January 26, 2010 Fringe Arts

Unsung heroes of late-night type

Local production looks at the newspaper copy desk in the age of downsizing

by Tom Llewellin

GRAPHIC VIVIEN LEUNG

After years of ever-increasing pressure in Canadian newsrooms, David Sherman hit the wall.
Sequestered behind the copy desk of The Gazette, the feature writer-turned-copy editor found himself facing deadlines that left no longer than 20 minutes for news story rewrites.
“It dawned on me that the job was definitely impossible to do properly,” said Sherman.

Instead of picking up the pace, he left The Gazette and penned a play called The Daily Miracle.
The production, directed by Guy Sprung, opens at Bain St-Michel this week. It looks at the absurdities that face the unsung heroes of the rapidly-contracting newspaper industry: the men and women that grace the copy desk. They’re responsible for editing and rewriting stories, writing headlines and even determining just what the paper will look like, all under tremendously tight deadlines that grow ever more narrow as newspapers continuously downsize.

Sherman is a long-time veteran of the industry, who saw the number of copy desks at The Gazette shrink from two to one—with no corresponding decrease in work.

“There [would be] a little bit of a situation at 12 a.m.,” he laughed.

Sherman originally left The Gazette on stress leave, but never went back. After years of dabbling in screen and stage writing, he took advantage of his leave to begin writing full-time.
Miracle’s cast of characters includes Marty (Arthur Holden of History Television fame), recently back to work after a work-induced nervous breakdown.

“The night desk is a very isolated place,” said Sherman of the stress inherent to the job. “There will be maybe six to eight people working in this huge, empty newsroom, and it’s all pressure.”

Another character, Elizabeth (Ellen David of the CBC’s 18 to Life), is a single mom who comes up against prejudice from her mostly male colleagues and is forced to choose between her work and home life. David said Elizabeth’s predicament is far from unique among female journalists.

“It’s a juggling act, always,” she said, “and there’s this drive to compete as an equal. The ‘Wall of Fame’ at the back [of the play’s set] has maybe one or two pictures of women. It’s almost like an old boys’ club.”

Sherman created Elizabeth’s character as a composite of the women he worked with in his early days when the typical newspaper was “an all-male bastion, with men doing the hiring. The women being hired were almost always attractive.”

He added that attitudes have changed in the past decade, with more women than ever now occupying management positions.

Men and women alike are affected by something else the last few years have wrought. Namely, the migration away from print and towards a wider variety of sources online.
“In 10 years I can see [my character] sitting in a car in a Tim Hortons parking lot, sending a story to some webmaster,” joked David.

Sherman took a documentary-style approach to the material, playing up the absurdity and black humour in creating intense pressure in what he admits is “not an intrinsically fascinating place.”

“That extra time [to look things over] is gone now,” he said. “You can’t even think about what you’re doing.”

The Daily Miracle starts Jan. 28 and runs to Feb. 14 at Bain St-Michel (5300 St-Dominique St.). Tickets are $15 for students, $20 general admission. See infinitheatre.com for full show schedule.