Membership of the CAJ Ethics Committee

The current membership of the Ethics Advisory Committee of the Canadian Association of Journalists is:

Ivor Shapiro (chair), Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director of the School of Journalism at Ryerson University. Shapiro teaches journalism ethics and feature reporting and previously worked as a reporter, magazine editor, and editorial trainer. He is the Founding Editor and current Ethics Editor of J-Source.ca. Born and raised in South Africa, he immigrated to Canada in 1985 and is a former contributing editor of Saturday Night magazine and former managing editor of Chatelaine magazine. Shapiro has written feature articles for those magazines as well as Toronto Life, The Walrus, Maclean's, Today's Parent and The Globe and Mail's Report on Business Magazine, among others. He is the author of one book-length work of literary journalism, What God Allows: The Crisis of Faith and Conscience in One Catholic Church (Doubleday, New York: 1996), and the editor of The Bigger Picture: Elements of Feature Writing (Emond Montgomery Press, 2008).

Marc-François Bernier, Research Chair in Communication of the Canadian Francophonie specializing in journalism ethics at the University of Ottawa. Bernier holds a PhD in political science and is a communications and journalism professor at the Department of Communication of the University of Ottawa. He has published many scientific articles and book chapters on journalism ethics and professional conduct and is frequently called upon as an expert witness in civil defamation cases.

Patrick Brethour is The Globe and Mail's British Columbia editor, heading a bureau of 17 journalists. Previously, he was the Alberta bureau chief for The Globe, reporting on energy, economic and political news in the province from 2002 to 2006. During the dot-com boom, he reported on technology from Toronto. He joined the Globe in 1996; before that, he worked at the Ottawa Citizen in various capacities.

Bert Bruser, lawyer, is counsel to the Toronto Star and an adjunct professor at both the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and the School of Journalism, Ryerson University. A former senior partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon, he has acted for newspapers and others in the publishing business for more than 30 years.

Tim Currie, Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax. Currie has taught online journalism and research at the university since 1999. He has a master’s degree in communications and technology from the University of Alberta and is co-editor of the forthcoming textbook The New Journalist. He comments frequently on new media issues.

Kathy English, Public Editor at the Toronto Star. She began her journalism career at the Brantford Expositor in 1976 and was a Star reporter and feature writer from 1983-1989. She has reported and edited for the Hamilton Spectator, London Free Press, Toronto Sun, and The Globe and Mail. She taught newspaper journalism at Ryerson School of Journalism for 10 years. In her sabbatical year from Ryerson, she completed a Master’s degree in Canadian history, writing a thesis on 20th century newspaper ownership trends and the demise of family ownership in Canadian newspapers. After departing from Ryerson's journalism faculty in 1989, she launched websites for two Canadian media companies, SunMedia and Transcontinental Media, and also directed the launch of the San Francisco-based parenting website, BabyCenter Canada. Kathy served on the board of the National Newspaper Awards for 5 years and is a current board member of the Association of Newspaper Ombudsmen. She also serves on the programming committee of the Canadian Journalism Foundation and on the board of the Gordon Sinclair Foundation.

Esther Enkin, executive editor CBC News. Esther Enkin was appointed Executive Editor, CBC News in 2008. Enkin has worked in radio and television at CBC since 1975. She was a founding member of The Journal, and went on to be a documentary field producer.  Several of her productions won international awards. Since then, she has held a number of progressively more responsible  roles.  As head of information programming and chief journalist (Radio) from 1997 to 2002, Enkin implemented a new operation structure and helped developed new programs including This Morning and Outfront.  From 2003 to 2007, Enkin was deputy editor-in-chief of CBC News, and oversaw the first steps in the integration of radio, television and online news. In her current position of executive editor, CBC News, Enkin is responsible for the quality and standards of CBC journalism.   She  oversees policy and standards, developing policy and ensuring CBC's journalistic standards are met nationally and regionally on all platforms.  Along with a colleague from Radio Canada, she is responsible for a complete rewrite and design of CBC’s authoritative ethical code,  Journalistic Standards and Practices. 

Ethan Faber, Managing Editor at CTV British Columbia in Vancouver and a broadcast journalism instructor at the BC Institute of Technology.  A former reporter and assignment editor for CTV News, Faber is a winner of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Gold Ribbon for television news and the Jack Webster Foundation Fellowship to the Poynter Institute.  CTV British Columbia has won three national RTNDA awards for best large market newscast in Canada.

Meredith Levine has been on faculty at the Graduate Journalism Program at Western since 2006.  Previous to this she spent two years with McMaster’s medical school teaching professionalism and ethics to graduating medical students.  As a journalist, she worked for a decade at CBC national radio current affairs creating programs and in depth series on social and health issues.  Meredith  also worked as a writer/producer of TV documentaries with Breakthrough Films. As a freelance print journalist, she has published in the NY Times, The Nation, the Newstateman (UK), the Globe and Mail and several Canadian magazines.  Meredith has collaborated with Dr. Gordon Guyatt, the Godfather of evidence-based medicine, on several research projects focused on incorporating patient perspectives into treatment guidelines, the most recent of which will be published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.  Meredith recently completed her M.J. (thesis stream) at Carleton University for which she was awarded The Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement.

