• J-Source

    Abuse scandals – reviewing the coverage

    In light of abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, how well is the media covering this issue? This was one of the questions behind a Sunday Edition panel discussion, MediaPhiles: God and the Media. In J-Source’s Ideas Section we learn there’s more to the story than clerics and victims. Over in the Town Hall,…

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    Is Torstar bid favored to buy Canwest newspapers?

    A quickening is apparent within Canada’s biggest newspaper conglomerate, long mired in the slough of despond. Beleagued Canwest LP is comprised of the remnants of some once-venerable FP publications, some once-venerable Southam publications and a whole bunch of small newspapers that once served their communities. Other than the relatively new National Post company flagship, mostly…

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    “Public trust” side of CanWest sale

    The imminent auction of the CanWest chain of newspapers has drawn the attention of Canada’s largest media union, which urged consideration of the “public trust” in the choice of a new owner. Meanwhile, CanWest appointed an interim president to steer its newspaper division through the final throes of its bankruptcy protection and sale …

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    Climate scientist sues National Post

    Canadian climate scientist Andrew Weaver is suing the National Post for its coverage of him and his work — and he is also asking the court to force the CanWest flagship newspaper to help scrub the web of its re-posted articles, which a news release from his law firm says “poison” the Internet. The suit,…

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    Study suggests web is free-range

    Americans who spend a lot of time on Fox news are also more likely than most to visit the New York Times, suggests a new study by two business professors in Chicago. Their findings counter the received wisdom that the Internet creates citizens isolated in silos, reading only news they choose. “We find no evidence…

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    Journalism solution to malfeasance and accountability: study

    An academic study on the re-election of corrupt politicians concludes investigative journalism is the solution. But it warns the disappearance of a business model for “a free and aggressive press” does not bode well for political accountability.

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    Obama’s media control issues

    Restrictions on journalists — both American and from other countries — “have become a common practice for the Obama White House,” reports the Washington Post.Dana Milbank, writing about the treatment of the press by the American president during the Nuclear Security Summit, called it “a clinic for some of the world’s greatest dictators in how…

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    Harper government blocks information

    A new report questions whether the notion of transparent government, accountable to and for voters, exists in Canada. Journalists have long found ourselves blocked  by Stephen Harper’s government. Today in a report to Parliament Interim Access to Information Commissionier Suzanne Legault said “growing delays are eroding Canadians’ right to obtain documents from their government.” So…

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    Newspaper integrity: the game (seriously)

    Forget the crossword, Sudoko, Tetris — you can now play the newspaper integrity game, voting (or not) as many times as you wish for the newspaper of your choice. At the time of posting, Canada’s Langley Advance and National Post were among the top-ranked newspapers in the world. Seriously.

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    Dragons, seamonsters and old-school newshounds

    Are old-school newshounds mythical creatures? wonders A.O. Scott in a New York Times review of a series on journalism films at Film Forum in New York. The series, suggests Scott, evokes “the quintessence of print journalism in all its inky, hectic glory.” Real, or not, it’s nostalgia — always a popular draw.