Archive
31 Oct

Rosie DiManno on the “digital dross”

<p>Increasingly, print doesn’t matter anymore, <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/10/30/dimanno_the_tactile_experience_of_newspapers_sacrificed_for_digital_dross.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writes <em>Toronto Star</em> columnist Rosie DiManno</a> – and that’s a bad thing.</p><p>“It’s verging,” she adds, “on relic reportage.”  All this digital, multi-platform focus, says DiManno, only does one thing: distracts from the one thing that should matter to print journalism – the words.</p>

READ MORE
31 Oct

Help for Freelancers in Line of Fire

<p>Two young Canadian journalists working freelance in some of the world's most dangerous regions will benefit from the first safety training bursaries offered by the Forum Freelance Fund.  Simon Coutu of Montréal, who frequently works in the Middle East, and Moscow-based Frédérick Lavoie were chosen by an independent jury.  The Forum Freelance Fund is a new initiative of the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma.  Coutu will attend a special course for freelancers on reporting in crisis zones at Columbia Journalism School.  Lavoie is to choose between hostil

READ MORE
31 Oct

Les journalistes indépendants sont-ils mieux protégés en France?

<p>Par Audrey Desrochers – texte originellement paru dans le bulletin <a href="http://www.ajiq.qc.ca/bulletin-independant/"><em>L'Indépendant</em></a> de l'AJIQ</p>

READ MORE
30 Oct

Debate over licensing journalists in Toronto, Nov 5

<p>Certifiable?<br />A Debate over Licensing Journalists<br /> <br />Should journalists be licensed by a regulatory body?  Who would separate the pros from the joes? Are citizen journalists second class? Do Canadians care?<br /><br />The debate over accreditation of journalists is heating up in Quebec and the U.K. with government calls for action -- and surprising support from some journalists -- for the notion of professional regulation.<br /> 

READ MORE
30 Oct

Briarpatch launches writing contest

<p>Briarpatch is pleased to announce our first annual creative writing contest! We are now accepting submissions of original, unpublished writing in the categories of short fiction and creative non-fiction (memoir, personal essay, literary journalism). With award-winning author Lee Maracle as our judge and $600 in cash prizes to give away, this opportunity is not to be missed! The deadline for entry is December 1, 2011. For full contest details check out <a href="http://briarpatchmagazine.com/">briarpatchmagazine.com</a></p>

READ MORE
30 Oct

Piercing youth court ‘shroud’ of secrecy

<p>A <em>Toronto</em> Star investigation into the city’s busy youth court met with resistance from judges and prosecutors, arbitrary publication bans and attempts to block access to the basic records the media needs to cover the justice system. In the words of reporter David Bruser, the paper had to fight to lift the “institutional shroud covering the often-disturbing details of youth crimes from public view.”Read the Star’s Oct.

READ MORE
29 Oct

Report that paywall for two Postmedia newspapers attracting paid readers; Godfrey plans to add more newspapers

<p>A report in <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/postmedia-plans-to-charge-for-online-articles/article2218147/">today's Globe and Mail </a>says Postmedia is planning to ask more readers to pay for content.  Paul Godfrey, CEO, says the experiments in Montreal and Victoria mean “the numbers [of paid readers] are growing. They’re growing slowly, but they’re going in the right direction... (U)ltimately, it will be across the chain.”</p>

READ MORE
28 Oct

Citizen reporter posts gun registry data

<p>The federal government’s plan to destroy the data in the doomed long-gun registry has prompted an <em>Ottawa Citizen </em>reporter to publicly post a copy of registry data he obtained for a 2007 series published in the newspaper.</p>

READ MORE
28 Oct

L’information, un bien public bien mal en point

<p>À l'occasion du 125e anniversaire de l'hôtel du Parlement et du 140e anniversaire de la Tribune de la presse, l'Assemblée nationale du Québec accueillait cette semaine le Colloque sur la démocratie, les députés et les médias. En ouverture de colloque, l'intellectuel français Jacques Attali, a brossé un portrait sombre de l'état de l'information, des médias et de la démocratie.

READ MORE
28 Oct

Holmes magazine ceases publication – at least for now

<p>Mike Holme’s magazine, the appropriately-named <em>Holmes</em>, will cease publication after its December issue.</p><p>The magazine was founded in Canada in 2010; it expanded to the U.S. later that same year. Holmes published 10 issues/year.</p><p>Lisa Drozdov, director of communications for The Holmes Group, <a href="http://www.holmesmagazine.ca/index.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a release</a> that the company had asked publisher Dauphin Media Group to continue publication until May 2012, to allow for a smooth transition to a new publisher.</p>

READ MORE