• screen_shot_2015-07-23_at_4.35.41_pm_1.png

    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…

  • Actor Warren Beatty at the Academy Awards, where he was given the wrong envelope. Photo courtesy Disney/ABC Television Group.

    What reporters can learn from the Oscars mix-up

    By Jennifer Ditchburn If you are, or ever have been, a journalist, you probably found the Academy Awards night fiasco absolutely thrilling. What reporter wouldn’t be delighted with something so utterly unpredictable and gobsmacking as a Best Picture envelope mix-up? Oh, the drama! The backstory! The days of follow-up pieces! But the morning after, I…

  • Despite newsroom layoffs, great photojournalism can still be seen. Here’s why. Photo courtesy of Patrick Fulgencio.

    Down, but not out of the picture

    By Patrick Fulgencio for The Signal When Canon Inc. announced one of its higher-end cameras in 2013, the advertising campaign sought to catch the attention of amateur photographers. Nearly every advertisement and product description had two recurring elements. The first was crisp images of the camera. The second was a slogan that read: “Revoke your…
  • 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…
  • The last edition of the Lindsay Post. Screenshot courtesy of Policy Options.

    After the local newspaper closes shop

    By Nancy Payne for Policy Options Wally Nugent and Brenda Stonehouse were reviewing the ad they planned to run in the Lindsay Post for Canada Day. They were key organizers of the community’s Canada Day festivities, and the paper was where people looked to find out about local events. But then their phones started pinging…
  • Mark Latham has pioneered a voter-funded media project at UBC since 2007. Screenshot by J-Source.

    Why one economist believes letting people vote to fund media could save it

    By Mitchell Thompson Mark Latham says the cure for local media’s ills is voter-funded media—where voters decide which media outlets receive grants. The economist and Votermedia.org founder says the University of British Columbia has been providing grants to media outlets covering the school’s student union and its elections since 2007. It allows voters to rank…
  • 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…