Archive
14 Dec

Exclusivity of media coverage

Reading Jody White’s account on J-Source about being asked to leave Al Gore’s speech to clear the field for the event’s media partner The Toronto Star, I was reminded of […]

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24 Nov

When should editors “unpublish” online news reports?

As public editor of the Toronto Star, Kathy English is faced with requests to remove published content from the newspaper’s  website.  What’s fair to readers? What’s fair to those reported […]

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23 Nov

How to report on kidnappings: Star public editor weighs in

After attending a Toronto panel discussion about news blackouts, Toronto Star public editor Kathy English weighs in on the difficult subject of covering kidnappings. In a Nov. 21 column titled […]

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10 Nov

Covering suicide: do journalists exploit tragedy?

Suicides are often more than newsworthy, writes Stephen J.A. Ward, they challenge journalists to explore economic and social issues in their community. “Minimize harm” is the proper principle, not “do […]

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3 Nov

Know what your story is really about

QUESTION: I cover a lot of court. This week a case came up where a man pleaded guilty to contravening the national parks act by not having a business licence […]

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30 Oct

Journalists to carry the Olympic torch

In a news item title “Canada’s Olympic Storytellers to carry the flame,” CTVGlobemedia recently announced that journalists from the company (including CTV, TSN, RDS, Discovery Channel and The Globe and […]

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23 Oct

CBC producers field phone call from Edmonton hostage-taker

When a man held a group of hostages at the Workers’ Compensation Board offices in Edmonton on Wednesday, a group of journalists in Edmonton faced a number of different journalistic, […]

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13 Oct

Guidelines for guidelines: social media policies spark debate

Since everyone is on Twitter, we have to let journalists tweet away, unrestrained, writes Stephen J.A. Ward. But as newsrooms start to create editorial policies for social media, we need […]

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29 Sep

Death of the ombud? Only in Canada

News orgs overseas are hiring staff news ombuds in increasing numbers these days, writes Jeffrey Dvorkin. But here in Canada, six positions have been axed, leaving only the Toronto Star […]

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29 Sep

Staying free from influence in non-profit journalism

Is foundation-funded journalism free of ethical landmines? Absolutely not, writes Bilbo Poynter, executive director of the charitable Canadian Centre for Investigative Reporting. But with a clearly defined editorial process, ethical […]

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