Instead, she added, “there’s only admiration” for anyone who has heard the calling of journalism and praise for the people who tell all our stories. 

No one knows that better than viewers of NTV News. That crew has faced lock downs and epic snow storms with grace under fire. The flagship show – the NTV Evening News Hour – must go on and everyone put their best foot forward. In spite of the chaos and the unknowns, the NTV team saw the light and the love in Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and reported on inspirational people doing exceptional things while also sharing the dismal COVID facts of the day. 

There is always hope between the headlines and we were grateful. And while the Oscars gave us the slap heard around the globe – an entertainment world bummer – the 65th annual Grammys were the opposite. 

An unexpected feel-good highlight happened when Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the world in a pre-recorded video which included a passionate plea for support for his people. 

“Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos, they sing to the wounded in hospitals … but the music will break through anyway,” Zelensky said. He concluded: “Fill the silence with your music! Fill it today, to tell our story…To all our cities the war is destroying: Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Volnovakha, Mariupol and others, they are legends already, but I have a dream of them living. And free. Free like you on the Grammy stage.”

While mixing war and musical awards might seem an odd combination, artists taking a stand for the greater good isn’t new. From the recording of Do They Know its Christmas by BandAid, to the recent charity song Lean On Me by artist CAN, a 2020 charity single featuring a who’s who of Canadian music legends, musicians have long offered support and now many have teamed up yet again to form a Stand Up for Ukraine initiative in a show of solidarity.

In real ‘Give Peace a Chance’ style, Doctors Without Borders received a $10,000 donation on behalf of Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon, reminiscent of the days when John Lennon’s Bed-ins for Peace as the Vietnam War raged made the news. 

Herald founder Geoff Stirling and his son and publishing successor Scott Stirling had a profound encounter with John and Yoko in 1969. Inspired by one of their songs, the senior Stirling wrote a note to the couple that read, “I heard your Come Together, so here I am: Geoff Stirling,” further evidence that entertainment, news-makers and anti-war efforts often go hand in hand. As for those in the news business, they do their part. 

The Award Winning NTV News team has covered disasters at sea, DARKNL and Snowmageddon plus provided up-to-the-minute pandemic coverage, going above and beyond to educate and inform. However beyond the facts and figures, there’s good news yarns –  like one recent story about a local artist who uses her jewelry to help those living in Ukraine. 

Such stories provide hope – a light at the end of the tunnel tale so that at the end of a tough news day, there’s proof we’ll all make it. For that balance, those who tell our stories – good and bad– for a living are worthy of an extra dose of admiration.

Pam Pardy, The Herald’s Managing Editor, can be reached by emailing pghent@nfldherald.com

To thine own self be true. For over four decades, one mystical and otherworldly comic book franchise has encapsulated the curiosity and the search for the inner meanings of time and space that so many ponder for generations.

Captain Newfoundland, and the Captain Atlantis universe, first burst onto the scenes in the late 1970s

“Just over two years ago Newfoundlanders discovered a new superhero, a champion of positive energy and life, a new symbol for the spirit of adventure within us all,” The Newfoundland Herald wrote in January of 1980.

“Captain Newfoundland is the supreme superhero, the ultimate manifestation of the great philosophies and natural powers of the world.”

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MADE FOR TELEVISION

The genesis of the Captain Newfoundland character was originated for television long before pen, pencil or brush struck paper for what would be a now-iconic comic series.

“My Dad Geoff (Stirling) knew that cable television was coming to Newfoundland and because of the time zone differences there would be television available after NTV had signed off. He felt it was imperative for NTV to go 24 hours. But what would we air overnight,” recalled Herald president and creator of Captain Newfoundland Scott Stirling in the summer of 2020.

COMING SOON TO NTV

“We were in the Himalayas when he initiated ads in The Herald promoting “Captain Newfoundland coming soon to NTV”. We had a couple of months to come up with and develop a concrete concept. Dad had already referred to Newfoundland as being the tip of Atlantis. It has rocks billions of years old so it was always there.

