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In the city of Toronto, the dawn of the 20th century was the best of times - if you were fortunate enough to be rich.

For the city's poor, it was the worst of times: wage slavery, disease and hunger were their lot. Starving women and children huddled in grim shanties just steps from the splendour of city hall.

Few members of the Toronto elite showed much concern for the plight of the poor. And so it fell to a shy, Bible-quoting newspaperman to champion the cause of the disadvantaged and destitute. Joseph E. Atkinson spent a lifetime preaching social justice. His pulpit? The Toronto daily newspaper still loved by thousands and feared and loathed by some of the powerful : The Star.

Fighting Words: The Social Crusades of Joseph E. Atkinson, is an hour-long documentary that chronicles the tumultuous life and times of the legendary "Holy Joe." VisionTV premiered the documentary in April 19 2007.

Atkinson's Story in Fighting Words...

Joseph E. Atkinson was born near Newcastle, Ont. in 1865, the eighth child of a poor but devout British immigrant family. Privation and tragedy were childhood companions, and would mark him for life.

Though he once dreamed of becoming a Methodist minister, Atkinson found his true calling in journalism. By the 1890s, he had become a star reporter in Toronto for The Globe. It was there that he forged a lifelong friendship with a colleague named William Lyon Mackenzie King - and, more important still, fell in love with trailblazing female journalist Elmina Elliott, who would become his wife in 1892.

In 1899, wealthy supporters of Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier bought the struggling Toronto Evening Star (circulation: 7,000), hoping to turn the paper into a Liberal beachhead in a city dominated by the Conservative elite. They tapped Atkinson to run the operation.

Under his leadership, The Star went beyond the expectations of its powerful backers - in more ways than one. Atkinson showed a knack for sensationalism that quickly reversed the paper's financial fortunes giving it the largest circulation of any newspaper in the country, which remains true today.  But he also proved less pliable than party politicians had hoped. As The Star prospered, Atkinson asserted ever greater independence, focusing the paper's energies on what he considered its most important mission: bettering the lives of the poor in a city where two children in five did not survive to see their first birthday.

Atkinson and his wife Elmina (often cited as the "conscience" of the paper and the "hidden power" behind his rise to prominence) were passionately committed to the "Social Gospel" movement of the early 20th century, which advocated applying Christian principles to correcting social ills.

In addition to exposing the realities of life in Toronto's slums and campaigning for clean water and pasteurized milk, Atkinson and his paper took up many progressive social causes, from unemployment insurance to old age pensions. During his years at the helm The Star also launched two famous charitable programs for children - the Fresh Air Fund and the Santa Claus Fund - that continue to this day.

Atkinson infuriated much of the Canadian establishment with his crusades - not least The Star's exposés of price-fixing cartels, its incessant editorializing for a wealth tax to pay for social programs, and its support for the labour movement (though Atkinson himself resisted unionization at The Star). "Holy Joe" was ostracized by Toronto's rich and powerful, and to this day many old time conservatives vilify his name. But to the day he died in 1948, Atkinson never relented.

Fighting Words features seldom-seen archival images, meticulous period recreations, and insights from historians, journalists and Atkinson family members.

Michael Pieri is the executive producer, and veteran documentary filmmaker Paul Dalby (Historylands) wrote and directed. Broadcaster Jill Dempsey is the narrator.

Fighting Words is a production of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, which plans to make the film available as a teaching tool in Ontario schools. For more information, please visit www.atkinsonfoundation.ca or contact

 fightingwords@atkinsonfoundation.ca

Or Watch it online on Youtube by clicking this link...