Archive
31 Oct

Live blogging “The Media’s Right to Offend: Exploring the Legal and Ethical Limits on Free Speech”

Live Blog: “The Media’s Right to Offend: Exploring the Legal and Ethical Limits on Free Speech”Hate speech. Offensive speech. Free speech. Where do we draw the line? Where should we […]

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20 Oct

Free speech wins! What about ethics?

ByStephen Ward Advocates of a free press in Canada have reasons to cheer. Several recent complaints to human rights tribunals against journalists have failed. The British Columbia Human Rights Commission […]

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14 Oct

So, howd we do this time?

By Ivor Shapiro Part 1 – So, how’d we do this time?Part 2 – The year of the blogPart 3 – Enter the truth squadsPart 4 – Interactive journalism? Not […]

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10 Oct

CTV’s ethics

The Toronto Star reports on the political score-keeping over CTV’s airing of an interview with Stéphane Dion. The Star’s front-page link to its daily poll asks readers: “CTV has released […]

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6 Oct

Who’s afraid of ethics in the law?

ByStephen J. A. Ward As journalists follow the election campaign, they might not feel the rumblings of a seismic shift that may soon shake the ground rules of Canadian journalism. […]

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27 Aug

How I improved libel law: Mair

In June 2008, radio host Rafe Mair successfully fought off a libel lawsuit in a case that prompted the Supreme Court to set out standards of defamation. The case was […]

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3 Jul

The right to be ‘wrong-headed’

ByBrian MacLeod RogersMedia Lawyer, Toronto The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in WIC Radio Ltd. v. Simpson (2008 SCC 40) clarifies and strengthens a defence that had fallen into murky […]

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2 Jun

Whos to say what you can say?

The unfolding spat between Mark Steyn and Maclean‘s magazine and the Canadian Islamic Congress is symptomatic of a profound debate brewing in Canada. Two groups, both representing core democratic ideals, […]

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2 Jun

Offensive journalism fuels Facebook advocacy

When you’re shocked and appalled by what you read in the papers, you have a number of recourses. File a human rights complaint or a law suit. Write a letter […]

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2 Jun

International perspectives on offensive journalism

What offends you? The dead body of an Iraqi child? The irreverent use of a religious symbol? The boiling down of modern geopolitics into a simple formula of ‘us’ versus […]

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