quorum is not however, the only game going on the Hill. Most parties supplement it with their own clipping services like the Reform "Eye-Opener" and the Bloc Québecois "La Presse en Bloc," as well as media services and departmental clippings.
Quorum could soon go electronic, scanned onto the Web for quick access on the Parliament Intranet, but it will still require clippers like Ms. McLean and Ms. Powell to browse each day's news for suitable material.
In all, they plow through 12 papers each morning, which must be read, dissected and reassembled into Quorum in about an hour. Articles, from another 30 papers from around the country are added to a later edition.
After 20 years, reading that many papers a day takes its toll.
"We bore people to death at parties," said Ms. McLean.