Rod Link, Publisher and Editor of The Terrace Standard, the weekly newspaper serving Terrace and area in northwestern British Columbia. A graduate of the University of Victoria, Link has spent his entire professional career in northwestern B.C., first at The Lakes District News in Burns Lake and then at The Interior News in Smithers before becoming The Terrace Standard's first-ever editor when that newspaper began publishing in 1988. He became the publisher of The Terrace Standard in 1992 and has continued as its editor. Link is a past director of the B.C. Press Council.

Linden MacIntyre, TV documentary journalist and co-host of CBC-TV's the fifth estate since 1990. MacIntyre is a former documentary reporter with The Journal on CBC TV, host of Sunday Morning on CBC radio, parliamentary reporter for the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and a reporter for The Financial Times of Canada. He is the author of Who Killed Ty Conn (with Theresa Burke, 2001) and Causeway: A Passage from Innocence (2006). Among his numerous honours for journalism are an Emmy and several Gemini awards and Gordon Sinclair Awards, the George Polk Award, and the George Foster Peabody Award. MacIntyre has also written two novels, The Long Stretch (1999) and The Bishop's Man (winner of the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize).

Ken Regan, General Manager of the CKUA Radio Network. Regan is a journalist whose career in print, radio and television has spanned more than 25 years. Edmonton-based CKUA is Canada’s largest and most successful listener-supported radio service, with annual revenues in excess of $5-Million. Previously, he has served as a Senior Producer for Discovery Channel USA, and also spent three years as Producer and Senior Producer for CBC Television News in Alberta. In a previous stint with CKUA, Ken held positions as News Director and Legislature Bureau Chief. Ken did the Honours Journalism program at Carleton University and holds an Arts degree from Laurentian University. Ken is a member of the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada and a member of the University of Alberta Senate.

Julian Sher, documentary writer and director, author of five international best-selling books, and a past president of the CAJ. Sher directed a New York Times-CBC TV investigation called Nuclear Jihad, which won the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, in 2006. He filmed and covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the CBC and the New York Times. For ten years, he was an investigative producer for the CBC’s the fifth estate. His book ‘Until you are dead’ helped Steven Truscott clear his name after 50 years of being wrongly convicted of murder. His latest book, One Child at a Time: Inside the Police Hunt to Rescue Children from Online Predators (Random House 2007 was named a Globe Best book of the Yea and Best True Crime Book of the year by the Crime Writers of Canada. Sher's next book,Somebody’s Daughter:Tthe Hidden Crime of Child Prostitution in America, will be published in 2010. His features have appeared in New York Times, USA Today, Maclean’s and he is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail.

Craig Silverman is editorial director of OpenFile.ca, a community-driven local news organization. In 2004, he founded RegretTheError.com, a website that reports on media errors and accuracy. He is the author of Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech, which won the Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism. Craig writes weekly columns for Columbia Journalism Review and the Toronto Star, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Globe And Mail, The Gazette (Montreal), and Harvard’s Nieman Reports, among other publications. Silverman serves as vice-president of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, is an advisor to MediaBugs.org, and is co-organizer of Hacks/Hackers Toronto and Montreal.

Shauna Snow-Capparelli, Associate Professor, Department of Journalism, Mount Royal University. Snow-Capparelli is supervising editor of the university’s community newspaper, The Calgary Journal, and author of Journalism Code of Ethics and Professional Practices, a comprehensive policy document guiding all reporting conduct and journalistic work undertaken by students in both the bachelor’s degree and post-degree certificate programs. Snow-Capparelli’s professional experience includes 13 years as a staff writer at The Los Angeles Times and a brief stint at The Orange County Register. At the L.A. Times, Snow-Capparelli covered the arts beat, and also wrote and edited a widely read daily entertainment news column, Morning Report.

Ellen van Wageningen, business/news editor for The Windsor Star, where she has worked as a reporter and editor since 1990. In her previous position as metro editor, Van Wageningen oversaw a National Newspaper Award nominated series on the events that lead to the slaying at a Windsor hospital of a nurse by a doctor. She also spearheaded the initial training of staff when The Windsor Star website was launched. During her time as a reporter she covered justice, municipal affairs and health, and was one of three reporters at the Star who won a National Newspaper Award for a series on shift work. Van Wageningen is a native of Vermilion, Alta., and graduate of Carleton University’s journalism program.

Stephen J. A. Ward, Burgess Professor of Journalism Ethics and director of the Center for Journalism Ethics in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously, he was director of the UBC Graduate School of Journalism in Vancouver. He is the author of The Invention of Journalism Ethics and Global Journalism Ethics,and co-editor of Media Ethics Beyond Borders. Ward is associate editor of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics and ethics columnist for J-Source.ca.