Postmedia fires film critic Katherine Monk, but she says it's not personal
Today, the only full-time female national movie critic in Canada lost her job.
Katherine Monk tweeted that she's "been terminated by Postmedia News Network".
"Free at last, free at last," she declared.
In another tweet, she stated that "the sun is coming out! I'm positively giddy."
Monk began working at the Vancouver Sun in 1990 and became a national film critic with the Canwest chain in 2002. Postmedia took over after Canwest couldn't pay its creditors.
In a third tweet, Monk stated that her firing "wasn't personal".
"The whole network got axed.... I guess a company that loses money every quarter isn't sustainable."
In the first quarter of this fiscal year, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. reported a loss of nearly $10.3 million on revenues of $169.5 million.
In the last fiscal year, Postmedia recorded a $160.2-million loss on revenues of $751.6 million.
The company owns the Vancouver Sun, Province, National Post, and daily papers in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Regina, Ottawa, Windsor, and Montreal.
Last October, Postmedia announced that it would pay Quebecor Media more than $316 million (minus a $10.5-million adjustment) for Sun Media's 175 English-language newspapers. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.
Monk, who's based in Vancouver, is the weekly movie reviewer for CBC Radio's On The Coast, which is hosted by Stephen Quinn.
She's also the author of Joni: The Creative Odyssey and Weird Sex & Snowshoes—And Other Canadian Film Phenomena.
Monk got her start writing for the Ubyssey student paper at UBC.
"At several points, she’s left the drunken and inky for the drunken and kinky, but low-budget film-making continues to be a hobby," reads her bio on her website. "Her real jobs have included ice cream dipper, commercial window washer, janitor, warehouse clerk, data entry, ski-suit packer, medical library assistant, toilet cleaner and—her personal demon—wedding photographer."
She's a member of the Broadcast Film Critics’ Association, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle, the Academy of Canadian Cinema, and Television, the Writer’s Union of Canada, and the AV Preservation Trust.
(Monk also delivered a lovely speech at a 2012 memorial service for Georgia Straight film writer Ian Caddell, which was much appreciated by the staff of this newspaper.)
Comments
10 Comments
Chris Knight
Feb 5, 2015 at 1:13pm
Thanks for the nice writeup. Katherine is a valued colleague, and I hope she lands on her feet after this.
AC
Feb 5, 2015 at 1:41pm
Katherine Monk is an incredible writer and person. This is a huge loss for PostMedia.
Brian Bosworth
Feb 5, 2015 at 2:24pm
Sorry to hear this has happened. Was always valuable to read her perceptions.
James Blatchford
Feb 5, 2015 at 6:20pm
I guess as movie critic, it was tough for Katherine to meet quota pumping the tires of the Fraser Institute.
stevedave
Feb 5, 2015 at 8:52pm
She is a very talented writer and very bad at reviewing movies.
K
Feb 6, 2015 at 10:25am
Good luck, Katherine. Will miss reading your reviews.
John Benson
Feb 7, 2015 at 7:53pm
I always enjoyed reading her commentaries on new films in the Vancouver Film Festival catalogue.
Corporate drones can be bought anytime. She is one of a kind. Perhaps she will recall the advice of Nikita in a training exercise in a closed chamber when she said to the new recruit "It's not being hit that matters but what you do after you've been hit that counts."
Lanolin
Feb 8, 2015 at 6:10pm
Of course I didn't always agree, but I always did think she and I were deep in conversation when I was reading her reviews. Movie reviewers are still important though they're less and less valued. Where else do we find a counterweight to unbearable corporate tripe and hype? Where else do we get to debrief on the commonplace and emotional practice of film-watching? The more valuable reviewers like Ms. Monk are a rare breed indeed.
Susan Wood
Apr 25, 2015 at 1:47pm
Hi Katherine,
I can't tell you how much I miss your reviews in the Vanvouver Sun. Each one was a perfect little essay with a beginning, a middle and an end. It was filled within formation about things to look for in a movie, things the director wanted us to appreciate and it was all written in a beautiful or quirky style that was a pleasur to read.
My husband and I attend movies most weekends and have since we were first married fifty five years ago. Movies have changed enormously and we often need the help of a reviewer to appreciate the story at all! The new reviewers seem to prefer something new and wild and will often award a movie with many stars it just doesn't deserve, in my opinion. We respected your reviews completely and you never let us down.
I'm sure that teaching keeps you quite busy enough and we always see you on "Katherine's Kuts" on Global but it doesn't give us the same pleasure as sitting down with one of your beautifully crafted reviews.
I guess we're dinosaurs, going to movies and reading newspapers, but we probably won't change now. I just wanted you to know that you're missed.
Larry Wong
Jul 4, 2015 at 9:10pm
HI Katherine,
I too miss your reviews in the Vancouver Sun though I enjoy seeing you Friday afternoon on Global. In fact, I so enjoyed your review of Terminator Genisys and completely agreed with you: the film was enjoyable and thrilling. All the Best to you.