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    CBC Ombudsman: Two Twitter Accounts, One Reporter – It’s dangerous.

    By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman William McDowell, legal counsel to J.D. Irving Limited (JDI), wrote to complain about the Twitter activity of the provincial affairs correspondent in New Brunswick, Jacques Poitras. He was concerned that the activity on both the reporter’s CBC Twitter account and the one he uses to promote his books put him…

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    CBC Ombudsman: Balance and Perspective

    By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman The Alberta Teachers’ Association released a toolkit for creating curriculum dealing with “sexual and minority genders.” The complainant, Greg Murphy, questioned the balance and fairness of an article about the handbook framed by the objections raised by a critic. He thought it misrepresented the document and distorted its meaning. There…

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    CBC Ombudsman: Privacy vs. The Public Good – Covering Personal Tragedy

    By Esther Enkin, CBC Ombudsman The complainant, Paula Vallee, had a relative die in a car crash. While she herself was not contacted, she alleged the reporter was insensitive and insistent with other family members. She also said some reports had errors and her messages were ignored. CBC News staff in Edmonton acted appropriately in…

  • Journalists struggle to get Canada’s prison agencies talking. Photo courtesy of Julianne Steeves.

    The right to remain silent?

    By Julianne Steeves for The Signal Early to rise, hard labour and frequent beatings – that was an inmate’s life at the Kingston Penitentiary during the 1840s. Prisoners – men, women and children – were silent 24 hours a day. Breaking the silence could lead to a beating. Food was scarce, partly because the kitchen…
  • Craig Silverman, media editor for BuzzFeed News, delivers this year’s Atkinson lecture on fake news at the Ryerson School of Journalism. Photo courtesy of Jasmine Bala.

    BuzzFeed media editor: Most fake news creators are financially driven

    By Jasmine Bala for the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre Most fake news creators are doing it for the money rather than for ideological reasons, a leading authority on fake news and verification said at the annual Ryerson School of Journalism Atkinson lecture. Craig Silverman, the media editor for BuzzFeed News, said two Canadian teenagers who…
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    How can journalists regain society’s trust?

    By Delaney MacKay for The Signal It was the Saturday afternoon following June’s referendum, when British citizens voted to leave the European Union. Lamenting the vote – stretching hundreds of meters while blocking traffic lanes – over three thousand protestors marched through central London. Watching the rally live from the CBC News World Network studio…
  • The Toronto Women's March on Washington assembles in Nathan Phillips Square. Image courtesy H.G. Watson.

    Drawing a line between the personal and the professional when it comes to protest

    This story was funded by the J-Source Patreon campaign By Katrina Clarke I didn’t march. When tens of thousands of people packed the streets of Toronto for the Women’s March on January 21, I wasn’t there. Not because I don’t support women’s rights, LGBTQ rights or reproductive rights, but because, as a journalist, I knew my…