Archive
30 Aug

The lede desk: curbing the cliché

<p>Back in the 1990s, Pulitzer Prize winning journo Steve Twomey circulated a memorandum at the <em>San Jose Mercury News</em> from the fictional "Lede Desk". In it: Thirteen rules for curbing the cliché in lede writing.<br /><br />You can check out the <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/degrees-of-freedom/2011/08/30/the-lede-desk-fighting-the-scourge-of-boring-writing/">full, and hilariously-written, list</a> on the <em>Scientific American</em> website, which has reprinted the memo with Twomey's permission, but here are a couple of samples:<br />

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30 Aug

Can authors survive if the printed book dies?

<p>The Guardian has an excellently-reasoned (if not extremely depressing) <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/aug/22/are-books-dead-ewan-morrison">article about the end of books and writers</a> on its website right now -- and if you haven't read it yet, you should.<br /><br />The article is a shortened version of <a href="http://ewanmorrison.com/">Ewan Morrison</a>'s argument made recently at the Edinburgh International Book Festival that the publishing industry is in fatal decline. After reading the article, it's hard to disagree.<br />

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29 Aug

Licensing journalists? Blame it on the CBC: Ezra Levant

<p>The to-license-or-not-to-license debate is one of the most heated conversations in Canada's journalism world. Part of the anti-license faction? Well, according to Sun Media's Ezra Levant, you can point three fingers of blame: one at Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Christine St-Pierre, one at report writer Dominique Payette, and one at the CBC.</p><p>Yes, the CBC.</p>

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26 Aug

Kathy English on Jack Layton and the Star’s “advance obit”

<p>When the <em>Toronto Star</em> learned of Jack Layton's death earlier this week, it took only 20 minutes for the website to publish the news, and a 3,000-word obituary. While that may sound like a super-human feat, it was actually the result of careful advance preparation, <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/public_editor/2011/08/26/english_the_end_of_the_story.html">writes <em>Star </em>public editor Kathy English in a column published today</a>.<br />

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26 Aug

Should journalists get a hospital’s permission before interviewing patients?

<p>When it comes to interviewing patients, should journalists get permission from the hospital's top brass first -- even if the source has already agreed? This question was at the heart of a <a href="http://pcc.org.uk/cases/adjudicated.html?article=NzMyMA==">recent Press Complaints Commission (PCC) ruling </a>in the U.K.</p>

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26 Aug

Reporting on Jack Layton: Was it different than reporting on other politicians?

<p>In light of the tremendous outpouring of grief and condolences -- both from journalists and not -- following Jack Layton's death, <em>J-Source</em> wants to know: Was reporting on Jack Layton different than reporting on other politicians? Comment below, or send us your journalistic memories on Twitter or through <a href="mailto:lmckeon@j-source.ca">email</a>. We'll post them below.</p>

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25 Aug

Ghostwritten op-eds are an unacceptable deception: Dan Gillmor

<p>Ghostwritten op-eds are outright lies that deceive readers, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/24/oped-ghostwriter-deception">writes Dan Gillmor</a>, director of the Knight centre for digital media entrepreneurship at Arizona State University, in a recent edition of the Guardian.</p><p>This ethical question -- should newspapers print ghostwritten op-eds -- is barely on the radar of most news organizations, he adds. But Gillmor believes it should be.</p>

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24 Aug

Five Questions for David Beers

<p>J-Source <em>talks to <a href="http://thetyee.ca/">Tyee</a> editor and founder <strong>David Beers</strong> about being the puffer fish of social media, why long-form works online, and how the B.C.-based online publication is rounding out the journalistic conversation in Canada.</em></p>

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23 Aug

Tony Burman talks to the Globe

<p>If you haven't already, be sure to check out <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/tony-burman-al-jazeera-and-the-future-of-news/article591164/">Gayle MacDonald's<em> Globe and Mail</em> interview</a> with Tony Burman, of Al Jazeera English and CBC fame, and also the newest Velma Rogers Graham Research Chair at Ryerson University.<br /><br />MacDonald talks to Burman about Al Jazeera, but also the future of news, covering off topics such as "scoop-obsessed news publications", social media, and audience input.<br />

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23 Aug

Blatchford on Layton: Does she have a point, or was it plain bad?

<p><a href="http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/08/22/christie-blatchford-laytons-death-turns-into-a-thoroughly-public-spectacle/#more-48340">Christie Blatchford's column</a> on the media coverage of Jack Layton's death is bold, provocative, and either crass or brave, depending on who's talking, but does she have a point?<br />

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