ISRAEL H. ASPER: 1932–2003 · 2016. 12. 29. · THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS...

THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS FALL/WINTER 2003 • VOLUME 10, NUMBER 2 • $3.95 L’ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES JOURNALISTES—

Plus: We go back to school to assess the value of schools of journalism.

ISRAEL H. ASPER: 1932–2003With the passing of Izzy Asper, it is now up to his sonLeonard (in the background) to take CanWest Global

Communications into the future

The Michener Award is presented annually to the Canadian media organization judged to have contributed the outstanding example of meritorious public service in journalism. Now in its 34th year, the Award was established by the late Governor General, The Right Honorable Roland Michener, P.C, C.C.

Visit our Website for full details: www.michenerawards.ca Media organizations eligible for entry include: newspapers (regardless of publishing frequency); news agencies and services; magazines; radio and television stations; radio and television networks.

Submissions for the 2003 Award musthave been published within thecalendar year 2003. Five copies mustbe provided of a written description ofthe public service performed, as well asfive copies of the story or series. Forbroadcast entries, five copies of thedescription are required and one tapeof the story or series.

Entries should be sent to: Michener Awards Foundation

The Ottawa Citizen, 1101 Baxter Rd., Box 5020 Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3M4

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: January 31, 2004

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The Michener Awards Foundation was established in 1982 to advance education in the field ofjournalism and to foster journalism that serves the public interest. To that end, one Michener-Deacon Fellowship of $22, 500 is granted annually (when warranted) to a journalist for fourmonths out-of-office study time aimed at enhancing the applicants competence as a journalist.Mature applicants with an interest in public service through journalism are invited to apply forthe 2004 fellowship. Visit our Website for full details: www.michenerawards.ca Fellowship applications should be sent to:

Michener Awards Foundation 130 Albert St., Suite # 1620 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: February 13, 2004

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site for full details: www.michenerawards.ca

DEPARTMENTS4 First Word When will newsroom bosses and journalism educators begin speaking the same language?

By David McKie

5 JournalismNet Google now allows you to set up personalized news searches. By Julian Sher

COVER STORIES6 His dark legacy He undoubtedly ran a powerful and important media empire, but he failed to understand the

need for a diversity of voices expressing opinions on issues he held dear. By Stephen Kimber

8 Judging mr. asper Former Ottawa Citizen publisher Russell Mills weighs in with his assessment of Izzy Asper'slegacy - and some advice for the man now running the show, his son Leonard.

9 A gift to increase tolerance Izzy Asper was considered by many a generous man. A $250,000 donation to the Universityof Regina's School of Journalism allows its students to increase their understanding of nativepeoples. By Patricia Bell

BACK TO SCHOOL10 Professionalism versus Marc Edge reviews the debate in the United States about the direction of journalism schools

pragmatism and the lessons that debate has for Canada.

13 The big hunt Tristan Baurick decided to leave the United States to pursue a journalism degree in Canada.Some editors at Canadian dailies had some interesting advice

14 A prescription for success Journalism schools would turn out better graduates if they became regional centres ofexcellence. By Gillian Steward

16 Let’s make a deal Former journalism student Anne Larrass has some tips for students and employers taking part in internship programs.

18 A meeting place for Journalism schools can become antiquated if they remain out of date. But when they get it

professionals and mentors right, watch out. By Fred Vallance-Jones

DEPARTMENTS19 Obituary Neil Postman was famous for his catch-phrases. But he was also a passionate educator.

By Paul Attallah

20 Ethics Media outlets should develop ethical guidelines - before a crisis erupts. By Stephen J.A. Ward

22 Photojournalism The year was 1963. Racial hate poisoned relations in the Deep South. And Lynn Ball, then ayoung, ambitious photographer, headed to Alabama to witness a scene he'll never forget.

24 Diary Freelance journalist Molly Amoli K. Shinhat thought her story about the new CBC buildingin Ottawa would be run-of-the-mill. She was wrong.

