• Steven Zhou, Chelby Marie Daigle, Ishmael Daro and Naheed Mustafa speak on June 4 panel moderated by Amira Elghawaby. Photo courtesy of Angela Long.

    Muslim communities are telling new stories to break old stereotypes, say panelists

    By Angela Long for the Local News Conference If you want to learn about the Muslim community, don’t read the news, says the associate editor of The Islamic Monthly.   Steven Zhou, who converted to Islam six years ago, said writing about a community takes time and resources. As a result, too many publications produce “surface-level” stories fulfilling…

  • Asmaa Malik, Catherine Wallace, Tyler Nagel and Gavin Adamson discuss source diversity at June conference. Photo courtesy of Abby Plener.

    Researchers urge journalists to examine who gets quoted in news stories

    By Abby Plener for the Local News Conference While the value of different sources can be subjective, newsrooms have a responsibility to interrogate their choices surrounding which voices get the most coverage, researchers agreed at a recent conference on local news. Asmaa Malik, assistant professor at the Ryerson School of Journalism, emphasized that in a fast-paced newsroom,…
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    Here’s all our coverage from the Local News conference

    Here are all of our live blogs from the Local News conference at Ryerson University in Toronto on June 3-4, 2017. Understanding Local Journalism: An Overview April Lindgren, Colette Brin, Damian Radcliffe and Michelle Ferrier give overviews into their research around local news. Does Local News Matter? Tales From the Trenches James Gordon, Brian Lambie and…
  • Robert Washburn, professor of journalism at Loyalist College, and Gretchen King, PhD candidate and community media advocate, discuss their research at the Journalism in Crisis book launch panel at the Ryerson School of Journalism Feb. 9. Photo courtesy of Steph Wechsler.

    News needs of smaller communities require special attention, researcher says

    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…

  • Scholars, journalists and educators from around the world will gather in Toronto this spring to discuss the state of local journalism.

    Toronto conference will explore local news woes and solutions

    By Jasmine Bala for the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre Scholars, journalists and educators from around the world will gather in Toronto this spring to discuss the state of local journalism, develop new research initiatives and explore solutions for communities that are underserved in terms of access to local news. “Is no local news bad news?…
  • 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…
  • Local media coverage during the election. The research compared local coverage of the race for MP in eight communities in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. Image courtesy April Lindgren.

    Suburban and rural communities underserved by local media, new election research suggests

    By Jasmine Bala for the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre The amount of news available about local contests for member of Parliament during the 2015 federal election depended on where in Canada voters were living, a new study by Ryerson University’s Local News Research Project suggests. The research, which compared local coverage of the race for MP in…