Book Talk: Race to the Cape: The Daring News Chase, the Birth of the Associated Press, and the Journalist at the Heart of It All

Carleton’s journalism program is hosting Canadian journalist and author Theresa O’Leary on Wednesday, March 4, to talk about a new book chronicling a key moment in the history of journalism that changed how the world gets its news.

In Race to the Cape: The Daring News Chase, the Birth of the Associated Press, and the Journalist at the Heart of It All, O’Leary transports the reader to a time when speed, accuracy and objectivity became paramount, revealing the incredible true story behind a news service that created a template for wire service journalism. The book explores the rivalry, collaboration, and ingenuity that led to the formation of the New York Associated Press in 1846. And there is a surprising Canadian connection.

Set against the backdrop of the media industry of the 1800s, O’Leary’s book chronicles the remarkable life of Daniel H. Craig, an intrepid journalist who helped shape the very foundations of news reporting. Craig’s journey intertwines with the telegraph, marking the birth of a new era of news that would reach across continents. It also chronicles the story of the role Newfoundland’s Cape Race played in the birth of the Associated Press, the trusted cornerstone of modern journalism.

The birth of the Associated Press is also the story of how Craig and his team worked tirelessly to bring accurate, timely, and objective news to the world — a radical departure from the partisan news of the day. Through dramatic accounts of race-against-time news retrieval, high-seas adventures, and the relentless pursuit of the scoop, Race to the Cape offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Associated Press and the role Canada’s Cape Race played in it all.

Even though she grew up in Wabush, Labrador, O’Leary knew Cape Race on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula well. Her father’s Irish ancestors had settled in nearby Portugal Cove South and some, like her great aunt Kitty, worked at the Cape Race telegraph station.

After four decades focussing on the facts as a CBC news reporter, producer and documentarian, it was a natural progression for O’Leary to write a book of historic narrative nonfiction.

The event will be held in the School of Journalism and Communication resource centre, Room 4400 Richcraft Hall, at 7 p.m. on March 4. Admission is free, but guests are asked to register in advance.