26 Update Le Journal de Montreal's Michel Auger is still defiant, three years after being shot in the back six times by someone who didn't like what he wrote. By David McKie

28 Report A national study reveals that media outlets must do a better job when reporting on so-calledbreakthrough prescription drugs. By Christine Montgomery

29 Tip Sheet There are standard questions journalists must ask themselves when writing stories aboutprescription drugs. By Christine Montgomery

26 Report Nova Scotia is facing renewed pressure to bring the cost of accessing public information inline with other provinces. By Doug Jobb

31 Book Review Journalists tend to be left-wing sympathizers, and their biases shape the stories they tell.By Wendy McLellan

32 Book Review A book by a veteran broadcaster with the BBC is essential reading for journalists interested inimproving their craft. By Julian Sher

34 The Last Word Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, media outlets seem hell-bent on rooting out terrorists - despite the needed proof. By Anfrew Mitrovica

Fall/Winter 2003 Volume 10, Number 2

PublisherNick Russell

EditorDavid McKie

Books EditorGillian Steward

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Editorial BoardChris Cobb,Wendy McLellan,Sean Moore,Catherine Ford,Michelle MacAfee,John Gushue,Carolyn Ryan

Advertising SalesJohn Dickins

Administrative DirectorJohn Dickins(613)526-8061 Fax: (613)521-3904E-mail: [email protected]

MEDIA is published three timesa year by:Canadian Association ofJournalists,1385 Woodroffe Avenue., B-224Algonquin CollegeOttawa, Ontario, Canada K2G 1V8

Reproduction without the writtenpermission of the publisher isstrictly forbidden.

Media is a publication of theCanadian Association of Journalists.It is managed and edited indepen-dently from the CAJ and its contentsdo not necessarily reflect the views ofthe Association.

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Cover PhotoPeter Bregg/Maclean’s

I N S I D E

MEDIA, FALL/WINTER 2003 PAGE 3


FIRST WORDBY DAVID MCKIE

The great divideWhat is it that keeps journalism schools and newsroomsfrom working together?

Before I begin this column, I'd like to make a per-sonal observation. Being the editor of this maga-zine has, among other things, allowed me to try

to bridge the gap between the world of academe andthe working world of journalists. In the pages that fillthis publication year after year, you'll come across arti-cles by professors of journalism and communication,pieces by some of the students they teach, and articlesby working journalists, some who have just entered thebusiness, and others who've been around for a longtime.

As such, Media magazine has been a meeting placewhere the theory of journalism and the practice ofdoing it have shared the same physical, if not, psycho-logical space. It is with that thought in mind that Iattended a meeting of academics in Toronto and lis-tened to them discuss the identity crisis gripping jour-nalism schools. Throughout the day-long session,sponsored by the Canadian Media ResearchConsortium, speakers and panelists talked about themerits of developing closer ties with other faculties attheir universities that specialize in disciplines such asthe liberal arts; there was also much discussion aboutforging closer ties among faculties of journalism acrossthe country. And there was one suggestion that thismagazine could be used as a public sphere of sorts thatwould allow for the sharing of ideas; one academic dis-missed the notion, arguing that Media was not theappropriate vehicle to nurture conversations among themembers of academe.

Whether this magazine is used as such a vehicle ornot (I think it can be, and has been) is immaterial.Journalism scholars must figure out why what theyteach matters; and newsrooms must shed their anti-intellectual bias and figure out what these schools haveto offer. The educators and the practitioners must thenwork together to further the goals of journalism, whichis to educate and enlighten a citizenry that seems to begrowing more weary and cynical with each passingday. These are some of the reasons why we've devoteda lot of space in this edition of Media to the issue ofjournalism education.

Perhaps we should pay attention to Betty Medsger, aprofessor at the Columbia School of Journalism whoauthored a frequently-cited American study in 1996entitled The Winds of Change. It turned out that a quar-ter of the journalists she surveyed had no formal edu-cation in journalism, a reality that no doubt came as ashock to journalism educators. Spurred on to find outmore, Medsger became curious about the educationthat some of the best in the business received andreviewed the backgrounds of journalists who won twoof America's most prestigious awards — the PulitzerPrize for print journalists and the Alfred I. duPont

Awards for broadcast journalists — during a ten-yearspan. She also used the same time period to study thebackgrounds of the recipients of two important fellow-ships: the Nieman Fellowships at Harvard Universityand the Knight Fellowships at Stanford University.Medsger discovered that the majority never studiedjournalism, choosing instead disciplines such as litera-ture and history. In short, they didn't spend their post-secondary years learning how to write stories.

