Category / Read / Commentary

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,…
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 municipal by-election to fill the seat formerly held by Rob Ford, violated the need for balance and fair coverage. She was concerned this…
Seizure of Journal de Montreal reporter’s computer shows need for shield laws

By Thomas Rose, Law Editor A journalist in Montreal is anxiously awaiting a decision by a Quebec judge as to whether police will be allowed to rummage through his computer, which was seized earlier this month. Michael Nguyen is a justice reporter at the Journal de Montreal. Last June he broke a story alleging provincial…
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 curious about the application of the Toronto Star’s policy on naming the race of suspects,” the reader, who works in the field of…
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 for redress. He and other firefighters who wrote thought the story was unfair and condemned the whole fire service. There was no violation…
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 comedian Cathy Jones about experiencing the symptoms of vaginal atrophy. The story included an interview with Dr. Vivien Brown, an assistant professor in…
Globe and Mail Public Editor: The call for more Paralympic coverage

By Sylvia Stead for The Globe and Mail Sports readers always have strong opinions about the most important story, what demands coverage and how prominent it should be. Football across the country, hockey of course, baseball across North America, U.K. cricket, women’s golf, especially Brooke Henderson: The list goes on. This week the call is…
Owning up to mistakes is a way to build trust with readers

By Kirk LaPointe If the academic literature suggests one-half of all stories contain a factual error, then it is clear that corrections should be in routine order. But when and how to do so is a debate within journalism, particularly in this iterative age of digital reporting when our craft updates and doesn’t always acknowledge…
Journalism school multimedia teachers must emphasize solid journalism

Digital tools will come and go, but the skills stay the same.