Putting First Nations Last
There are 75,000 native Canadians living in Alberta—and not a single full-time reporter who covers their lives. Yet when they do make the papers, it's no news but bad news
After the federal government made headlines this past January by apologizing to native people for past abuses inflicted on them in residential schools and pledging $350 million to the cause of native healing, an editorial cartoon appeared in the Calgary Herald with the word “sorry” spelled out in $20 bills. Native people in Alberta could be forgiven […]
Big Stories and Little Ones
If you think reporting has bad hours, try being a mom. Even worse—try being both
After going through five day-care providers in 18 months, Sue Pigg was at her wit’s end. Pigg worked full-time as an editorial writer at The Toronto Star while her first child, Shannon, was a baby. She was horrified to find out that her babysitter’s husband was using drugs. At another babysitter’s home, Pigg’s husband, Tim, found Shannon […]
Powered by the People
Forget the bottom line, treat readers as concerned citizens, tackle serious problems and offer solutions. The trend is called "public journalism"—but isn't this what all journalism ought to be?
For Marc Tom Yew, a fourth-year industrial engineering student at Ryerson, it was a typical day during December finals. As usual, he stopped into a convenience store along his route to school and picked up a newspaper. When he slapped the money and paper on the counter, the clerk greeted him with a sudden laugh […]
Fortress CBC
They have the talent, the ideas and the drive. But many documentary filmmakers can't get past the screening at public television's private club
“There’s no villain, no ‘mean guy’…it’s just that the structure, the system demands it and no one is willing to take on the formidable task of changing the structure just because it is meaningless.” -Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Peter Raymont speaks wearily into the telephone. It’s the irritable voice […]
Is Your Teen Magazine Cheating On You?
In a world of teen publications filled with phony fluff and fashion, Reluctant Hero and Spank! get real
Walking into a story meeting for the magazine Reluctant Hero is like walking into a rowdy pyjama party-minus the nightgowns and slippers. Eight teens crowd around the sofa, flipping through the glossy pages ofSeventeen‘s current issue. An angry discussion is under way about how Seventeen,YM and Teenconsistently sugarcoat the reality of teen life and grossly underestimate the intelligence of their […]
Uneasy Rider
Suspicious, cynical and contrary, CBC morning man and weekend cowboy Michael Enright ropes and ties his guests like a seasoned old hand. There's only one rascal he can't pin down. Himself
Two months into his new role as cohost of CBC Radio’s This Morning, I’m sitting with Michael Enright in Fran’s diner near Yonge and St. Clair. His trademark bow tie and suspenders have been replaced by a grey pullover, with a crisp blue and red plaid collar peeking over the top. As he speaks, he fidgets-with […]
Mighty Mouse
Here it comes to save the day: When reporters are drowning in data, the computer helps them conquer the facts and forge new kinds of stories
Last November, The Hamilton Spectator published a story about murder. Despite the subject matter, it wasn’t a typical news story. In fact, it wasn’t a news story at all. Though reporter Adrian Humphreys spoke to police, Crown attorneys, criminologists and even the victims’ families, he didn’t just report their observations and opinions. Instead, he spent several weeks […]
Cop Talk with Rosie and Christie
One was the cop-hater. The other was the cop-lover. Now Toronto's dueling city columnists drink together—and sometimes even think together
Inside Toronto police headquarters, acting inspector Mike Sale has just switched on the VCR. He’s about to play for me a 1995 W Five segment on Rosie DiManno of The Toronto Star and Christie Blatchford of The Toronto Sun, “the two hottest columnists on two of the country’s biggest papers.” I’d been searching for this tape for weeks. Neither of the […]
Ties that Bind
When their subjects and sources are their friends and neighbours, can the thousands of small-town reporters in Canada tell the whole story?
Most small towns don’t have mass murderers, serial rapists or serious career criminals to worry about. But for whatever reason-be it boredom, foolishness or people’s belief they’ll never get caught on isolated rural highways-many have their drunk drivers. On Friday, May 16, 1997, at a routine checkpoint in Markham, a town just north of Toronto, […]
Prize Writer
Working in the great tradition of literary sports journalism, Stephen Brunt, is alone in his class
Seven years ago, as Stephen Brunt drove his family back from a wedding in Chicago, he realized he was near the home of his childhood hero. And Brunt had heard it was possible to just drop in on Muhammad Ali. “What the heck?” he thought. “It’s just off the road.” He stopped at a store […]
