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    Ask a Mentor: Is it OK to write about a source you’re suing?

    When Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale launched his lawsuit against Mayor Rob Ford and said he would continue to report on the city hall beat, a J-Source reader asked if it was acceptable to write about a source you’re suing. Shauna Snow-Capparelli, a member of the CAJ’s national Ethics Advisory Committee, responds. 

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    News Blackouts

    The Ethics Advisory Committee of the Canadian Association of Journalists convened the panel in the wake of Mellissa Fung's 2008 kidnapping with a mandate to consider when and under what circumstances media outlets should consent to news blackouts.

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    Can a journalist also be an activist?

    When Halifax Media Co-op journalist Miles Howe was arrested for the third time by the New Brunswick RCMP, many questioned if he was indeed a journalist. But others say activist journalism has a role in the media landscape and activist journalists who are upfront about their biases can still report ethically. 

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    CBC stands behind Peter Mansbridge’s interview with Rob Ford

    Peter Mansbridge and CBC’s The National faced sharp criticism about their interview with Toronto mayor Rob Ford, in which he fibbed and stretched the truth. Mansbridge, one of Canada’s top anchors, did not contest Ford’s assertions before they aired. But as the show’s executive producer Mark Harrison tells J-Source, there wasn’t enough time to fact…

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    Should media pay for news?

    The Toronto Star insisted the $5,000 purchase of the video showing Rob Ford saying he wanted to kill someone was different than if it had bought the crack video. In this case, the money went to a good family with no criminal connections, and the Star decided to grab the video before it disappeared like…

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    Vancouver Sun’s supposed handling of Amanda Todd coverage raises ethical questions

    The perception of journalism as too often heartless and exploitive confronts almost every reporter eventually and leaves them struggling: when does lending comfort and aid become unethical engagement and interference in a story? J-Source looks at the Vancouver Sun’s coverage of the Amanda Todd coverage, based on an account given by Todd’s mother.

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    Ward’s Words: Putting transparency in its place

    In journalism, transparency is fashionable. Journalists who reject objectivity say: “I am biased but I am honest and transparent." But hyping transparency distorts media ethics in several ways; it wrongly implies that transparency can replace other principles and can resolve ethical issues created by new media, writes Stephen Ward.