Toronto Sun: LEAFS AND MURDER!

For years, I have passed by the newsstand of the reprehensible Toronto Sun newspaper and its absurd headlines. This sorry excuse for a newspaper, known by most as a "tabloid written at a Grade 5 level", constantly contains fear mongering headlines in large dark print, such as "RECIPE FOR TERROR", "DEADLY CHASE", "2 CORPSES IN FARM FIRE", "GIANT KILLER", "TOT'S HARD FALL", "TERROR IN PARADISE", and last but not least "LEAFS ARE BACK!".

My first impression of the Toronto Sun after reading its cover is that the editors are obsessed with crime, murder and the Toronto Maple Leafs. A person would most likely feel like they were living in a war zone if they were to judge the city by the Sun's headlines.

So I decided a few weeks ago to do some investigation and really get to the bottom of the Toronto Sun Headlines. I wanted to know if it was purely my bias or my imagination, or if this newspaper is really obsessed with terror and hockey. I collected all of the cover pages for the last 362 articles of Toronto Sun newspapers from April 13th 2007 to April 12, 2008. I then manually extracted the main headlines and then my buddy Bob and I built a string parsing tool to extract the words used in the headlines, count the number of occurrences of each word, and generate an HTML representation (Tag cloud) of the words and each of their occurrences.

What I discovered was no surprise to me. I've posted the words below so that you can judge for yourself whether this newspaper is really newsworthy, or simply a proxy of fear in one of the safest cities in the world. Hover your mouse over each link to see the number of occurrences of each word. I've also generated a collage of the 362 articles I collected.

The top 2 re-occurring words are (not surprisingly): "Leafs" and "Murder":

weekend upset set blue sick bullets goalie hilton faces former enough case en survivor dream died limb hotel month homicide wheels sundin they're fury chase latest week rec puts dance steroid david tape dog think rampage worst wrong campaign hello spared fear winners elderly letter feds times life qew takes told riders hold jfj prof gold helps flips story everyone's tot's served trustees gunman acc red demand justice hope single storm luck guilty duck victim mlse juniors arrested meet north $5.75m mystery soldier among hwy fired clowns hours fortune judge sabres hit guys must worth workers good drops caught 3-year-old phillips denied keeps knifed baby penguins person crushed oshawa snow against know city's mike night lucky murdered left injured etobicoke guy that's today selena deadly subway route ordered history mulroney block horror drugs model bad dad slams school murders council very christmas mark blow stolen under-20s 1st wild blood grey juice tell running sports bah bell fallen square deep province don't tragedy club t.o walking shelter paris heroes under married online gross never pair u.s dalton comfort sens $800-plus bid condo city does foes killer slayings worries mother special series perfect dragged proud drunk broken manhunt risk three return hero's before game devastated vet joe show bryan watch millions shocking mounts buries desperate symbol missing hall ball call george fall gang crashes plows victim's councillors away hero home than super light burns held dollars summer only there kids my major witness ex-leaf hat sister wills tomorrow keep i'm poll soccer jersey farewell fast long plant parking beating organs future party overwhelmed train kid finally card claiming drowned lone leafs union academic gone wins highway kills media ribbon search dies tragic racing afghanistan leads charges video start 15-year-old more support hospital sundin's seven back lord one tie dead die 2008 afghan daughter grab buds preem 12,000 gift drive peddie farm mourn second guard record trust park she's quits slain wife soldiers huge lose could ontario grisly offside hit-run monster late prison pride lawyer killing exclusive grand hands its price schreiber street trailer aims mind named accused kill shock ring york rengel blown through 401 carter body inferno fergie scores ready suite faith brain fletcher vote historic line court season audit journey charged mission hopes flip experts roadside trial dna help final slush track princess forced march scandal put fire yonge facing dinner others cheers cbc's still want years blake interest joins dogs bomb suicide pounds murder thomas victims fraud battle jobs trash river emotional schools bull full assaulted burned any family leaf hundreds saddest pals following capture went ems services vicious report minivan focus head lead girls father thugs found operation scare wanted admits ramage fund pond human creba flap hall's raps nation green gives pal shot girl mansion nathan cameras 10 miller's 40 60 quest rally fly police parade stop going b.c raptors firefighters senior opener rap alicia crunch women facilities team minister hannah gas nets families family's cops camp real people's west lam discovery deal acted friends dying doctor bloody cliff mess teen's streets nightmare threatened trying moms mississauga burn digs hide bombers fans top hearty 400 cop prey robbery remembering pulls dad's flees pays another troops ot took hook why look book mom money threat star nearly van cars big counts dig man then when cash prime safe pleas budget them ephraim murder-suicide brampton words ugly eyes comes crash angel anger gta highrise war next car mr or dean's brass $100gs save shoot east gave son drivers crown transit anaheim con art bosh path honest even question eye rates happy slim stray trapped toronto's face truck holiday passerby strobel fate sex let's hockey struck o tree til pay free while humbug love lost taking cost loses trucks rings ross hearing loss boss suspect benched o.j steps both play officer taxpayer 1/2 bullet violence tip later hip ignored time blast cyber-bullies athlete tears ceremony order bye-bye deliberately ago punks every tory's bridge salute becks cry baron carjack surgery jackpot rolls christina great diana shore pressure tax t.o.'s force bring ceo link thousands shooting winter meant behind miller win target kin wish 2nd blaze open giant canadian bulls guards shopping students tribute cup old 8 attack heart busted holy dominates 6 people during air clings jump dump speak list mommy destroyed slaying deaths cattle least own beat high golden hunt tab mayor toronto mcguinty nothing break year argos 15-year guns axe near n inside didn't carnage playoff hurt trouble ex many 7 teens couple rooms leader tdsb rookie slice run sun double fletch fun gun death fc door forward jordan young trustee need driver killed florida abandoned too world mats neighbour 3-0 wants mistake bust tough relives outdoor steer alive roads leaves hey key ttc arrest welcome rough campus strip weeks tory caribana ice teen cabinet photos about captain fears winning mounties 2007 taxpayers looks expenses steaming bus paid peel protest patients irish woman savage innocent canada's parents habs shootout opp ootes tot wounded hot lot prize says cleared outside men jays got ottawa row stanley days manners let power assault town sweep raid down driving laid panic 3-2 pm 6-2 himself carpet am em road gm charge way homer may ahead day tearful pullout performance despite boys championship plunge being canada promised victory months estate jailed argo tiny terror players taxes coach cancer await job pain 33 failed boy tells sacks rage miracle control fighting trade probe royalty tonight heave-ho jail bail where massive meldown hits wallop spends 08 brutal style mowed crips cancel orders lower replace idol who's survey black lake make ii rogers plug lotto loving cellphone source angels pit million canuck scarborough bruins evil

  
You can see that this newspaper has a fairly narrow-minded agenda when it comes to the news. It's apparent that the things that really affects most people's lives are nonexistent (at least on the covers). Thankfully I live in a relatively large city where there are other good newspapers that focus on real issues that affect us all.