Canadian journalists must support Vice’s fight against the RCMP
An attack on VICE’s right to freedom of the press is an attack on the right to freedom of the press for all
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers entered Vice Canada’s offices in Toronto and Montreal in February. The officers served Vice with a production order–similar to a search warrant–demanding “any notes and all records of communication” between Vice reporter Ben Makuch and an ISIL militant. Makuch interviewed the Canadian ISIL militant, Farah Mohamed Shirdon, through Kik Messenger […]
Farewell, Richard “Badger” Brennan
After 43 years, five premiers and many, many stories, the Toronto Star’s Richard Brennan is retiring today as one of Canada’s longest-serving political reporters
Richard Brennan has never called a premier by anything other than his first name. Keith Leslie, long-time Canadian Press reporter covering Ontario politics and the Statler to Brennan’s Waldorf at Queen’s Park, remembers coming back to Toronto from Ottawa the morning after former Premier Dalton McGuinty won the election in 2003. They got on a bus at the […]
Snapchat: From the home to the newsroom
In the second of RRJ's two-part series on "Journalism via Snapchat," Carine Abouseif looks at how Canadian journalists are using the app to create news stories
The little ghosts of Snapchat have been taking over my Twitter feed this last month. We’ve talked about how Snapchat is being used for a kind of citizen journalism. But not much has been said about how professional journalists and news outlets are using the app—at least not in Canada. These little white ghosts on […]
FHRITP: Confront It or Keep Rolling?
New CBC guidelines address verbal sexual assault during live hits, but one recommendation might let harassers off the hook
CBC Montreal reporter Tanya Birkbeck was operating her own camera and interviewing a jersey-clad football fan in front of the Percival Molson Memorial Stadium in downtown Montreal. What happened next would leave her feeling violated. A young bearded man wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and black hoodie approached, stared straight into the lens and yelled, […]
Snapchat: From questionable selfies to quality storytelling
In the first of RRJ's 2-part series on "Journalism via Snapchat," Nicole Schmidt suggests that people with smartphones are increasingly important in a journalism landscape where budgets for foreign reporters have diminished
It’s 8:51 p.m. in Athens, just minutes before the decision on whether Greece should accept financial help from the rest of Europe will be announced. A cell phone captures footage of the crowds gathered outside the parliament building—some hold signs with the words “no, ox!” printed in bold black letters; others carry brightly-coloured flags that […]
A look back at the news coverage of the Ottawa shooting
How live multimedia journalism successfully reported, recorded and retold the events of the day
On October 22, 2014, news of the Ottawa shooting began with a misspelled tweet and a cellphone video by Globe and Mail reporter Josh Wingrove. At the same time, veteran CBC cameraman Jean Brousseau quietly rolled his camera and collected raw footage that would later tell a full insider story while Bruce Arthur, sports columnist for the Toronto […]
What I learned at the 2015 FIPP World Congress
FIPP, the International Federation of Periodical Publishers, celebrated its 40th World Congress last week. Here's what I learned
After squandering a few minutes in the lobby of the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel—so many elevators—I found myself deep in the bowels of the building facing a garish black and red plaid poster board archway that proclaimed “BEAVER LODGE.” I turned to pick up my badge from the matching plaid poster board-clad registration booth and soon clipped […]
Offleash podcast: An introduction
Welcome to the Ryerson Review of Journalism‘s first-ever regular podcast, published on RRJ.ca every second Wednesday at 3:33 p.m. In our introductory episode, we get to know our hosts and learn what to expect from RRJ Offleash. Music in this episode courtesy of Paul Nathan Harper, also known as A F L O A T. […]
