Lone Rangers
Solo journalism means editorial freedom and control, but also a struggle to stay alive
“Journalism is about relationships,” says Joey Coleman. And, walking with him on a sunny day through downtown Hamilton, I’m beginning to see what he means. At Dr. Disc record store, he stops to chat with owner Mark Furukawa—Coleman’s having issues with the sound equipment he uses to live stream council meetings at city hall. Furukawa […]
Why did this Toronto Sun columnist single out a Review editor?
It’s always nice to get a little press—but not if it means one of our staff is singled out for groundless abuse. The Review’s blog this year has taken on controversial issues. Under the skillful handling of blog editors Fatima Syed and Davide Mastracci, we’ve critiqued coverage of tragedies in Beirut and Paris, questioned journalists’ […]
Journalists must use the right words when reporting on sexual violence
Femifesto, a feminist organization, has put together a must-read guide for journalists on how to report on sexual violence
Femifesto, a feminist organization based in Toronto that aims to fight rape culture and replace it with consent culture, has released a guide for journalists on how to report on sexual violence. The organization has put together the guide, “Use the Right Words,” because, “Mainstream media has the power to shape conversations about violence in our […]
That time Rob Ford wrote an op-ed
Is there room in journalism for politicians' voices without the filter of a reporter?
Rob Ford is back in the news–this time, of his own choosing. In a special to the National Post published on December 3, 2015, Ford wrote an op-ed to mark the one-year anniversary of John Tory’s mayoral term. “Congratulations, John, you’re sitting in the big chair and you’ve finally shaped up to be a typical politician,” wrote the […]
Not Just for Laughs
Many articles on Canadian satirical news sites are fictional, but there’s still plenty of truth in them
Five writers gather in a dimly lit room on a Sunday evening. Black shutters and posters line the deep purple walls of the second floor of The Central, a Toronto bar. Classic rock bounces up from the deserted first floor and a faint smell of urine wafts from the nearby bathroom. Three writers sit around […]
Responsible communication wins again
Kathy Tomlinson becomes part of a slowly growing list of Canadian defamation cases that are winning with the defence of "responsible communication"
Six years after reporting on a B.C. surgeon whose patients had a troubling tendency to experience serious post-op complications, Kathy Tomlinson and CBC successfully invoked the relatively new defence of responsible communication to win a defamation lawsuit. Dr. Fernando Casses, who had his medial license revoked in Arizona before moving to B.C. to work as […]
In pictures: Great journalism fails of 2015
As the year comes to an end, we "draw" a glance back to the big moments in Canadian journalism in 2015
Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group on kill fees and ethics at The Walrus
The future of the Review: Your suggestions wanted
From Ivor Shapiro, chair, Ryerson School of Journalism, to readers of the Ryerson Review of Journalism
Dear readers, As the publisher of the Ryerson Review of Journalism, I am writing to ask you to contribute to the current rethinking of the Review’s operational plan and editorial mission. You may be aware that this spring, I began asking colleagues, students and others to join in a consideration of the Review’s options. While […]
Who’s telling the truth about #WelcomeRefugees?
Across Canadian news outlets, there is a strange discrepancy in reports about whether or not the Liberal government is excluding single male Syrian refugees
I don’t know who’s telling the truth about the Liberal refugee plan. On the one hand, there’s Paul McLeod, BuzzFeed‘s political editor, who published an article on November 25, 2015, titled “Someone Gave The Media A Bunch Of False Info About Canada’s Syrian Refugee Plan.” McLeod takes issue with a CBC report by Rosemary Barton that, days before the Liberals […]
The Unbearable Whiteness of Canadian Columnists
Old white men are dominating opinion pages in newspapers across the country, but a shift toward a more diverse roster may be easier said than done
As the editorial pages editor at the Ottawa Citizen, Kate Heartfield oversaw 11 columnists until she resigned on November 18. Only one of those columnists isn’t white. The absence of opinion writers of colour means the paper may become a publication just for white people, admits Heartfield, who worries about the relevance of the conversation […]
