The State of the Desk
Why today's copy editors can't keep up with yesterday's standards
After serving overseas during World War II, Martin Lynch returned home to Vancouver without any definite career prospects. His father suggested he try newspaper work, although Lynch had never shown any aptitude for journalism. He never wanted to write. But without anything better in mind, he met with Roy Brown, then editor of The Vancouver […]
Paddling into Cyberspace
After four years of choppy waters, CANOE is steering a course toward real journalism
“Spin Doctors” hit the cyber-stands on Sunday, December 12, 1999. At 12:01 a.m., the article was posted as the lead feature on Canadian Online Explorer, the national news and information website. Veteran investigative journalist Wayne MacPhail and executive producer of CANOE’s health area, Paul Benedetti, had been tracking the story – hyped as Canada’s first-ever […]
A Checkered Present
Where have all the fact checkers gone? With a little chop here and little trim there Canadian magazines may be cutting away their credibility
Something just didn’t look right. Veronica Cusack, then chief of research for Toronto Life magazine, pored over a research document for the story she was checking. The writer had accused an organization of falsely claiming to be a registered charity. A strong declaration. Proof? A photocopy of a government form with a number on it. Since the […]
Under Pressure
How savvy, aggressive special-interest groups are exploiting people's distrust of journalists to slant the news their way
Dov Smith leafs through a stack of newspapers. He stops and leans back in his black leather chair to read the articles that mention Israel or the Middle East. He clips a relevant story and stores it in a folder on his desk. Turning to his computer, the executive director of the pro-Israel media watchdog […]
Down and out in Cusco and Bangkok
And Rio and Harlem and Tegucigalpas. Montreal documentary filmmakers Luke Cote and Robby Hart roam the world looking for stories of individuals—ordinary and extraordinary—who are trying to change their worlds
Some of the street children of Cusco, Peru, are no more than five or six years old. They congregate in the town?s main square begging, hawking postcards, or visit a shelter where they can get a meal or occupy themselves making art work. In their games the children seem as happy as any, but underneath […]
Off With Their Heads!
There's trouble in the land of 'toon. What's happening to editorial cartoonists is no laughing matter
Alan King had been the staff editorial cartoonist at the Ottawa Citizen for 15 years when Neil Reynolds came in as editor in 1996. He fought with Reynolds frequently about the content of his work, and about the changes that Reynolds was making to the newspaper-particularly the changes to the editorial board. Unlike editorial cartoonists at most […]
The Notorious Peggy Wente
The Globe and Mail's managing editor is a woman of mystery. Her friends say she's warm and funny. Her critics, particularly those who quit the paper on bad terms, say she's downright nasty
Just after 9 a.m. on a cool autumn morning, Margaret Wente is greeted by the familiar sounds of The Globe and Mail newsroom. Reporters are checking phone messages, placing early calls and scanning the news wire to see what’s happened overnight. Some are chatting and leaning against a wall that displays seven clocks telling the time in […]
Death by a Thousand Cuts?
CBC Radio is already a shadow of its former self. If it doesn't get a cash infusion soon, the prognosis is grim
Three minutes before airtime. An editorial assistant darts up to the host and points at a clock. With only three minutes left he really should be in the studio, but he doesn’t budge. Two and a half minutes before airtime, the host waits for his scripts. Two minutes, still waiting. Hearing the printer, he grabs […]
Gambling with Integrity
When casino fever swept the city of Windsor, no one was asking the tough questions—not even the town's only daily
It’s July 27, 1998. As the sun sinks behind the Detroit skyline, the diamonds splashed across the fa?ade of Windsor’s new casino begin to fade. So too does the glare thrown off by the bone-white streets specially constructed to accommodate the big, shiny white-and-aquamarine monstrosity. In the half-light of dusk, the massive, rainbow-coloured neon canopy […]
Bright Lights, Small City
What happens when a hip urban style is applied to a rural television station? Flashy signs, a splashy studio and a mishmash of news values
The bright afternoon sun illuminates the crimson and gold autumn leaves of October. Massive white clouds-the kind that often take the shape of animals and people-slowly drift across the bright blue sky. Fairport Marine and Tackle, a weathered, powder blue and white building with a red, hand-painted “Minnows” sign, sits beside a gently flowing river. […]
