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    CBC Ombudsman: Journalistic Truth — One Piece At a Time

    By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman The complainant, Gregory Duffell, thought a story on The National about Liberal cabinet minister Maryam Monsef was a journalistic failure. He considered it a “cover-up” to counter criticism of the minister and the entire Liberal government. He asked why details of Ms. Monsef’s life story were reported as fact when…

  • Should there be a policy response to the decline of newspapers in Canada? Image courtesy Steve Harris/CC BY 2.0.

    Democracy and the decline of newspapers

    By Dale Eisler, Senior Policy Fellow, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy In the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson famously wrote that if the choice were government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, he would choose the latter. Today, almost two-and-half centuries later, Jefferson’s observation might actually be tested. The great disrupting influence of digital…

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    CBC Ombudsman: Tough but fair—Grilling a politician is a journalist’s job

    By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman The complainant, Mary MacDonald, thought Anna Maria Tremonti was hostile and biased in an interview with Conservative Party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch. The topic was a proposal to have a values-screening of immigrants. The interview was challenging, the questions were appropriate, and the interviewee was able to present her views…

  • An ad for the New York Times digital subscription service. Photo courtesy André-Pierre du Plessis/CC BY 2.0.

    The darker side to new media business models

    By Paul Willcocks for The Tyee As traditional news media fade to black, one promising business model is built on providing high-value, exclusive information at premium prices. Good news on one level. Operations like Politico Pro and Blacklock’s Reporter can keep journalists working, focus on stories that matter and shed light in dark corners. Not so…

  • Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam construction site. CC BY | Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

    Court order threatening arrest of journalist covering Muskrat Falls must be rescinded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.…
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    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 fair or a story is accurate. This week, the story that garnered that heat was about the Toronto Blue Jays’ wild card victory…

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    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 in English language usage. Rarely a day goes by without several Toronto Star readers emailing the public editor’s office to point out spelling,…