Sins of Omission(2)
Six out of 10 Canadians say religion is an important part of their lives. By ignoring spiritual perspectives, Canadian newspapers have broken faith with their readers
The silence was powerful. On November 7, 1997, just days before the municipal election, almost 500 people met at the fork of the Thames River and paced wordlessly through the streets of London, Ontario, to City Hall. Mothers wheeled their children in strollers, men volunteered to stand at the street corners to ensure that the […]
Allan in Blunderland
Does Dr. Foth bear watching? Is the master pundit at his wit's end?
Three or four times a year, Toronto freelance writer Moira Farr buys a copy of Macleans. Early last December was one of those occasions: her streetcar was late, a convenience store was near and there was little else to choose from on the magazine rack. When she got home, she made a pot of coffee […]
Call of the Wild
Elliptic, eclectic, esoteric, ecological, Whitney Smith's Journal of Wild Culture is as unpredictable as it is unprofitable
Leafing through Harper’s one day last year, I was struck by one stunning photograph called “The General’s Wife.” In the harsh light of what appeared to be an official assembly room, a grotesque, heavyset woman in a bright blue dress shot through with gold threads sat amid a group of Honduran military officers and glared […]
A Tough Act To Follow
Under the Broadcasting Act, the CBC was asked to be something it couldn't be: the glue to hold Canada together
In CBC newsrooms, February 1, the day the new Broadcasting Act finally lumbered through the Senate, was just another hectic day of keeping up with news from the Middle East. In the end, the controversy over Bill C-40 fizzled out like a wet firecracker, virtually unnoticed amidst the thundering of weapons in the Gulf. It […]
A Star Was Born But Nobody Noticed
The TV-jeebies of an ex-sportswriter
One thing that has eased my transition from newspaper work to television is the fact that nobody knows I’ve done it. For instance, last fall I was sitting on a bench at the Toronto island ferry dock, waiting to embark for Hanlan’s Point, when the captain of the good ship Thomas Rennie strode over. He […]
The True Grit of Michael Valpy
Through all the fear and loathing, one lonely liberal hangs tough at The Globe and Mail
Two hundred kilometres northwest of Toronto, the century old farms of Grey County are tucked into the lovely rolling hills overlooking Queen’s Valley. This gentle landscape is the view Michael Valpy sees from his farmhouse. For 20 years Valpy, The Globe and Mail’s urban affairs columnist, has fled to this tranquil place as often as […]
Fate of a Feminist Press
Healthsharing magazine makes a habit of shaking up the status quo. Wasn't it convenient, then, when Ottawa cut off its funding?
Inside a converted stable in Toronto’s west end, three women huddle over an old wooden table. This is the office where the Women’s Healthsharing collective produces its quarterly feminist health magazine. Susan Elliott, a collective member since 1985, sits with two volunteers, engrossed in a discussion of the design and placement of two appeals that […]
Conflict of Interests
A newspaper's integrity vs. a reporter's civil rights: why The Toronto Star fired Alan Story
If the first duty of a journalist is to serve the public interest by uncovering the truth, then Alan Story, an investigative reporter for The Toronto Star, had done his job well. Last spring, his startling accounts of corruption in the Metropolitan Toronto Police force led directly to the creation of a public inquiry into […]
Showtime for Science
To make it on TV news, scientists must step out of character: If the role is wrong, so is much of the coverage
Every thing about the clamor for a new particle accelerator by physicists at the University of British Columbia appealed to the reporter in Eve Savory. The accelerator would produce subatomic particles – kaons, which have important medical and industrial uses-in unprecedented quantities. The kaon factory story, Savory tried to explain to her supervisors at the […]
Out of the Shadows
How the Disability Network brings the problems of the disabled to light
The crew at CBC television’s Studio 6 in Toronto is preparing for the next show-switching on hot overhead lights, adjusting furniture, positioning cameras. “Any more wheelchairs coming in?” someone shouts from the shadows. “If so, you’d better move your car, Joe.” Joe Coughlin, one of the hosts, leans on a crutch, fishes in his pocket […]
