I read the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. The Toronto Star's editorial stance is very much in line with my personal politics, while the Globe and Mail is a tad conservative. However, I've noticed that lately the Star seems to be a bit more optimistic than the Globe and Mail. Take, for example, their stories about the element in the Liberal party that wants legal same-sex unions not to bear the name "marriage". When I read the Star's story, I got the impression "Some people want to prevent same-sex marriages from being called marriages, but it's okay, they'll never get away with it." When I read G&M's story, I got the impression "They will go to any lengths to prevent same-sex marriages from being called marriages, and there are a great many of them!" (It should be noted that this is the impression I got from a quick skimming of the articles, which is how I generally read newspapers. A more in-depth read reveals multifaceted views of course, but I'm talking about my first immediate impression).

Now I don't know which of these views is more correct since I am not a Liberal party insider and I'm not qualified to interpret law for a reason. However, the G&M story compelled me to write to my MP and remind her how important it is that the word marriage be used, while the Star story, had I read it first, would probably have made me think "This isn't so good, but it's okay, they law won't allow half-assed civil unions."

I think it would behoove the Star to be a bit more pessimistic in their editorial stance. The Star is Canada's most widely read newspaper. If they had managed to elicit the slight panic that I felt from the G&M article, more people for whom the use of the word marriage is very important would have been more compelled to write to their MP and give the Liberals more of a mandate for the word marriage, while more people who did not want the word marriage used would have felt more complacent and taken no action. An optimistic editorial stance leads to increased complacency among people who agree with the paper's politics, while a more pessimistic attitude would lead to increased activism.