We shouldn’t need a Super Bowl commercial costing around $10 million to remind us that information is supposed to matter in a democracy. Yet the Washington Post thought we did, so it told 111 million Americans watching the Super Bowl that “knowing empowers us, knowing helps us decide, knowing keeps us free.” It was another…
By Jasmine Bala for the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre Journalism matters now more than ever, the media director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association told journalism students and faculty during the Ryerson School of Journalism’s (RSJ) recent teach-in day. Gail Cohen, former editor of the Law Times, said that while the news industry is struggling to…
By Kathy English for the Toronto Star Dear readers: What do you want to know about the Toronto Star’s journalism in this digital age? How can we help you better understand the culture of journalism — why and how journalists do what they do, what the Star chooses to cover, who makes those decisions? Can…
By Kathy English for the Toronto Star It would be ideal if every person who has something important – and largely, secret — to reveal to the public through the media about matters of public interest could be fully identified. Clearly, readers would prefer that: numerous credibility studies tell us readers most believe news reports…
By Dale Eisler, Senior Policy Fellow, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy In the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson famously wrote that if the choice were government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, he would choose the latter. Today, almost two-and-half centuries later, Jefferson’s observation might actually be tested. The great disrupting influence of digital…
By Jaren Kerr On September 11, 2001, Jeff Brodrucky helped hand out 10,000 copies of the Toronto Star to commuters passing through the Yonge-Sheppard subway station in Toronto. “I gave out, at that time, ten thousand papers myself and they were bringing me bundles of paper. I couldn’t give them out fast enough. And that was…
By Sylvia Stead for The Globe and Mail In just over a week, the United States will go to the polls in an election that has been unprecedented – not just because of the bizarre nature of the campaign, but because of the impact it has had on journalists, both personally and professionally, in their…