Multimedia journalism misunderstood
Newspapers are now turning to visual reporters to create video content, but are editors really using them the right way?
By Marissa Dederer Ryan Jackson’s rig looks more like a Grade 6 science project than a 360-degree video machine. Using elastic bands and red gaffer tape, he’s bound four GoPro cameras and a digital recorder to a square plastic patio-table leg—and mounted it on a tripod with the same tape-will-fix-all attitude. The finishing touch: two Edmonton […]
Going hungry: Canadians are starving for agriculture coverage
If food is the world’s most essential industry, why have newspapers forsaken the farm?
By Marilee Devries Laura Rance wants agriculture to be a beat at the Winnipeg Free Press—and she wants to be the reporter on it. She grew up on a farm, so she can see that coverage is lacking. It’s the mid-’80s, and Rance has been a general-assignment reporter for two-and-a-half years. She decides to lobby for […]
Sally Armstrong: the editor who changed women’s magazines
She brought coverage of international injustice to Homemaker’s and Chatelaine, but when she left, so did the stories that matter
By Aya Tsintziras Sally Armstrong travels to Kenya. She begins in Nairobi and drives north to Meru. She approaches the Ripples International shelter; the road is lined with colourful plants and flowers. It’s 2011, and she’s here to interview 160 child rape victims, some as young as three, who are suing the government for not […]
How Red Bull is clipping journalism’s wings
Branded content is moving in on publishers’ traditional territory, but it lacks credibility. Are readers really buying it
By Daniel Sellers At first, I try a direct approach. There are more than 50 editions of the Red Bull website, each one tailored to a different part of the world, but I find less contact information on the main site than I expect; single phone and fax numbers underline an address for the company’s […]
Why aren’t political reporters asking the right questions about polls?
Even after British Columbia’s 2013 election debacle, journalists still miss the mark on public opinion surveys
By Ronan O’Beirne Welcome to the poll on polls. To begin, please press 1 “What is a poll?” David Akin asks in the makeup room at the Sun News Network studio in downtown Toronto. He doesn’t need to think about his answer. “It is a snapshot backward in time.” This photo of public opinion is a […]
On the national security beat: Michelle Shephard
How the Toronto Star reporter brings global conflicts home
By Vibhu Gairola There’s often a half-packed bag at the foot of Michelle Shephard’s bed. Into the bag go writing and recording materials; one of her Nikons (she has a D90 and a D300s); a Maglite and a spare cellphone; clothes, sunblock and basic first-aid necessities; and running shoes, when possible. Before she goes, the Toronto […]
The secret relationship between reporters and spies
Security intelligence agencies are increasingly powerful in the age of global surveillance—and for investigative journalists, the job is now harder than ever
By Krystyna Henke It’s about 10 o’clock on a Friday morning in October 2009 when Dru Jay hears a knock. He throws on some clothes and opens the door of his Montreal apartment. A man and a woman stand in front of him. Jay stares at a badge that reads “CSIS.” The visitors ask to come in. He refuses. […]
The Brampton Guardian’s Uphill Battle
Why one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities may not be getting the coverage it deserves
By Jessica Galang After working a 12-hour shift on a Friday night in 1983, the Brampton Guardian’s editors and writers head to Ricky Joe’s, their fa- vourite nearby hangout. When they open their menus, they see a picture of themselves from one of the many nights they’ve spent there. These reporters don’t mind putting in the […]
How Glen McGregor and Stephen Maher broke the robocalls scandal
The journalists who uncovered Elections Canada’s investigation into fraudulent calls that misdirected voters in 2011
This story has been updated from a previous version. By Lisa Coxon After a few glasses of Côtes du Rhônes, Stephen Maher asks if we can turn the recorders off—one faces him; the other, Glen McGregor. We’re on the patio of Métropolitain, a restaurant just below Parliament Hill that’s a popular after-work hangout among political […]
Caught on Camera: How citizen video told Sammy Yatim’s story
When a cop shot and killed a Toronto teenager, a bystander captured it on his iPhone—and changed the way journalists cover police shootings
By Miro Rodriguez Martin Baron walked home from a late dinner with his wife and son on a warm July night in Toronto, he saw what appeared to be an empty streetcar stopped in the middle of the road. Brushing it off as just broken down, the family continued walking. Suddenly, police officers ran toward […]
