One Ombud is Better than Two Reporters
Heather Mallick's incendiary column on cbc.ca and CTV's decision to air Stéphane Dion's botched interview gave journalists plenty to talk about this fall. But discussion is one thing; the power to act is another. So Heather Li asks former Toronto Star ombud Don Sellar about a job held by only two people in English Canada
In September, Heather Mallick wrote a cbc.ca column about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin that sparked hundreds of complaints and questions about how editors could allow it to run. Then, during the federal election campaign in early October, CTV aired the false starts of an interview with then-Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, even though reporter Steve […]
Strung Along
Are local journalists and fixers in hot spots cut loose by our news media?
It is Graeme Smith’s 15th trip to Afghanistan. Though famous for his intrepid journalism, this time he’ll be spending more of his nights under a ceiling of impermeable cement. The Globe and Mail’s Afghanistan correspondent answers my e-mail from inside a concrete bunker. “We’re under rocket attacks again,” he writes. “Thank God for Wi-Fi.” But […]
After the Buyout
In an environment of cutbacks and layoffs, some stick with the craft and others jump ship--for better or worse results. Amy Fuller explores life after journalism.
Times to cut newsroom staff and pages published. Torstar to cut 160 jobs. Canwest cuts 560 jobs Canada-wide. Multiple rounds of newspaper buyouts across the nation and south of the border have provided steady fodder for gloomy headlines. Paper Cuts, a site that tracks layoffs and buyouts at American newspapers, reports that the total number of jobs lost in […]
Feuding with the Family
A year after it launched, the independent Carleton FreePress closed down in October. As Christal Gardiola discovered, that’s left a paper owned by the powerful Irving family as the only one in town
Bob Rupert saw it coming. In mid-October, the Carleton FreePress editor knew his time with the paper would soon be over when he discovered the company was having trouble paying its printing bills. Sure enough, the next Monday afternoon, owner Dwight Fraser walked into a story meeting and revealed that the New Brunswick weekly would […]
The Gatekeeper of Grammar
As CBC's media language advisor, Judy Maddren advises her colleagues on pronunciation, grammar and usage. Marit Mitchell asked her how she makes the rules--and when it's okay to break them.
It’s hard to maintain Canadian English. Even that paragon of virtue, the Oxford Canadian Dictionary, is flagging in its efforts to uphold the language’s integrity. Faced with competition from free online dictionaries, Oxford University Press laid off all four staff members in its Canadian dictionary division in October, including esteemed editor-in-chief Katherine Barber. Fortunately, Judy […]
Out of Style
With economic uncertainty forcing consumers to reconsider how they spend, Molly Doyle discovers that fashion magazines are changing the way they dress up their stories. But that may not be enough to keep them publishing
Fashion journalism hopes to help transform the “fashionista” into a “recessionista,” as a recent New York Times article put it, by highlighting the recent trend towards staying stylish on a tighter budget. Here in Canada, for example, the cover of Fashion‘s November issue features a big, bold pink-and-white sell line that promises, “Luxury for less— when to spend, […]
Taking Cover
There's no law against police officers posing as journalists. They say it's part of how they do their job. But while it may make their work easier, it does the opposite for reporters. Now, journalists are taking on the law
It was a simple assignment: when the third in a string of pipeline explosions shook the northern British Columbia community of Dawson Creek this Halloween, Tamara Cunningham was sent out to cover it. A former reporter to the Dawson Creek Daily News, Cunningham realized as she drove up to the site that access wasn’t going to […]
Back to School
Sheridan College hopes its Canadian Journalism for Internationally Trained Writers program will help new Canadians get bylines and jobs. But in an industry so dependent on connections, communication, and reputation, the program has trouble living up to its lofty premise
Teenaz Javat, 39, came to Canada in 1997. She had accumulated five years journalism experience in her native India and in Pakistan. She has a masters in economics. But when she came to Canada, because journalism is not a nine-to-five job and her kids were young, it was her personal choice to put her journalism […]
