Do what I say, not what I did
Cliff Lonsdale hitchhiked at 16 into an African war zone to kick-start his journalistic career. Here he reviews the Amanda Lindhout debate and explains what he tells young journalists these days.
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TorStar, world newspapers, wage climate-change fight
Most journalists strive never to become part of the story — except in life-or-death cases when our humanity demands action. The Toronto Star has decided that climate change is such a case — it joined 55 other newspapers around the world to demand action, not in an editorial, but in a front-page story. Excerpt: “Today…
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German media wars
Compared to the limp competition in Canada, Germany’s media wars are … interesting. “Giant Penis Sparks Bizarre Media War,” headlines DER SPIEGEL.
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Enough of Tiger Woods already
The obsession with Tiger Woods proves it: we’ve lost our marbles. Australia is drying up. Dubai is in the toilet. The Large Hadron Collider is smashing atoms. Our world is full of economic turmoil, prisoner torture, tax tantrums, pit bulls posing as statesmen … also genuine art, beauty, acts of compassion, marvels of all kinds.…
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Cult Journalism, or, The day the whale exploded
Move over, This Is Spinal Tap and The Rocky Horror Picture Show –a blast from the past (sorry) has become a cult journalism classic on the Internet with a reported 350-million hits. Forty years ago Oregon journalist Paul Linnman was assigned by an ABC affiliate to report on a scheme to get rid of a…
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“We’re in the dumps!!” and: “Freelancing not necessarily gainful!!!”
Oh, for those good old days — just last year wasn’t it? — when analysts trumpeted the economic value of the “creative class … “
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Rules for kidnapping blackouts?
Should the media automatically observe news blackouts in all kidnapping cases? That was the question at the heart of a panel discussion organized by the Canadian Journalism Foundation at the University of Toronto’s Innis College on November 17. WATCH a video of the panel discussion. Arguing in favour was former hostage Robert Fowler, who said…
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Journalism angst: “get over it”
“Get over it” — best take this week on journalism angst …
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Harper and media control
“… the PMO could not be reached for comment.”’nuff said.
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Canadian border guards detained journalist Amy Goodman
American journalist Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now on public radio, was detained and interrogated at a Canadian border crossing about whether she planned to talk about the Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 …