Colby Cosh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Colby Cosh (born May 2, 1971 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian commentator, writer and editor of non-fiction, and blogger.
Cosh grew up in Bon Accord, Alberta, north of Edmonton, and graduated from the University of Alberta in 1993, doing further study in European intellectual history under libertarian scholar Ronald Hamowy. Cosh generally writes political, social and sports commentary for his blog, and professionally for the conservative press. Cosh's own views tend towards libertarianism; his writing style has been compared to that of H. L. Mencken.
His journalism career began in 1992 as a researcher-writer for the Alberta in the 20th Century book series, a Byfield family project. Cosh then joined the Byfields' conservative newsmagazine Alberta Report and its affiliates. He wrote feature reports and the "Up Front" column, serving as senior editor from 1997 to the magazine's demise in 2003.
Subsequently, Cosh became a regular Op-Ed contributor to the National Post, and joined the Report-influenced Western Standard as its sports columnist in 2004. He has contributed to numerous other print and online publications.
ColbyCosh.com, the weblog he started in June 2002, is one of the most-read and referenced Canadian weblogs. During the 2004 federal election, a post in Cosh's blog touched off a political scandal that briefly won national headlines. Malcolm Azania, an Edmonton teacher, writer and activist, was running for the New Democratic Party in Edmonton—Strathcona. Cosh remembered Azania as a more strident and controversial campus activist in the 1990s; after googling the candidate, he retrieved a 1994 Usenet post by Azania entitled "JEWS: ENEMIES?FRIENDS?" The post, taking an essentialist view of race and discussing the relationship between Jewish and Black people, could potentially, at worst, be read as anti-Semitic. Azania quickly stated that his intent with the post was not anti-Semitic, and apologized strongly. B'nai B'rith accepted his apology.
