Did TV footage of a death cross the line?

The death of a luger at the Vancouver winter Olympics. The dramatic, and horrifying, TV footage. Was it appropriate to broadcast? here's what the industry said in a recent decision.

J-Source.ca -- The Canadian Journalism Project

Crossing the line?

Peter Worthington shows up at Clifford Olson's parole hearing - the only journalist allowed inside. Why? Read this:

Was he a journalist, or was he a serial killer's adviser?

The Canadian Press goes "for profit"

It's no longer a news co-op: The Canadian Press officially closed the deal and is now owned by Torstar, The Globe and Mail and La Presse:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/media-group-buys-the-canadian-press/article1815549/

The ethics of unpublishing

Hot off the presses from the Canadian Association of Journalists:

http://www.caj.ca/?p=1134

The end of newspapers?

Ross Dawson's trends blog contains some grim predictions for the lifespan of newspapers across the globe, as news organizations go digital and citizen "journalists" offer and interact more with data. Check out his map, which includes predictions for Canadian newspapers (the map is a couple of items down in the blog):
http://www.rossdawsonblog.com/

Ontario Press Council gets new boss

New blood at the Ontario Press Council as a longtime newspaperman takes the helm. Congratulations, Don.

Former Record editor McCurdy joins Ontario Press Council as executive secretary - Winnipeg Free Press

Covering Russell Williams

One reporter's experience with the Russell Williams trial


J-Source.ca -- The Canadian Journalism Project

How social media are changing journalism

Daily print reporters have come long way since the days of pen and pencil (and maybe a primitive tape recorder. For a taste of how the modern reporter is expected to work by his or her bosses, read this explanation by Parliament Hill reporter David Akin of how he spends some of his time:

David Akin's On the Hill :: How I'm using social media to find news, report news and read news

Wikileaks of Afghan documents have wider implications for the news media

Wikileaks May Have Just Changed the Media, Too - Science and Tech - The Atlantic

Gazette to go Web only on Sundays

The Montreal Gazette announces it will no longer publish a hard-copy newspaper on Sundays. Who's next?

Gazette to go Web only on Sundays

The perils of anonymous sources

A good piece from the New York Times on the sloppiness of using anonymous sources. It's interesting press councils don't get more complaints about the use of unnamed sources in stories.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/opinion/18pubed.html

old skool journalism film

New Washington news site: the future?

Brady: New D.C. Site to Rely on 3 Things for Delivering News on Every Block

Pundits and pipsqueaks

An interesting take on the attempt to attract "youth" to the news media. Do freshness and originality trump age and experience?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35564.html

Journalists' online survey

New media and old media - how professionals see the impact on their jobs:

http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prnewswire/43321/

The the importance importance of proofreading ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OonDPGwAyfQ

Is anonymity OK on the Web?

Read this provocative column about web-based commentary. A good issue for press councils:

http://www.cleveland.com/schultz/index.ssf/2010/03/web_site_posters_anonymity_an.html

Good news for newspapers

The annual NADBank survey of Canadian newspapers indicates the printed word is holding its own. See the press release at:
http://www.newsonnews.ca/news/industry/053/newspapers-remain-important-resource-canadians-

The need for critical thinking

In which journalism students look for sloppy sourcing and other errors among respected publications ...

http://www.cjr.org/regret_the_error/bad_news.php

Was the coverage sexist?

Here's a journalism ethics discussion about coverage of Canada's Olympic women's hockey team. was the coverage sexist? You decide.
Media Call out Women's Hockey Team for 'Debutante Ball'

The data deluge

Here's the "leader" from this week's Economist on the wealth of information out there (and for us, the challenges this poses for newspapers). This week's magazine contains a much longer feature on the topic:

http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=15579717

Access of Mobile News Rises 500%

How are folks getting their news these days? Check out this short report in Editor and Publisher:
Access of Mobile News Rises 500%

Gomery to preside over Quebec Press Council

John Gomery, the retired judge who headed the federal inquiry into the sponsorship scandal, has been named head of the Quebec Press Council. He held a press conference to announce it:

Gomery to preside over Quebec Press Council

Commenting on tragedy

A thoughtful adjudication from the U.K. Press Complaints Commission. Thanks to Mel Sufrin at the Ontario Press council for circulating it http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NjIyOA==?oxid=h0h11q51bb9n7kb152o9p0v956

More on plagiarism

A recent high-profile case of journalistic plagiarism in the United States has sparked fierce discussion. For a list of the top dozen excuses plagiarists use, check out this link. Thanks to former colleague Jordan Press for pointing it out:
http://www.slate.com/id/2245030/

Can news be ojective?

