J-Topics

Toronto's City Hall: are press a security threat?

Mar 29, 2011 - Posted by Dana Lacey

In a column for The Toronto Star, Royson James writes about a confidential report that may limit press access to city councillors. He writes:

"It is with no little concern that television and newspaper reporters and columnists received news that the city’s government management committee Tuesday could severely restrict the media’s coming and going -- in the name of enhanced city hall security."

One potential outcome: media may be required to sign in and be escorted to councillor's offices, just like the public. "Over our dead bodies," Royson writes, "and court challenges."

Proposed legislation effectively states that agribusiness and journalism do not mix

Mar 28, 2011 - Posted by Julie Payne

Proposed legislation in the states of Iowa and Florida, championed by their respective Senators, can potentially make it illegal for investigative journalists to take photographs or videos of farming conditions without permission from farm owners. Senators Jim Norman (Florida) and Sandy Greiner (Iowa) introduced the legislation in order to protect farmers and businesses from activists that seek to "slam the industry". Such legislation, which includes potential jail time, challenges the well-understood rights/freedoms of the press, enshrined in the First Amendment. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has already questioned the legitimacy of the legislation, but organizations like the American Agriculture Association (AAA) have come out in support of the legislation, calling those opposed, "activists that seek to promote a vegan agenda".

PMO communications spending up 30%; journo access down

Mar 24, 2011 - Posted by Dana Lacey

The Prime Minister's Office's spending on communications has increased by nearly $10 million a year, according to a report by The Hill Times. Harper has become notorious amongst journalists for the tight lid he keeps on information. On his blog, Carleton University j-prof Josh Greenberg writes:

"Critics argue that this rise in PR spending is typical of a government obsessed with message control and they decry the decline of a democracy in which an increasingly influential cadre of spin-doctors appear to be manufacturing crises for no other reason than to justify their own solutions. Illustrative of this position is the Globe & Mail’s Jeffrey Simpson, who wrote that “although centralized control of messaging has been a growing feature of governments in many democracies nothing in Canada has come close to the attention, time and effort the Harper government puts into managing and manipulating information and image-making."

A journalistic deja-vu: political party requests personal sources

Mar 16, 2011 - Posted by Jaclyn Nardone

Journalists are routinely faced with issues regarding access to information, especially when asked to reveal their anonymous sources. Recently, Canadian politicians were faced with their own sort of ‘source scandal’ -- and though much different than the issues journalists endure -- the debate around privacy still lies at the heart of the matter. The pre-election preparations of the April 17th election that will replace British Colombia’s former New Democratic Party leader, Carole James, left politicians digitally vulnerable. The party asked candidates to hand over their social media passwords, for fear that who they are on Facebook, may not match who they are on the campaign trail. This vetting process -- gone digital -- had candidate Nicholas Simons refusing to hand in passwords at the party’s initial request.

From Sarajevo to Canada: Edmonton welcomes 2011s writer-in-exile

Mar 07, 2011 - Posted by Jaclyn Nardone

Once the owner of a book store at home in Sarajevo -- which was destroyed, along with his home, upon the 1992 Serbian siege -- Goran Simi now resides in Canada. Serving as Edmonton’s new Writer-In-Exile of 2011, Simi has certainly made his mark in the world of literature, via many angles. A prominent journals in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia, Simi has earned himself the title of “one of the most prominent writers of the former Yugoslavia.” He is a “poet, short story writer, essayist” and has authored 11 books, produced plays and radio plays, and edited several literary magazines. Many happy literary wishes for Simi's year to come - may his pen always be his mightiest sword in telling the tales of his life lived across borders.

Reporters please leave - the opposition leader is going to speak

Mar 05, 2011 - Posted by Grant Buckler

The Prime Minister’s Office has apologized for an incident at the Museum of Civilization Friday night, in which a PMO staffer hustled reporters out of the room after a speech by Prime Minister Stephen Harper – and before Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff spoke.

How not to file freedom of information requests

Feb 14, 2011 - Posted by Dana Lacey

In researching a story about a devastaing fire in a Toronto apartment building, OpenFile Toronto's Stephen Spencer Davis learned a few things about filing Freedom of Information requests. The hard way.

Journalist dies covering protests in Egypt

Feb 04, 2011 - Posted by Dana Lacey

An Egyptian reporter that was shot last week while covering the intial violent clashes in Cairo has died, USA Today reports, making him the first journalist to die in the protests. CTV reports that "Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud was 'shot by a sniper' while he was taking photos from his balcony four days ago, not far from central Tahrir Square."

Journalists have been increasingly targeted by pro-government protestors, and have reported attacks, arrests and stolen or damaged gear.

Press-bashing in Rwanda

Feb 04, 2011 - Posted by Claude Adams

We've been reading a lot about the ill-treatment of international journalists in Egypt. But far more shocking is how the Rwandan government deals with dissident news people: Two women journalists have been jailed for 17 years and seven years respectively, for what prosecutors said was journalism "meant to stir hatred and fury against the government."

Canadian journalists targeted in Egypt

Feb 04, 2011 - Posted by Jaclyn Nardone

Amid the Egyptian protests in Tahrir Square, “Freedom Square,” foreign and domestic human rights advocates and journalists have been targeted, and Canadians have been caught in the middle. Journalists from The Globe and Mail, CTV, CBC, TVA, Global National and a slew of others have been targeted. Much is left up in Egypt’s revolutionary air. But one thing is for certain - with cameras off, recorders confiscated and journalists detained – no one will know the fate of Egypt. The protesters need the media to stay with them and the media need the authorities to cooperate.

Freedom of Expression

The CJFE is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of free expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and contribute to the development of media freedom throughout the world. This space will be dedicated to news and other info about freedom of expression issues in Canada and abroad.

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