Year / 2009

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  • [UPDATED] Journalist killed in Afghanistan with 4 soldiers

    [Note: This post has been updated] Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang, 34, and four Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan Wednesday, CBC News reports. Lang grew up in Vancouver and had also worked in Regina and Moose Jaw. She…
  • What exactly is responsible journalism?

    With the recent Supreme Court decision to widen the available defences to defamation actions comes added responsibilities. Journalists must now debate what constitutes responsible journalism, writes Cecil Rosner. …
  • Libel reform: Be careful what you wish for

    CommentaryThe new defence of responsible communication is good news for the media, but Ryerson University’s Jeffrey A. Dvorkin doubts it will usher in a new wave investigative journalism. As layoffs continue and newsrooms are pared down to the editorial bone,…
  • The responsible communication defence: What’s in it for journalists?

    New defences to libel actions don’t come along every day, so what exactly does the pair of Supreme Court of Canada rulings handed down December 22 mean for journalists? An expanded definition of “public interest,” a list of the steps…
  • J-Source Journalism Integrity Award: nominations close Jan. 8

    Do you know someone who is an inspiration to working journalists, educators and audiences? This new award will recognize a person or organization that has had a positive impact on the quality of journalism in Canada in 2009. Nominate your…
  • Olympic spin … er, media relations

    The Seattle Times‘s Ron Judd is not impressed with the media strategy of the organizing committee of the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics, VANOC. “The organization seems hellbent on turning its media relations into a virtual-reality experience,” Judd writes in a…
  • SCC creates new libel defence of responsible communication

    NewsThe Supreme Court of Canada has created a new libel defence – the defence of responsible communication on matters of public interest. In a landmark ruling that orders new trials in libel actions against two Ontario newspapers, the court introduced…
  • New legal defence: “responsible communication”

    Few legal judgements make for inspiring reading — but the new libel defence outlined in the Supreme Court of Canada ruling Grant v. Torstar Corp., 2009 SCC 61 is one of them. The Dec. 22 decision lays out the criteria…
  • Moving on to (better?) things

    New York Times science and environment reporter Andrew Revkin is “switching gears for the second half of my professional life.” Revkin wrote in the Times that he’s not abandoning journalism — “I’ll be continuing to blog, write and work with…
  • Journalism is not the media

    “Journalism, the practice, is not “the media,”” argues Jay Rosen in a mini-essay about how the practice of journalism has become trapped in media production routines. He says, “We got into the habit of calling journalism the “news media,” and…