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Researchers urge journalists to examine who gets quoted in news stories

By Abby Plener for the Local News Conference While the value of different sources can be subjective, newsrooms have a responsibility to interrogate their choices surrounding which voices get the most coverage, researchers agreed at a recent conference on local news. Asmaa Malik, assistant professor at the Ryerson School of Journalism, emphasized that in a fast-paced newsroom,…
Trudeau rejects call for five per cent tax on broadband Internet services

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is swiftly shooting down a parliamentary committee’s recommendation that Ottawa impose a five per cent tax on broadband Internet.
Listening to community members essential, say Indigenous journalists sharing industry experiences at local news conference

By Abby Plener for the Local News Conference While working in community news, Wawmeesh Hamilton heard a story from a reporter at a rival paper that he found concerning. The journalist told him that their publisher said that First Nations stories did not warrant enough interest to earn a spot on the front page. Hamilton recalls being…
How 80-year-old Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of the CBC, is driving innovation from within

By Tracey Lindeman for Nieman Lab Up in the tower of Radio-Canada‘s Montreal headquarters, overlooking the Jacques-Cartier Bridge and the old Molson brewery, is the nervous system of the 80-year-old national public broadcaster’s digital shift. This particular meeting is centered on chatbots — namely, the chatbots being built by a small team of engineers at Radio-Canada, the…
Live Blog: Is Fake News the New Propaganda?
Toronto Star Public Editor: Reader trust and responsible reporting with anonymous sources

By Kathy English, Toronto Star Public Editor An important reader question about trust in the Star: “I am curious what steps a journalist might take to verify what they are told by a confidential source. I can understand the need for confidential sources in the media, but, as a reader I generally put a little less faith…
Are Canadians really falling for fake news?

By Christopher Waddell, Publisher I have been a grocery shopper for about 40 years. During that time in checkout lines I have read about cars that can run on water that the oil industry keeps secret from us, the pregnancies and affairs of hundreds of politicians and celebrities, regular UFO invasions of the earth hushed…
Journalism, public relations and the author in between

By Erin Leite Game Face: The Media Training Playbook - 19 Cautionary Tales, a self-published book by Toronto public relations consultant and former journalist Bodine Williams, brings two seemingly similar but often clashing professions together. It lays out the dos and don’ts of interviewing for the people answering the questions, and has a lot…
CBC Ombudsman: Beware of generalizations

By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman The complainant, Mr. Marco Mura, objected to the characterization of the government of Turkey as “fundamentalist.” I agree that the term is too broad to be accurate in this context. Adjectives are seldom a news writer’s friend. COMPLAINT On December 7, 2016, The World at Six ran a feature about…
Toronto Public Health investigating possible transmission of tuberculosis at Postmedia Place

By H.G. Watson, Managing Editor Toronto Public Health officials are investigating three cases of tuberculosis at an office tower in Toronto that houses National Post and Postmedia staff. Dr. Elizabeth Rea, an associate medical officer of health with the tuberculosis program at Toronto Public Health, confirmed to J-Source that there had been three infections since…