Now on J-Source: The terror beat; Serial killers; The new CP

News provided by

Canadian Journalism Foundation

Dec 01, 2010, 13:45 ET

TORONTO, Dec. 1 /CNW/ -

FIELD NOTES
The terror beat
Michelle Shephard, who has spent nearly a decade on the Toronto Star's national security and terrorism beat, talks about Guantanamo detainees, the fall of foreign bureaus and the consequences of applying a Western philosophy to global problems. Dana Lacey reports.

Link to article

THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Meet The Canadian Press' new owners
Three of Canada's largest media companies will take over The Canadian Press, a move the CBC says "will complete the 93-year-old news agency's transformation from newspaper co-operative to for-profit corporation." Dana Lacey reports.
Link to article

COVERING VIOLENCE AND TRAUMA
"Serial killers don't sue you"
When investigative journalist Stevie Cameron stepped into a BC courthouse to cover the trail of convicted serial killer Robert Pickton in 2003, she didn't know much about court reporting. Eight years and two books later, Cameron talks about how she kept a level head amidst a gruesome reality. Heather Linda Young reports.
Link to article

INNOVATION
"If you don't think you're a freelancer, think again": Kim Pittaway
Technology: we can't ignore it, but we can't let it replace quality journalism, either. Ira Basen, Kim Pittaway, Steve Rennie and Claire Brownell talk about self-branding, the challenge of work tweeting and why everyone will soon become freelancers. Martha Troian reports.
Link to article

THE BIG ISSUE

WikiLeaks turns on the taps
WikiLeaks has placed the first batch of 251,287 U.S. embassy cables in the public domain, and government reactions range from outrage to an offer of asylum for Julian Assange. Meanwhile, J-Source contributors ask: is it transparency or treason? Or is it just Wiki-whacky? Does WikiLeaks need a code of ethics? Good questions all, and deserving of your comments.  

There's no arguing past leaks have contributed to important revelations on the Iraq war. The website antiwar.com offers a roundup of how participating media outlets used the August war logs dump, including creative approaches like the Guardian's interactive map of Iraq war deaths and Speigel Online's graphical War Logs FAQs interface.

For the latest leaks, CBC.ca has created a Canadian content search engine and accompanying 'bubble map' of Canadian-related topics - clearly banking on the fact that, ultimately, all we care about is what they said about us. For those inclined to expand their dig, you can download the full set from Wikileaks or browse individual documents at the site's Cable Gate. It's an intoxicating brew - don't forget to mind your ethics. 

EVENTS CALENDAR

IN THE NEWS

RECENT POSTS

TOWN HALL

"As a former member of the Ontario Press Council (1983-6), I too welcome Don McCurdy's appointment and commitment to reinvigorate the council. Let me add to the suggestions above: 1. Advertise for public members. Most new appointments are made on the suggestion of existing members, mostly the members representing newspapers. The process needs to be opened up. 2. Invite the public to hearings. Advertise this. They're not open to the public unless the public knows they're happening. 3. Do something to recruit Maclean's and National Post to join. They are the most significant media who do not belong and therefore are not accountable."  

Reader Comment: John Miller
Post: An open letter to Ontario Press Council's new boss  

"Claude: It is possible to buy a good feeling with a hand-out of your assignment expenses to starving people, and then make a story out of their brief betterment, but that's not journalism, and of course you didn't do it, back then. A spontaneous humanitarian intervention in immediate life-threatening circumstances remains a possible exception to professional disengagement but mostly, professional journalists are condemned to personal agonizing over how many times, how well, a story must be told objectively before good comes of it. The process can take years. Ethiopia, as plagued by corrupt authoritarianism as it is, is less bad than it might have become, thanks to media-inspired attention."

Reader Comment: Ross Howard
Post: "I am not a decent person, I am a journalist": war reporter David Axe

For further information:

The Canadian Journalism Foundation
La Fondation pour le journalisme canadien
59 Adelaide St. E, Ste 500 / Toronto, ON / M5C 1K6
416-955-0630 / [email protected] http://cjf-fjc.ca

Organization Profile

Canadian Journalism Foundation

Related Organization(s)

The Canadian Journalism Project

News - Media