Category / Commentary

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It’s not just Egypt: Star covers zone of entire Middle East

Instead of concentrating its reporting force in Egypt to replicate saturation coverage already available everywhere, the Toronto Star has nine journalists covering “the Arab Awakening” from Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Yemen,…
Participatory journalism: What do you think that means?

Citizen journalism, public journalism, grassroots journalism, participatory journalism—just some of the terms used to describe the public’s new role in the production of news. But what do any of those terms mean…
Who is Don Burroughs and why is he saying these things?

Vancouver blogger Adrian McNair has taken issue with a column by Susan Delacourt on the possibility of a spring federal election. Delacourt quotes Don Burroughs in her story, noting he was called…
Egypt media coverage

As turmoil deepens in Egypt, media critics accuse U.S. broadcasters of serving up “blather and confusion” from the mouths of “unqualified panellists.” Most columnists agree that Al Jazeera continues to lead on-the-ground…
Living with the tragedy in Tucson

Here’s a fascinating story about how a friend of the accused Tucson shooter was treated by the media. She’s just a high-school student who, it seems, became a commodity for the news…
Must bloggers follow the rules?

Mike Elk was fired as a labor blogger for the Huffington Post because he took part in a labor disruption. The guy who fired him was earning a reported $300,000 a year.…
The Canadian hostage, and the indifferent media

Twenty-six months ago, Beverley Giesbrecht was kidnapped by the Taliban in the tribal regions of Pakistan, not far from the Afghanistan border. She was a self-styled journalist from British Columbia, on a…
Wakefield coverage called a journalistic failure

An article in the Montreal Gazette condemns journalism for failing to show assertions by a British doctor that vaccinations could cause autism. Freelancer Neil Cameron notes: “The widespread fears about vaccination were…
More on covering tragedy

Here’s another good article that perhaps we should all print and keep handy for the next time we find ourselves covering unspeakable tragedy. With thanks to Jane Hawkes of the Canadian Journalism…
Did the media blow it?

Interesting piece in the New York Times about how the media was quick to blame the shootings in Arizona on politics, the Tea Party, Sarah Palin and ramped-up rhetoric. I’m not sure…