By H.G. Watson, Associate Editor When David Topping set out to take the pulse of Canadian journalism, he was hoping it might help him shape something new—a project, or a product. In early January, Topping, the digital strategy and product manager for Toronto Life, 12:36 and Torontoist, started promoting a survey of his own creation…
By Pat Reddick for Media Are Plural Enter panic mode, it’s time to seriously worry about things. Or, better yet, get your thinking cap on and come up with some ideas for how to save an industry. For the past few months, we’ve seen an outpouring of ideas in Canada about how to save the…
This story was funded by the J-Source Patreon campaign By David Gray-Donald At one time in Canada, there were around 300 community TV stations. But in 1997, regulatory changes gutted their funding. Two-thirds of those stations have since been shuttered and, for those that remain, the future is uncertain, especially in the digital environment. But the…
By Jessica Caparini for University of King’s College The Signal Peter Morse didn’t learn that his office was shutting down from a man in a suit, but from an anxious receptionist holding a piece of paper she shouldn’t have had. It had been carelessly faxed one winter’s day in early 2014 by upper management to…
By Kathy English for the Toronto Star What happens if and when there are no news media? That is the critical question at the heart of an essential public conversation that began in earnest this week with the release of an exhaustive report by Canada’s Public Policy Forum entitled The Shattered Mirror: News, Democracy and…
By Marlene Murphy “What kinds of journalism do we think are worth protecting, and what are we willing to do to protect them?” Christine Crowther said that was the starting point for a new book, Journalism in Crisis. Crowther, a former CBC journalist who now teaches part-time at Carleton University, is one of the six…
By Steph Wechsler for the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre The ongoing discussion about the state of Canadian news media tends to overlook what’s happening in smaller communities, local news advocate Robert Washburn said during a recent presentation at the Ryerson School of Journalism. Community-based newsrooms, including local television and community-run radio stations, are deeply rooted…
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 Paul Willcocks for The Tyee As traditional news media fade to black, one promising business model is built on providing high-value, exclusive information at premium prices. Good news on one level. Operations like Politico Pro and Blacklock’s Reporter can keep journalists working, focus on stories that matter and shed light in dark corners. Not so…