Laura Janecka was the Visuals Editor for the Spring 2009 issue of the Ryerson Review of Journalism. If You Don’t Have Something Nice to Say…
...then you can just say it in online comments sections. Laura Janecka and Eve Tobolka look at the benefits and challenges of letting readers and listeners speak their minds
After a nine-year-old girl died in a house fire on Sandy Bay reserve north of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, cbc.ca was one of the first to report the tragedy. As soon as the story went up, user comments began popping up on the site: “Native people do not have the knowledge to look after a house” and […]
Community Disservice
Almost 14 years after Dudley George’s death, reporters still have a lot to learn about reporting on First Nations. Laura Janecka asked Peter Edwards, who covered Ipperwash, why the media got it wrong, and what reporters need to do to get it right.
Peter Edwards had two choices on September 6, 1995, he could either cover a story about a line-up for swimming lessons at Mel Lastman Square or he could drive to Ipperwash Provincial Park to investigate the shoot-out between police and First Nation protestors. Edwards chose the park. If it turned out to be nothing, he […]
