Jack has had an extensive career as a professional journalist, dating back to 1969. He has been a staff writer and editor for
The Gazette in Montreal and the national newspaper, the
Globe and Mail. Jack began his career reviewing theatre and movies for
The Gazette before moving to the
Globe in 1975, where he edited a section of the paper dedicated to popular culture. Jack also contributed to
Digital Journal magazine between 2001 and 2007 on a freelance basis.
Since then, Jack has contributed to virtually every beat from literary criticism to religion and technology. He has been Books Editor, editor of the Letters to the Editor page, and World Editor for the week-in-review Focus section.
In 1985, he published a collection of the best letters printed by the
Globe, in a book called
Shocked and Appalled: A Century of Letters to The Globe and Mail.
In 2001, he became the lead technology columnist and reporter for the technology section of the paper's website,
globeandmail.com. He has been something of a pioneer in the area of personal computing — purchasing his first computer in 1981, tapping into local and international bulletin boards to do research for stories, and working with the
Globe and Mail's team in the days when the first
Globe and Mail websites were being created.
From 1996 to 1999, Jack wrote many high-tech features as well as a weekly column called
Cyberia for the print paper, which explained the high-tech revolution in comprehensible terms. Jack's
Cyberia column was one of the most popular features of
globetechnology.com. He also regularly reviewed new products, including digital cameras, new software, wireless networks and handheld devices.
Jack left the
Globe and Mail in 2008 to pursue more creative interests and act as an advisor to DigitalJournal.com.
