“The horse has left the barn. You can’t change all that,” quipped Senator David Tkachuk at the June 21, 2006 Ottawa news conference to release of the Final Report on the Canadian News Media “There’s …
World Press Freedom Day, Sri Lanka Style
As a country where journalists are often threatened and sometimes killed, Sri Lanka seemed an unlikely setting for May’s World Press Freedom Day Conference. As if to lend credence to the skepticism, gunmen burst into …
Freedom to Offend
In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill railed against the tyranny of majorities to silence contentious voices. Mill praised free speech in part because our fundamental beliefs crystallize into inert lumps of “dead dogma” when they …
A Weakness in Accountability?
Marc-François Bernier summarizes his study of the CBC’s French ombudsman The French ombudsman of the CBC (Société Radio-Canada, or SRC) is not as independent as one might expect. A scientific survey shows that this important …
“Off-the-record” in Haiti: A tough call in a violent country
The police chief of one of the most corrupt police forces in the Western Hemisphere was a good interview. Mario Andresol, Haiti’s top cop, was candid, engaging, not at all afraid of the camera, and …
Better Read than Dead: Why a healthy magazine community is important
Saturday Night – a magazine dedicated to providing in depth analysis and reporting on Canadian issues and policies – closed shop on Oct. 20th. The Walrus magazine, a similar take-no-prisoners journalistic crusader, is seeking charitable status …