Kenneth Whyte#Sutherland House Books

{{short description|Canadian journalist and author (born 1960)}}

{{for|the Scottish poet|Kenneth White}}

{{Undisclosed paid|date=December 2020}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2015}}

Kenneth Whyte (born August 12, 1960) is a Canadian journalist, publisher and author based in Toronto. He was formerly the Senior Vice-President of Public Policy for Rogers Communications{{Cite web|last=Baluja|first=Tamara|title=KEN WHYTE NAMED ROGERS SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC POLICY|url=http://www.j-source.ca/article/ken-whyte-named-rogers-senior-vice-president-public-policy|website=J Source}} and chair of the Donner Canadian Foundation.{{Cite web|title=20th Anniversary Donner Prize Winner Announced|url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/20th-anniversary-donner-prize-winner-announced-682750641.html|access-date=2020-12-01|language=en}}

Early life and career

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Whyte grew up in Edmonton, Alberta.Adams, James. "Can Ken Whyte save Chatelaine?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2015-11-25

He began his career in journalism as reporter at the Sherwood Park News and joined Alberta Report as a reporter in 1984, serving as executive editor of the magazine starting in 1986.{{Cite web|url=https://rrj.ca/whyte-noise/|title=Whyte Noise | [ ] Review of Journalism : The School of Journalism|first=Ryerson Review of|last=Journalism|date=April 2, 2006}} In 1994, Whyte was appointed editor of Saturday Night, a monthly magazine.{{Cite news|title=Can Ken Whyte save Chatelaine?|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/can-ken-whyte-save-chatelaine/article4320060/?page=all|access-date=2020-12-01}} In 1998, he was named editor-in-chief of the National Post, a new conservative national newspaper. In 2003, Whyte and several other executives were dismissed from the National Post as part of a restructuring by new ownership.{{Cite news|title=CanWest jettisons National Post executives|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canwest-jettisons-national-post-executives/article1014314/|access-date=2020-12-01}} He became a visiting scholar at McGill University where he was co-founder of the McGill Observatory in Media and Public Policy, and a trustee of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.{{Cite web|title=McGill researchers explore media election coverage|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/mcgill-researchers-explore-media-election-coverage-11634|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Newsroom|language=en}}

= Rogers =

In 2005, Whyte joined Maclean's at the start of its 100th year of publication.{{Cite news|title=Maclean's new editor cuts senior employees|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/macleans-new-editor-cuts-senior-employees/article982317/|access-date=2020-12-01}} Whyte was named the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s newsperson of the year in 2008.{{Cite web|title=OpenFile's Wilf Dinnick wins J-Source Canadian Newsperson of the Year Award|url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/openfiles-wilf-dinnick-wins-j-source-canadian-newsperson-of-the-year-award-509487311.html|access-date=2020-12-01|language=en}} Maclean's was noted during his tenure for its controversial, tabloid covers, including an exposé of political corruption in Quebec that was unanimously denounced by Canada's House of Commons,{{Cite news|title=On Maclean's, the House panders to Quebec|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/on-macleans-the-house-panders-to-quebec/article1369800/|access-date=2020-12-01}} and an excerpt of Mark Steyn's America Alone, which touched off several failed actions against the magazines in provincial and federal human rights commissions.{{Cite news|title=Free speech, eh? Why is Canada prosecuting Mark Steyn? {{!}} CBC News|language=en-US|work=CBC|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/free-speech-eh-why-is-canada-prosecuting-mark-steyn-1.720445|access-date=2020-12-01}}

In 2009, while still editing and publishing Maclean’s, Whyte also took over the publisher's title at Chatelaine magazine, traditionally Canada's largest women's title. During his first year at the magazine, its circulation dropped below its main competitor Canadian Living for the first time in its history.{{Cite web|url = http://www.torontostandard.com/the-sprawl/the-ken-whyte-effect/|title = The Ken Whyte Effect|date = 2011-04-07|access-date = 2015-11-25|publisher = Toronto Standard|last = Archer|first = Bert}} Whyte hired Jane Francisco as editor {{Cite web|title=Chatelaine names new editor in chief|url=http://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.796447|access-date=2020-12-01|website=CBC Canada|language=en}} and the two of them engineered a turnaround over the next four years.{{Cite web|title=Chatelaine is the #1 Magazine in Canada|url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/chatelaine-is-the-1-magazine-in-canada-511936261.html|access-date=2020-12-01|language=en}}

In 2011, Whyte became president of Rogers Publishing Limited, which owned fifty-five magazines, including Chatelaine, Today's Parent, Canadian Business, Moneysense, and Hello! Canada.{{Cite web|date=2011-06-16|title=Ken Whyte appointed President of Rogers Publishing|url=https://about.rogers.com/news-ideas/ken-whyte-appointed-president-of-rogers-publishing/|access-date=2020-12-01|website=About Rogers|language=en-US}} At the end of 2013, Rogers entered into a partnership with Hearst, Time Inc., Meredith, and Condé Nast to create Next Issue Media (now Texture). Whyte left Rogers to become the founding president of Next Issue Canada and a director of Next Issue globally.{{Cite web|title=Next Issue Media launches its 'Netflix for magazines' in Canada|url=https://www.canadianbusiness.com/companies-and-industries/next-issue-media-launches-its-netflix-for-magazines-in-canada/|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Canadian Business}}

