The Atkinson Principles

Our newspapers guide covers the Toronto Star's 1892 origin as a paper founded by laid-off printers. Its most defining era came later, under one publisher whose personal values still shape how the paper describes its own mission.

Nearly 50 years under one publisher

Joseph E. Atkinson took over the Toronto Star in 1899 and ran it as editor, publisher and owner until his death in 1948, building it from a struggling paper into one of Canada's most influential — and using it as a genuine platform to push for social legislation, workers' rights and public healthcare, not just to report the news.

The principles that outlived him

Introduced formally in 1948, the Atkinson Principles commit the paper to a strong, united and independent Canada, social justice, individual and civil liberties, community and civic engagement, the rights of working people, and an active role for government. Decades later, the Toronto Star still cites these principles as its editorial North Star — a rare case of one 20th-century publisher's personal values formally surviving as institutional policy for more than 75 years.

A foundation, too

Atkinson's legacy extends beyond the newsroom through the Atkinson Foundation, a charitable organization continuing his social-justice-focused philanthropy well after his death — a second, quieter institutional afterlife for the same set of values.

Sources

• The Canadian Encyclopedia — Joseph E. Atkinson
• Wikipedia — Joseph E. Atkinson