Linden MacIntyre
Encyclopedia
Life and career
One of three children of Dan Rory MacIntyre and Alice Donohue, he was raised in Port Hastings, Nova ScotiaPort Hastings, Nova Scotia
Port Hastings is a Canadian rural community in Inverness County, Nova Scotia.The community is located at the eastern end of the Canso Causeway on Cape Breton Island.-History:The community was previously known as Plaster Cove....
. As a miner, his father was rarely at home. MacIntyre has said, "The old fellow decided the family would stay in the community and he would go away and stay as long as it took. ... My mother was a teacher and my sister and I stayed with her.”
After high school, MacIntyre moved to Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Antigonish is a Canadian town in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. The town is home to St. Francis Xavier University and the oldest continuous highland games in North America.-History:...
where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a post-secondary institution located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The school was founded in 1853, but did not offer degrees until 1868. The university has approximately 5000 students.-History:...
in 1964. He also studied at St. Mary's University
Saint Mary's University (Halifax)
Saint Mary's University is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. The school is best known for having nationally lead programs in Business, Astronomy and International Development Studies as well, one of the best football and Men's hockey programs in Canada .The campus is situated in Halifax's...
and the University of King's College
University of King's College
The University of King's College is a post-secondary institution in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. King's is a small liberal arts university offering mainly undergraduate programs....
in Halifax. From 1964 to 1967 he worked for the Halifax Herald
Halifax Chronicle-Herald
The Chronicle Herald is a broadsheet published in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The largest newspaper company in Nova Scotia, The Chronicle Herald is also the highest circulation newspaper in the Atlantic provinces and is currently the largest independently owned newspaper company in Canada...
as a parliamentary reporter in Ottawa. He continued in the same role with the Financial Times of Canada from 1967 to 1970. He was drawn back to Cape Breton after the death of his father in 1970 and for the next six years he lived there and worked as a correspondent for the Chronicle Herald.
He joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
in Halifax in 1976 and for three years he hosted a regional public affairs show called The MacIntyre File. It was while with this program that he launched a successful legal challenge before the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia over access to affidavits and documents relating to search warrants. Later heard before the Supreme Court of Canada, the successful suit was a landmark case which set a precedent in support of public and media access to information in Canada.
In 1980, MacIntyre moved to Toronto, where he still resides, to work as a producer and journalist on CBC’s new flagship news program, The Journal
The Journal
The Journal was a popular current affairs newsmagazine on CBC Television from 1982 to 1992. It aired weeknights at 10:22 pm, following The National at 10:00 pm, and expanding on stories presented on there with in-depth interviews, documentaries, and televised "town hall" meetings...
. This appointment took him around the world preparing documentary reports on international affairs, preparing such notable features as "Dirty Sky, Dying Water" (about acid rain). Various jobs at the CBC through the eighties culminated in his appointment in 1990 as co-host of the weekly newsmagazine the fifth estate
The fifth estate
the fifth estate is a Canadian television newsmagazine, which airs on the English language CBC Television network. The name is a play on the fact that the media are sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, and was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into...
, with which he is still involved. In addition, he is a frequent guest host of The Current
The Current (radio program)
The Current is a Canadian current affairs radio program, hosted by investigative reporter Anna Maria Tremonti on CBC Radio One. It airs weekdays starting at 8:37 a.m. local time and runs until 10 a.m. for most of the year, although during the summer the program airs until 9:30 a.m...
on CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
.
Stories
For the fifth estate, he has written numerous investigative reports often with producer Neil Docherty. Many of the shows have also appeared on Frontline. Examples of his stories include:- "To Sell a WarTo sell a warTo Sell A War is a documentary, first aired in December 1992 as part of CBC programme the fifth estate. The programme was directed by Martyn Gregory and produced by Neil Docherty....
" (1992). The film is about a public relations campaign to gain public opinion support for the First Gulf War. It won an International Emmy and a Gemini Award. - "The Trouble With Evan" (1994). This film, about the psychological abuse of a child by his parents, was introduced by MacIntyre when first broadcast as the saddest story he ever had to tell. Winner of an Anik Award, it was removed from competition at the Cannes Film Festival and banned in Canada for several years due to court orders on behalf of some of the subjects.
- "His Word Against History: The Stephen Truscott Story" (2000). It was a co-recipient (with other fifth estate documentaries) of the Michener Award for meritorious public service journalism.
- "The Scandal of the Century" (2001) about false accusations of sexual abuse in Saskatchewan (see Sheila SteeleSheila SteeleSheila Rose Jones Steele was a Canadian social activist based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She maintained a website, Injusticebusters.com, which was dedicated to exposing alleged miscarriages of justice in Saskatchewan in particular, and in Canada as a whole...
). - "Terror and Tehran" (2002) about US policy in Iran. Transcript of an online discussion about the program from the Washington Post)
- "Toxic Company" (with Frontline and New York Times Television, 2003). An expose of McWaneMcWaneMcWane, Inc. is one of the world's largest manufacturers of iron water works and plumbing products and one of America’s largest privately owned companies. The company manufactures products including ductile iron pipe and fittings, fire hydrants, cast iron soil pipe and fittings, and related products...
, it won a Dupont/Columbia Silver Baton, the George Polk Award, the George Foster Peabody Award and the CBC's Wilderness award. The accompanying New York Times series, "Dangerous Business", won a Pulitzer Prize. - "A Hail of Bullets" (2005) about the Mayerthorpe incident.
- "Brian Mulroney: The Unauthorized Chapter" (2007) about the Airbus affairAirbus affairThe Airbus affair refers to allegations of secret commissions paid to members of the Government of Canada during the term of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in exchange for then-crown corporation Air Canada's purchase of a large number of Airbus jets...
.
Personal life
During a fifty-day lockout by the CBC in 2005, MacIntyre penned a memoir called Causeway: A Passage from Innocence, which he dedicated to his mother. He has five children including CBC reporter Darrow MacIntyre. He married broadcaster Carol OffCarol Off
Carol Off is a Canadian television and radio journalist, associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio. She has been a host of CBC Radio's As It Happens since 2006. Previously a documentary reporter for The National, Off also hosted the political debate series counterSpin on CBC Newsworld.She is the...
in 2000.
Novels
- The Long Stretch, 1999
- The Bishop's ManThe Bishop's ManThe Bishop's Man is a novel by Canadian writer Linden MacIntyre, published in August 2009. The story follows a Catholic priest named Duncan MacAskill who became so successful at resolving potential church scandals quickly and quietly that he had to accept a position at remote parish on Cape Breton...
, 2009 - Winner of the 2009 Scotiabank Giller PrizeScotiabank Giller PrizeThe Scotiabank Giller Prize, or Giller Prize, is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English the previous year, after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries...
- Winner of the 2010 Libris Fiction Book of the Year Award.
Non-fiction
- Who Killed Ty ConnTy ConnTyrone Williams "Ty" Conn was a Canadian bank robber. He was the only person in the last half century to escape over the wall from the Kingston Penitentiary, one of Canada's most secure prisons....
(with Theresa BurkeTheresa BurkeTheresa Frances Veronica Burke is a Canadian writer, journalist and producer for the CBC's television newsmagazine, the fifth estate...
), 2001 (updated edition announced for 2011) - Causeway: A Passage from Innocence, 2006