= Published Books =

In 2008, Whyte's non-fiction book, The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst was published in Canada, and the following year in the U.S.{{Cite news|last=Rosenthal|first=Jack|date=2009-01-09|title=The Mogul at Play (Published 2009)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/books/review/Rosenthal-t.html|access-date=2020-12-01|issn=0362-4331}} It was a finalist for the 2009 National Business Book Award,{{Cite news|title=Business book award winner foresees shift in power to Alberta {{!}} CBC News|language=en-US|work=CBC|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/business-book-award-winner-foresees-shift-in-power-to-alberta-1.835965|access-date=2020-12-01}} the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction,{{Cite web|date=16 January 2010|title=Journalism wins award for memoir on son|url=http://www.pressreader.com/canada/vancouver-sun/20100116/282604553973645|access-date=2020-12-01|publisher=Vancouver Sun|via=Press Reader}} the Charles Taylor Prize,{{Cite web|title=The Winner of The Ninth Charles Taylor Prize For Literary Non-Fiction|url=http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2010/winner_10.asp|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429002458/http://www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca/2010/winner_10.asp|archive-date=29 April 2010}} and the Los Angeles Times Book Award for biography.{{cite web|title=2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners|url=http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/year-2009/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111014236/http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/previous-winners/year-2009/|archive-date=November 11, 2014|access-date=2014-10-31|df=mdy-all}} It was also a Washington Post book of the year.{{Cite web|title=Holiday Guide 2009: Best Books - The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/features/2008/holiday-guide/gifts/best-books-of-2009/|access-date=2020-12-01|website=The Washington Post}} His second book, a biography of Herbert Hoover, was published by Random House/Knopf in 2017.{{Cite news|title=Review: Kenneth Whyte's Hoover is a monumental work|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-kenneth-whytes-hoover-is-a-monumental-work/article36509808/|access-date=2020-12-01}} It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2017. In 2021, Knopf published The Sack of Detroit: General Motors and the End of American Enterprise, which is an account of the rise and subsequent decline of General Motors and the automotive industry. In this book, Whyte attributes the industry decline to what he believes was an excessively regulated business environment that developed following Ralph Nader's activism for the promotion of automobile safety. {{Cite news|title=The Last Battle Over Big Business. Ralph Nader, General Motors, and what we get wrong about regulation.|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/the-last-battle-over-big-business|access-date=2021-06-02}}

= Sutherland House Books =

In 2018, Whyte announced he was forming Sutherland House Books, a non-fiction publishing house that began releasing books in 2019.{{Cite news|title=Former Rogers president Ken Whyte launches non-fiction publishing house, acquires small press|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-former-rogers-president-ken-whyte-launches-non-fiction-publishing/|access-date=2020-12-01}} Authors who have published works under Sutherland House Books include author and journalist Jon Kay, psychologist and academic Michael Ungar, author and historian Conrad Black, cultural critic Sam Forster, and the "urban fixer" Joe Berridge. Others include, Jennifer Hosten, Alex Johnston, Trilby Kent, Judith Kalman, Ira Wells, Eric Reguly, Allen Abel among others.

In 2022, Sutherland House announced the launch of Sutherland Quarterly a series of current affairs books by leading writers that are sold in bookstores and also can be purchased by annual subscription.

= Other Involvements =

In 2016-2017, Whyte was appointed to the Canadian government's expert advisory panel on cultural policy.{{Cite web|title=Expert Advisory Group|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/news.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629155549/http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1091679|archive-date=29 June 2016|access-date=2020-12-01|website=aem}}{{Cite news|last1=Bradshaw|first1=James|last2=Leblanc|first2=Daniel|date=28 June 2016|title=Canadian experts unite for cultural policy advisory group|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadian-experts-unite-for-cultural-policy-advisory-group/article30635179/|access-date=2020-12-01}} A governor of the Donner Canadian Foundation for more than twenty years, Whyte succeeded Allan Gotlieb as chairman of the foundation in 2016.{{Cite web|last=Malloy|first=Kate|date=15 May 2017|title=Nicholson pulls back curtain on how Donner Prize finalists make the cut|url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2017/05/15/106516/106516|access-date=2020-12-01|website=The Hill Times|language=en-CA}} He is also a director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.{{Cite web|title=Ken Whyte|url=https://www.cdhowe.org/our-people/ken-whyte|access-date=2020-12-03|website=C.D. Howe Institute|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Kenneth Whyte|url=https://canadastrongandfree.network/speakers/kenneth-whyte/|access-date=2020-12-03|website=Canada Strong & Free Network|language=en-US}} He has served as a senior fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto,{{Cite web|last=Canada|first=Service|date=2016-08-31|title=News|url=http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1091679|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218063514/http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1091679|archive-date=18 February 2017|access-date=2020-12-03|website=aem}} an adviser to the Cundill Prize Foundation,{{Cite web|title=Advisory Committee|url=http://www.cundillprize.com/advisory-committee/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124093426/http://www.cundillprize.com/advisory-committee/|archive-date=November 24, 2016|access-date=February 17, 2017}} and a governor of the Aurea Foundation. He is a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, a life-time honorary alumnus of McGill University, and a former board member of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.{{cite journal |title=Briefs: Former National Post editor joins MISC

|date=September 11, 2003 |volume=36 |number= 1 |journal=McGill Reporter

|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/36/01/briefs/ |access-date=2017-11-26}}

In the spring of 2017, Whyte, in response to Hal Niedzviecki's editorial in Write magazine, initiated the "appropriation prize" in support of authors writing from points of view other than their own.{{Cite news|last=Paradkar|first=Shree|date=2017-05-13|title=Cultural appropriation prize fund was the unkindest cut of all: Paradkar|language=en-CA|work=The Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/05/13/cultural-appropriation-prize-fund-was-the-unkindest-cut-of-all-paradkar.html|access-date=2021-10-15|issn=0319-0781}} The "prize" was controversial in the Indigenous literature community.{{Cite web|date=2017-05-13|title=Canadian journalists support ‘appropriation prize’ after online furore|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/13/canadian-journalists-appropriation-prize|access-date=2021-10-15|website=the Guardian|language=en}}

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