Journalists sometimes argue about this question. And one point-of-view publication recently parted ways with a reporter over the issue:
freshloaf/2010/02/15/atlanta-progressive-news-fires-reporter-for-trying-to-be-objective/

Plagiarism matters

In journalism, as in academia, plagiarism is considered one of the cardinal sins. Yet even among the best in the world, accusations of plagiarism and story theft arise. For a current case involving the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, go to:
Robert Thomson's Letter to Bill Keller about Zachery Kouwe's 'Apparent Plagiarism'

What the Shaw-Canwest deal means

Here's a simple, layperson's look at the deal announced Friday through which Shaw Communications takes over voting interest in Canwest's broadcasting properties:
CBC News - Money - Shaw goes back to the future with Canwest purchase

Critical thinking for students

A group of journalists and educators in the United States hopes to help young people figure out what to believe and how to thoughtfully read the barrage of media messages now available to them.
http://www.thenewsliteracyproject.org/

Can journalism be taught in universities?

Read one journalist's point of view on the link between journalism, academia and professions or trades:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/13/articles/537537.php

Learn social media or quit, BBC says

How important is the phenomenon known as "social media" in the journalism world? According to the honchos at the BBC, if journalists aren't conversant with social media tools and aren't using them, they should leave:

www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/feb/10/peter-horrocks-social-media

Who will publish the new news?

Check out this take on the future of newspapers as the main conveyor of news. Probably not, suggests this piece in the Montreal Gazette.

Who will publish the new news?

Estok exits

Folks at the Ontario Press Council are well acquainted with David Estok, editor-in-chief of the Hamilton Spectator. David's moving on, as this story in The Spec reports:

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/717089

The rules of "athlete journalism"

Former Olympian Alison Korn offers a different perspective on the issue of bloggers and journalists in this post. Korn, who will be at the Vancouver games, notes Olympic officials have laid down stiff rules about when a blog written by an athlete is more than a blog:

http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/vancouver2010/news/2010/02/05/12748696-sun.html

A senator speaks to the media

Conservative Senator Hugh Segal is a sharp observer of the news media. In this article in the most recent edition of Policy Options, he urges newspapers to resist the urge to "get it first" and instead, ensure they "get it right." Access "The Media Through a Looking Glass" at this site:
http://www.irpp.org/po/

Climate change and misleading billboards

Fresh rulings from the U.K. Press Complaints commission, the first on a complaint over the contentious current reporting on climate change, the second on associating an innocent person with theft:

http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NjE4OQ==

http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NjE5MQ==

Social Media 101 - a great intro

Better publishing ideas?

What impact will the iPad or any other digital device have on the future of newspapers? Check out this good exploration:

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=141788

How journalists do video

Print journalists have been trying - often without success - to master the basic components of shooting video for newspaper websites. Charlie Brooker breaks it down, with some humour (warning - a spot of bad language occurs near the start):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4

S and P sees more trouble ahead for print media

OK, it's a forecast for U.S. media, and Canadian newspapers tend to do a bit better than their American counterparts. All the same, interesting reading ...

http://seekingalpha.com/article/183912-u-s-media-and-entertainment-outlook-remains-bleak-especially-for-print-related-industries

News on the web

One of the first all-online political newspapers was the American "Huffington Post," which has garnered financing and respectability. Read a short piece about its founder and her views on 'new' media in today's Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/755743--website-founder-ahead-of-her-time

The missing watchdog

Freedom of information is one area that press councils take seriously. In Ontario, it's part of the press council mandate to defend it and push for access to information from government. Yet the federal government has gone more than six months without a permanent access-to-information watchdog:

http://www.ottawasun.com/news/canada/2010/01/23/12588666.html

When a corrections policy fails

Check out this article in the Washington Post about the paper's backlog of requests for corrections:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032002272.html

The freedom to report trials

The terrorism trial of the Toronto 18 has proven difficult for newspapers to cover, argues the Globe and Mail in this editorial on publication bans and other justice dilemmas:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/silence-affects-the-core-of-justice/article1437091/

The Star's public editor on responsible journalism

Kathy English comments on the recent Supreme Court decision(s) on what constitutes responsible journalism.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/751450--supreme-lessons-in-journalism

Online commentary and its dangers

After the death of Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang, the outpouring of anonymous feedback included abuse, cruelty and comments that we'd never allow in a newspaper or make face-to-face.

The Ottawa Citizen's Leonard Stern explores the dangers of anonymity in online postings. Click on this link:

Intent to injure

NYT to charge for web content?

