Category / Read / Field Notes

How Canada ended up on the cover of The Economist

By Madelaine Drohan Reaction to the cover story I wrote for The Economist on Canada (Liberty Moves North, Oct. 29) revealed a lot of misconceptions about how such stories come about. Some pundits thought it was generated in London, making it a British view of Canada. Others went to the other extreme and said it…
How Kevin Donovan investigated the secret life of Jian Ghomeshi

By Joe Smith-Engelhardt The journalistic and police investigations and subsequent trial and acquittal of disgraced CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi’s sexual assault cases were very difficult for the public to grasp. Many key details were left out of initial coverage due to legal reasons, until now. Toronto Star reporter Kevin Donovan’s book Secret Life: The…
Meet the Press: Angela Sterritt

By Nadine Tousignant for CNW Angela Sterritt is an award-winning Gitxsan journalist, artist and writer, from British Columbia. Sterritt has worked as a journalist for close to twenty years and has been with CBC since 2003. Her reports have appeared in the Globe and Mail, The National, CBC’s The Current, and various other national and local news programs. She tells us…
What led to a journalist covering Muskrat Falls being named in a court order?

By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor When a group of protesters in Muskrat Falls in Labrador cut the locks on the gate of a controversial hydroelectric project and marched in, journalist Justin Brake followed the story. “I just continued to do my job as a journalist,” he said. As a result, he was among 22 people…
Twitter chat: Canadian journalists covering the U.S. election
Éric Grenier explains why political polls are more important than ever

By Kate Skelly Polling has never been more important than throughout the 2016 U.S. election, according to CBC’s poll analyst Éric Grenier. “Polling does have some caveats. It does have some caution that you have to exercise with it. But it isn’t the bad thing that people make it out to be,” he said. “It’s…
Court order threatening arrest of journalist covering Muskrat Falls must be rescinded

By Duncan Pike for Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) strongly condemns the court order threatening journalist Justin Brake with arrest for covering the peaceful occupation of Muskrat Falls in Labrador. The order is a clear violation of freedom of the press and an unacceptable assault on the public’s right to know.…
Edmonton media outlet Taproot is working on an innovative model for paid reporting work

This story was funded by the J-Source Patreon campaign. By Trish Audette-Longo Taproot Edmonton’s very first story wouldn’t normally crack a newspaper’s front page or the 6 o’clock news. Posted online in September, “South Edmonton’s surprising deer paradise” was written by freelance journalist Mel Priestley and offers a detailed account of how deer live in the…
Alone at the “Ledge”

By Kim Trynacity In Alberta, when the legislature isn’t in session, admittedly, there are few reporters scouring the halls. But regardless of the time of year, over the sixteen years I’ve covered politics, there has always been a healthy core of reporters around to discuss stories, swap tales and most important, probe issues to hold government…
Journalism internships should be paid fairly and offer personal mentoring

By Errol Salamon Entry-level media workers can confirm that some journalism internships aren’t as glamorous as they may seem because they’re neither paid fairly nor do they provide one-on-one mentoring. We gathered the stories of four journalism interns to better understand the experiences of emerging media workers in today’s media landscape. Here’s what they had…