Archive
20 Sep

Ontario news website wins responsible journalism libel verdict

NewsThe new responsible journalism defence has helped an Ontario news website defeat a libel action launched by a man named in a police fraud alert. In one of the first […]

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20 Sep

Sparks Fly Over Squamish Fire Report

The Squamish Reporter, a local news website, says it was threatened with a lawsuit and asked to reveal the source of a leaked Fire Underwriters Survey after publishing a news […]

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14 Sep

Jury uses new defence, dismisses libel suit against news site, police

In one of the first uses of a new journalistic defence, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has dismissed a multimillion-dollar libel suit brought forward by a former accountant against […]

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1 Sep

Hockey blog accuses Toronto Sun of plagiarism

The Toronto Sun has been accused of plagiarizing a Maple Leaf blog’s translation of an article written in Czech. UPDATE: Toronto Sun editor-in-chief James Wallace has written a reply to […]

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18 May

Is it ‘neutral’ to spread lies?

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has a 100 percent conviction rate for hate speech cases, and rights commissions routinely make bizarre decisions upholding, for instance, the right of fast-food workers […]

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27 Apr

On net neutrality and Internet access

Steve Anderson of OpenMedia.ca, a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization that promotes an open and innovative communications system in Canada, appeared before a House of Commons committee that’s looking at the […]

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5 Mar

Did Carleton j-prof argue against freedom of the press?

“It was strange reading the recent Citizen column by Klaus Pohle (“Presumptions of Guilt,” Feb. 24), because I could swear the Carleton University media law professor was arguing against freedom […]

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18 Feb

‘A huge sea change’ in libel law

CBC journalist Harvey Cashore called December 22 “the most important day in the history of media law” at a Toronto event debating the Supreme Court decision that created a new […]

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26 Dec

Libel reform: Be careful what you wish for

The new defence of responsible communication is good news for the media, but Ryerson University’s Jeffrey A. Dvorkin doubts it will usher in a new wave investigative journalism. As layoffs […]

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23 Dec

The responsible communication defence: What’s in it for journalists?

What exactly does the pair of Supreme Court of Canada rulings handed down December 22 mean for journalists? An expanded definition of “public interest,” a list of the steps journalists […]

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