J-Topics

Mike Wallace's impact on Canadian journalism

Apr 08, 2012 - Posted by Cecil Rosner

Mike Wallace's death at the age of 93 has led many to assess his impact on American journalism. But as Cecil Rosner explains, his interviewing style also influenced the course of Canadian investigative journalism, particularly the television variety.

Google for journalists: tips and techniques

Feb 29, 2012 - Posted by Cecil Rosner

It's a tool we all use every day, but investigative journalists need to know Google inside and out. The Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting organized a recent seminar on the subject in Toronto.

Freelance writer Paul Weinberg checked it out. Here is his report.

It's time to kill investigative journalism

Feb 24, 2012 - Posted by Belinda Alzner

In what he calls the "post-newspaper age", Richard Mostyn, former editor of Yukon News, is worried about newspaper-style reporting. That is, the writing of good, old-fashioned, patient and tenacious journalism in an era where quick and easy news breaks 24 hours a day. That is why he says we must drop the moniker "investigative journalism" and simply call it what it should be: good journalism.

Hacker-assisted reporting: can it be ethical?

Feb 04, 2012 - Posted by Cecil Rosner

If you hear the word ‘hacker’ and all you can think is News of the World scandal, stop cringing. Cecil Rosner explains how working with hackers who mine for publicly available data can be beneficial to not-so-tech-savvy journalists.

Sean Holman says goodbye to Public Eye

Nov 09, 2011 - Posted by Lauren McKeon

Over the last seven years anyone wanting to know more about who was pulling the levers of provincial politics in British Columbia inevitably turned to Public Eye, a unique online news source, created and doggedly maintained by journalist Sean Holman. After thousands of stories and many exclusives, Holman has now called it a day for Public Eye. Here he tells us in five lessons what worked and, ultimately, what failed. This story was originally published by the Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting.

Five Questions for Julian Sher

Nov 02, 2011 - Posted by Lauren McKeon

With this weekend’s cross-border investigative journalism conference fast approaching, J-Source sat down with speaker and Globe and Mail investigative guru Julian Sher to get some early tips. Sher dishes on scene-grabbing, brainstorming ideas, and finding hidden gems.

Exposing dirty media tricks: "It helps that Murdoch is a bastard"

Oct 20, 2011 - Posted by Cecil Rosner

The phone hacking scandal at News of the World might never have been fully exposed without the dogged efforts of Guardian reporter Nick Davies. Davies, a colourful character who pulls no punches, described how he got the story in an address to the recent Global Investigative Journalism Conference.

Live coverage: The law and ethics of investigative journalism

Oct 19, 2011 - Posted by Lauren McKeon

Dominique Payette's first Ontario talk about her controversial report; Julian Assange's lawyer on keeping the media accountable; the consequences of promising to keep sources confidential. J-Source associate editor Lauren McKeon liveblogged it all -- and more -- at the packed all-day panel series.

Working with WikiLeaks: the rewards and the frustrations

Oct 17, 2011 - Posted by Cecil Rosner

J-Source's Investigative Journalism editor Cecil Rosner brings us a special dispatch from the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Kiev: What it was like for the investigative journalists who worked with Julian Assange, and why one will never do it again.

Ryerson students get a special lesson in investigative reporting

Sep 21, 2011 - Posted by Mary McGuire

Six Ryerson journalism students contributed to the research and reporting of a three-part series published recently in the Toronto Star which detailed troubling practices in some Ontario high schools. The first story, by Robert Cribb, documented how some Ontario high school students are getting into university with inflated grades purchased from some privately run, for profit schools. The second story, was a first-hand account by a reporter, Jennifer Yang, who posed as a summer student at a school alleged to be handing out credits and grades for a fee. The third story provided comments from students who admitted benefitting from what was essentially a black market for high school grades.

Marta Iwanek. one of the Ryerson students who helped with the series, and her teammates reflect on how the story developed, what they learned from pursuing it, and offer advice to other students interested in investigative reporting.

Investigative Journalism

Investigative journalism aims to hold powerful institutions of all kinds to account, and it does so with a rigorous search for the truth. Cecil Rosner is managing editor for CBC Manitoba. He teaches investigative journalism at the University of Winnipeg, and is the author of Behind the Headlines: A History of Investigative Journalism in Canada (Oxford University Press).