First it's Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal. Now, The New York Times sees a future in charging for online content:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/01/new_york_times_set_to_mimic_ws.html

Press can be partisan, in the U.K.

The Press Complaints Commission in the U.K. has just issued two new rulings. One concludes that newspapers have a right to be partisan; the other deals with accusations about papers reporting on issues deemed to violate personal privacy. Have a look at the press releases, which you can find under the "news" section (left-hand column) of the PCC website.

http://www.pcc.org.uk/index.html

Newspapers and new media

Why do social media matter, and what influence could they have on traditional news media? Rob Granatstein suggests you watch this four-minute video (to view the screen without impediment, click on it as it plays):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Google out of China?

Restrictions on free speech by the Chinese government have always caused Google some discomfort. That, and illegal activity toward Google's site, have now prompted the country to reassess its presence in China. Read about it here:

googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html

The Mojo journalist

Today's "print" journalist is more than that - he/she is proficient at shooting video, writing the script, doing the standup and yes, writing the story for the newspaper after that is done. Here's a humorous video put together by a young Montreal Gazette journalist who was hoping to leave his job for a year. Remember, this guy is a PRINT journalist. (Thanks to Elizabeth Thompson, my colleague, for pointing this one out.)

mojotrotters.com/2010/01/telling-my-boss-im-leaving/

Rupert Murdoch's way?

Managers and owners of daily newspapers are watching and waiting as media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Wall Street Journal, goes head to head with the Internet over whether customers will pay for online content. Maclean's lays out the issue in this article:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/08/rupert-murdoch-vs-the-internet/3/

J-Source and responsible journalism

J-Source is the definitive website if you want to know the buzz in the Canadian media, particularly the print media. If you click on it right now, for instance, you'll see follow-up on the death of a Canadian journalist in Afghanistan. But you'll also see discussion of what, exactly, constitutes "responsible journalism" now that the Supreme Court of Canada has said such a defence may be considered when a paper is sued for libel-defamation.
http://www.j-source.ca/english_new/

More on Canwest, from the Toronto Star

Let bidding begin, CanWest creditors say - thestar.com

Canwest owned by the banks - for now

Here's the Globe and Mail's coverage today of developments at one of Canada's biggest newspaper chains, Canwest, no longer owned by the Asper family:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canwest-newspapers-go-on-block-despite-ceo-aspers-objections/article1424971/

Learning about new media

The Canadian Association Of Journalists is hosting this conference Jan. 30 in Toronto. You don't need to be a member to go. Here's the press release:

"The Canadian Association of Journalists and the CAJ Education Foundation are kicking off the decade with a groundbreaking conference where news staff and management can learn about emerging techniques, technologies and models to transform journalism for the 21st century. The conference focuses on skills, strategies and tactics that journalists and their organizations can start implementing immediately.

"Just a few of the leaders speaking at the conference

"* Jim Brady, president, digital strategy, Allbritton Communications; former executive editor of WashingtonPost.com
* John Cruickshank, publisher, Toronto Star
* Michael Lee, chief strategy officer, Rogers
* Patrick Lor, president, Fotolia North America
* Rachel Nixon, director of digital media, CBC News
* Kenny Yum, editor, GlobeandMail.com

"The conference is structured in four tracks:

"1. A novice to intermediate track will teach working journalists key principles of how and why to use existing and new tools, techniques and technologies, including social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
2. An intermediate to advanced track for journalists already familiar with social media, online and computer fundamentals, who wish to build upon and apply those skills and knowledge to investigate and tell stories in new ways.
3. An executive and senior manager track to help decision makers explore and understand strategic issues, news and business models.
4. An "unconference" style track to enable attendees to self-organize, discover and engage in deep-knowledge grassroots sessions.

"Become a member to save more on conference fees.

"DISCOUNTED EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS JAN. 15
With times so tough in the media industry, professional development is more important than ever. For journalists who have been laid off, this conference is a great way to learn new skills, veer off on new career paths and, of course, stay connected with what's happening in journalism. To help our unemployed colleagues attend the conference, the CAJ is offering a special rate of $45, the same fee paid by student members.

"Registration is available at www.caj.ca."

A ray of sunshine?

For a sunnier view of the future of the print media, read Mike Strobel's column in the Toronto Sun. Here's the URL:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/mike_strobel/2010/01/06/12361696-sun.html#more

Journalists are still proving their worth

Ottawa Citizen editorial writer Elizabeth Payne reflects on a grim year for print journalists, capped by the death of Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang.
Embattled journalists are still proving their worth