• 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…

  • Photo courtesy of Jeff Myers/CC BY-NC 2.0.

    As the ink fades

    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…

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    Meet the Prairies’ newest newspaper magnate

    By Jim Cunningham Roger Holmes is busy man these days. The personable 65-year-old publisher of the weekly Star Edge in Wainwright, Alta and owner of Star News Publishing spent the first week of July in Moose Jaw, Sask., overseeing the re-launch of his newly acquired newspaper properties in that province, including the Moose Jaw Times-Herald,…

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    Globe Public Editor: A parliamentary committee to save the news? Good luck with that

      By Sylvia Stead, for the Globe and Mail This week in Ottawa, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage began to study how Canadians “are informed about local and regional experiences” by the media, whether broadcasting, digital or print. It’s a noble mission, fuelled by a concern over protecting Canadian content while local newspapers are…