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CBC Ombudsman: Being Provocative Is Allowed

Many people wrote to complain about one of the panelists on the CBC election night programme – she compared Donald Trump to Hitler.
Toronto Star Public Editor: ‘Alt-right’? No, call it racism

Journalists must not serve as unquestioning heralds for those who espouse racism and hate.
Toronto Star Public Editor: More discussion about demeaning team names needed

By Kathy English for the Toronto Star Can we talk, please, about that baseball team from Cleveland that dare not speak its name on this particular page of the Toronto Star. It’s…
Globe and Mail Public Editor: Evidence suggests Jays game racism story is fair

By Sylvia Stead for The Globe and Mail I get a lot of passionate e-mails from readers, especially sports fans and political partisans, who have strong feelings about whether a column is…
Toronto Star Public Editor: Readers still care about language use

By Kathy English for the Toronto Star In this age of instant digital news, in which journalism faces revolutionary changes, some things do not change — most notably readers’ expectations of excellence…
CBC Ombudsman: Olympic opening colour commentary

The complainant stated that Peter Mansbridge had injected biased and inappropriate comments into his remarks during the opening ceremonies of the Rio games.
CBC Ombudsman: Fairness in Ford Nation

By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman The complainant, Jacqueline Bell, thought that repeated use of the name of one candidate, Michael Ford, and references to the “Ford dynasty” on the day of a…
Toronto Star Public Editor: When does The Star report race of suspects wanted by police?

By Kathy English for the Toronto Star A reader’s good question about the Toronto Star’s reporting of the race of suspects wanted by police raised relevant points demanding further inquiry. “I am…
CBC Ombudsman: Quoting in Context – Editing interviews accurately

By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman The complainant, Frank Ramagnano, President of the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, said he was unfairly quoted in a story about a female firefighter’s harassment and search…
Globe and Mail Public Editor: Transparency with sources – and readers – is necessary

By Sylvia Stead for The Globe and Mail Last week, The Globe and Mail ran a feature in the Life section in a series called “It Happened to Me.” It was an interview with…