Category / Commentary
-
Opinion: Why the Globe might not want to target an elite audience
What about the old notion of journalism’s purpose being “to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted”? The Globe and Mail today seems more interested in reflecting and reinforcing the assumptions of…
-
CBC ombudsman: The National’s At Issue panel is non-partisan
A complainant said The National’s political affairs panel, At Issue, lacked balance. He though that the panelists were supporters of the Liberal and Conservative parties and that there needed to be someone…
-
Star public editor: Columnists free to express outrageous opinions
Why does the Toronto Star publish opinion columns that readers judge to be outrageous, offensive, inappropriate? Columnists express their own views, not the views of the Star, which are expressed on its editorial…
-
Globe public editor: Why John Greyson’s sexuality was relevant to Wente’s column
Once you raise the issue that many in the media haven’t mentioned John Greyson’s orientation for “fear it would go worse for him,” as Margaret Wente wrote), The Globe and Mail's public…
-
Live blog: Tom Rosenstiel on the future of news
Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, will give a talk at Carleton University titled: "So you want to know the future of news? Ask the Audience." Rosenstiel is co-author…
-
Book Review: Guerilla Nation brings to life the challenges faced by the first western journalist reporting from North Vietnam
Michael Maclear is not as well-known as he should be, writes David Common, host of CBC’s World Report, in this review of the journalist’s latest book Guerilla Nation. But that’s a shame…
-
Star public editor: A clear case of in-house plagiarism
Can Toronto Star reporters take material from the Star's own archives? Sometimes, yes. But outright copying of a colleague's work is plagiarism, writes public editor Kathy English.
-
CBC ombudsman: Decision to air interview with Ottawa bus driver’s widow was correct
When the Ottawa Morning Show ran an interview with Terry Woodard, the widow of the driver of the Ottawa bus that collided with a train, there was quite a lot of reaction.…
-
Public editor: How the Globe discovers and corrects errors
If you are a fan of page A2 in the paper and the corrections online, you will be interested to know how The Globe and Mail staff find out about errors, writes public…
-
Star public editor: Journalists embrace cause of human rights
When a then 25-year-old Ben Peterson launched a global media development organization called Journalists for Human Rights in 2002, he faced his share of critics, skeptics and naysayers for somehow tainting the notion of…