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Swearing, by the (style)book

By John Sandham for The Signal Kathy English is a busy person. As public editor of the Toronto Star for almost 10 years, she deals with dozens of issues every week relating to errors, omissions, or content. Of course, she doesn’t remember small details of stories that have produced complaints. Nevertheless, she remembers the public outcry over…
Canada’s criminal libel laws may threaten free speech

By Mitchell Thompson Criminal libel laws in Canada’s Criminal Code are being used increasingly to suppress speech that is critical of public officials and employees, Ryerson journalism professor Lisa Taylor said. Speaking at Ryerson University on Nov. 1, 2016, alongside Osgoode Hall law professor Jamie Cameron and Ryerson journalism professor James Turk, Taylor said criminal…
Suburban and rural communities underserved by local media, new election research suggests

By Jasmine Bala for the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre The amount of news available about local contests for member of Parliament during the 2015 federal election depended on where in Canada voters were living, a new study by Ryerson University’s Local News Research Project suggests. The research, which compared local coverage of the race for MP in…
What newsrooms are doing – and not doing – to deal with the mental health of their reporters

By Trevor Hewitt Weaving through busy streets on his gas scooter, Cliff Lonsdale thought about what was about to happen – after all, it’s not every day you’re sent to interview someone whose daughter has just been killed. As he reached his destination, Lonsdale knocked on the door. A woman answered. “Yes?” she asked, in…
Duncan McCue works with Ryerson J-School on curriculum for covering Indigenous issues

By Jasmine Bala for the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre Reporters working in Canadian newsrooms should receive diversity training just like police officers and health workers do says Duncan McCue, the newly appointed Rogers Visiting Journalist at the Ryerson School of Journalism (RSJ). McCue said the training is necessary because journalists who don’t understand Indigenous cultures can cause…
Patti Sonntag spearheads Canadian collaborative investigative journalism project

This story was funded by the J-Source Patreon campaign. By Jane Gerster The first time Patti Sonntag tried to pitch a hands-on investigative class about resource extraction companies to Canadian journalism schools she was met with enthusiastic but noncommittal interest. It was 2014 and while schools were interested in the topic, Sonntag said, the project was…
Film exposes role of Ugandan newspapers in persecution of LGBTQ community

Queer Ugandan filmmaker lives in fear for his life, but is determined to keep telling stories from one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the LGBT community.
Canada’s access to information regime is systemically broken, says panel

Accessing public information in Canada frequently entails multiple-year delays, seemingly arbitrary and generous redactions, and time-consuming appeals processes.
Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is part of a journalist’s job, say panelists

Feeling uncomfortable while reporting on some communities and situations is part of being a good journalist.
Positive mental health stories more often shared online than negative stories, study finds

The study by Gavin Adamson examined the content of articles dealing with mental health and how they were shared across digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.