“When we went into the studio to create the character we worked with NTV’s legendary producer John Simms. Geoff himself was the original Captain Newfoundland. The late-night shows became a kind of cult hit and our first superhero was introduced to Newfoundlanders.”

INSPIRATION FOR THE FUTURE

Captain Newfoundland first hit the airwaves as the star of NTV’s Summer Festival, an all-night entertainment extravaganza, symbolizing a new age of hero to admire and respect.

“Canada is a country that has not done well in honouring its great men and women of history, allowing them to be dwarfed or overshadowed by the spillage of legends from south of the border,” read the 1980 article.

“Captain Newfoundland is a new superhero for this province, and the country, who represents all the great achievements of our history provides and an inspiration for the future.”

It was explained to readers early that Captain Newfoundland would travel over the globe and through time, passing on the vast knowledge of many forgotten civilizations. Naturally, the character was perfect for comic book enthusiasts.

BUILDING A LEGEND

“I started to write storylines for illustrated pages in the Herald’s comic section,” Stirling shared.

“I hired Danny Bulanadi to be our artist as he had drawn for Spider-Man, Superman and many other superheroes and was already renowned in the business. I would send him a page of stick figures with the dialogue and captions and he would apply his magic to bring them to life.

When we had enough pages for a comic book we went ahead and published them and over the years produced several.”
Building on the legend that the lost kingdom of Atlantis was comprised of an area mass we know today as the Atlantic Ocean, stretching from

Bimini off the coast of Florida to our very own island of Newfoundland, the creators of Captain Newfoundland built lore surrounding Newfoundland and Labrador as the only surviving portion of Atlantis.

LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES

“They are combining the legend of Atlantis with the deep sense of tradition and pride that is prevalent in Newfoundland and Labrador, along with a strong feeling for family and friends and a love of life,” the 1980 article explained.

“Captain Newfoundland and his counterpart Captain Silver of Labrador (and later the beloved Captain Canada), are examples of the high level of human potential within us all, representing an attitude about life that is positive while realizing the limitless possibilities we are presented with.”

Decades removed from its inception, and the Captain Atlantis universe – with Captain Newfoundland, Captain Silver and Captain Canada anchoring a host of colourful escapades and time-travelling adventures – serving to inspire the next wave of dreamers to think outside of this and any box.

To thine own self be true indeed.

‘A GUIDING LIGHT’

“Serving as a guiding light for those who choose to see it, Newfoundland’s first superhero shows a yearning for knowledge unequalled by the majority. Through the combination of all great beliefs and philosophies comes a universal understanding of the planet and the need for spiritual enlightenment. It was a deliberate decision to use the map of the province as the face of the hero, as that represents everyone who is part of the island. Captain Newfoundland is not just a person or a being, but rather the sum of all our energies and interests,” the 1980 article poetically wrote.

“Captain Newfoundland is a spirit, a feeling, a figurehead for a better life who is trying to spread energy to everyone.”

For more stories by staff writer Dillon Collins, click here

My Dad, Geoff Stirling, started The Newfoundland Herald in 1946 right after World War II, as a Sunday paper called The Sunday Herald. Joey Smallwood had just tried his own hand at publishing, but his political newspaper couldn’t make a go of it financially, so he sold Geoff tons of newsprint paper that he had leftover. He also gave Geoff his opinion that The Sunday Herald would never work. 

Geoff’s idea was to publish a family paper that would have something for everyone, not just local stories, but horoscopes, comics, ghost stories, puzzles and more.

He had enough paper for six issues and sold it for five cents. The first six issues sold out! Geoff wrote it, sold the advertising, printed it and distributed it. 

He was a one-man show starting out, even dropping bundles of The Herald wrapped in bright orange onto the ice floes free of charge for the sealers. 

After days and even weeks on the ice they appreciated being able to read the newspaper and started buying it when they returned home. 

RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT

Geoff was for Responsible Government in the 1949 vote to join Canada and noted that wherever the Herald was sold people voted for Newfoundland to be independent. Although the final vote was very close, Newfoundland became Canada’s 10th province. 

In 1955 Geoff started CJON Television, known today as NTV. He introduced the TV guide to the Herald and it was a pull out that required scissors to cut it into a readable guide. 

Over the past 75 years hundreds of writers, artists, editors, printers and carriers have all contributed to the Herald right up to today. I thank each and every one! At one point readers would call The Herald Newfoundland’s bible because it was read religiously every single week. 

MAGAZINE FORMAT

In the late ‘70s The Newfoundland Herald adapted a magazine format and then went with full colour photography on the cover. Today The Herald has colour on every page and is available online. 

How things have changed since the early days with no Internet, no television and only one daytime radio station playing mostly religious music in St. John’s. 

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Over the years Geoff did his best to promote Newfoundland artists, musicians, writers, sports heroes, and many others. He wanted to show that we had our own local celebrities and he was very proud of that. He also wanted Newfoundland and Canada to have their own superheroes, so we collaborated on developing Captain Newfoundland and Captain Canada. 

He asked me to fill a comic page every week, so I wrote scripts and hired Danny Bulanandi, who was working for Marvel and DC drawing Spider-Man and Superman among others. Many local superheroes came out of this enterprise. 

THE ‘INVISIBLES’

Geoff was all about promoting Newfoundland and he felt the most important thing for any entrepreneur was confidence in whatever endeavour one chooses. To have confidence in yourself and to not be discouraged by others. After all, he’d been told The Herald would never be successful! When he started NTV people said he was crazy. There wasn’t a single TV in Newfoundland when he started out but he could see the “Invisibles” he’d say. He saw the future potentials, and for the first six years CJON TV was a CBC affiliate. In 1963 Geoff and seven other broadcasters across Canada founded CTV. 

The Herald’s motto has been on our masthead page since the beginning. 

“If you abuse power you lose it. But if you do not use power you also lose it.”  

‘GOODIES & THE BADDIES’

He always felt a great responsibility to have accountable journalism in all our medias. It’s more important now than ever I believe. Many people believe most journalism is “ fake news.”

Probably the edition that made the most impact on me was when Geoff decided to meet John Lennon. We were in London so he sent a telegram to John at Apple Studios. It said simply, “I heard your Come Together so here I am. Within the hour the phone rang and it was John and Yoko inviting us over. John and Geoff got along so famously that John and Yoko invited us to their home the next day and showed us perhaps the first ever music video. It was called Imagine. 

The year was 1969 and the year before

Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy had been killed by gunfire. Geoff and John talked about the battle between good and evil. John referred to the “goodies and the baddies.” 12 years later John himself was shot and killed in NYC. 

Geoff was into sports growing up. He competed in the Pan American Games in the high jump competition and is in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (as well as the Broadcasting and Business Halls of Fame). He’s also in the Royal Regatta Hall as a builder. 

Over the years he’s sponsored several racing shells, sponsored 15 Championship Teams, men (NTV) and ladies (OZFM) and NTV still broadcasts it live across Canada. The Herald has written countless Regatta stories over the years and they’re always well received. 

‘ON THE COVER’

Corey and Trina wrote and sang On the Cover of the Newfoundland Herald and I’ve learned just how proud people are to be on the cover! For a Newfoundlander it is a great thrill and it always makes me feel proud of the Herald to promote our own. 

I’ve been involved with the Herald since the 70s. I wrote the last two cover stories of the Herald’s newspaper format on guns and capital punishment. 

Today, as president, I’m as proud of our staff as I’ve ever been and it feels really good to celebrate The Newfoundland Herald’s 75th Anniversary!

And to our readers over the years who have been so loyal and made the Herald possible, a very big Thank You to all!! We wouldn’t be here without you!! God Bless You.

— Scott Stirling, President