In a write-up about the study,Medsger observed: "Inthe years since the study was published, I have foundthe same pattern: a majority, sometimes an over-whelming majority, of prize and fellowship winnersnever studied journalism."

It was perhaps with the information from this studyfresh in her mind that Medsger addressed the Torontogathering on that cold November morning. She beganby stressing that her observations were based on whatshe had learned in the United States. But the very factthat she was invited as a guest speaker meant thatCanadian educators stood to learn (some disagreed, ofcourse) from what she had to say. Medsger suggestedthat schools must do a better job of establishing them-selves as centres of excellence, then recruiting the staffthat can teach the specialized skills.

It's easy to imagine how such centres would be situ-ated on the Canadian landscape.For instance,Carleton,the university where I teach part-time, could become acentre of excellence in the nation's capital for reportingon federal politics and the federal government.With itsproximity to Bay Street in Toronto, Ryerson couldbecome a centre that trains business specialists; theUniversity of King's College in Halifax could be a placethat focuses on maritime issues. The School ofJournalism at the University of British Columbia couldset its sights on industries in areas such as naturalresources. With each of these schools established asrepositories of expertise, newsrooms would knowexactly where to go for certain beat reporters, special-ists, or generalists with an ability to develop expertisein different areas. And the recent hires would under-stand how they fit in their new universe. This is a pointGillian Steward makes in her appraisal of journalismschools.

In her piece for Media magazine, Steward writes:"Specialization doesn't have to mean each j-school is afortress unto itself. Networking is easier than ever withthe Internet and other forms of communication. Andperhaps increased specialization would yield moreresearch and thus more data on the state of Canadianjournalism."

As it stands now, newsrooms seem a little schizo-phrenic when it comes to figuring out why journalismschools matter, if at all. That's certainly what Tristan

Baurick discovered when he was hunting for aCanadian journalism school from his home base southof the border. Not knowing much about the Canadianscene, he decided to canvass the views of a number ofeditors, including yours truly. What he discovered wasan array of opinions and attitudes. In a piece thatchronicles his search for a school, Baurick recalls hisconversation with one Canadian editor who "advisedthat it doesn't matter greatly where I get my degreesince universities really aren't the ideal place to pick upnuts and bolts skills."

This is a curious observation, given that one of theissues tying some journalism schools in knots iswhether they should offer fewer practical, nuts-and-bolts courses, or concentrate more exclusively on theo-ry. Indeed, many programs at universities offer bothand should continue to do so. The pertinent question iswhat kind of balance should they achieve?

In his piece that takes an historical look at the evolu-tion of this debate, Marc Edge notes: "I'm arguing thata well-rounded university education in journalismshould prepare students for a career as a watchdog onpowerful institutions by acquainting them with thegrowing body of knowledge on the subject. To argueotherwise takes the anti-intellectual position in favourof less knowledge and understanding, not more."

Part of the responsibility for bridging the gap alsofalls on the shoulders of managers in newsrooms.Everyyear they agree to host apprentices; that is, universityand college students who take advantage of short stintsin the so-called real world to learn how to operate amidthe whirl of chaos and deadlines. And yet, in manyinstances it appears that the apprenticeships turn out tobe the wrong fit for the student and employer. Whymore effort isn't put into getting it right is anybody'sguess? It's unclear if this area has ever been the subjectof a formal study. Perhaps j-schools and practitionersshould think about working together to produce such astudy.

"Sometimes employers get a bad impression of thestudents. Conversely, students may find the experiencedissatisfying and discouraging," writes Anne Larrassin her piece about apprenticeships and the studentswho take part in them. "They leave with no practicalsavoir faire, no clippings, no demo tapes, no contacts,and a sense that they were no more than a nuisance.Where did it go wrong?" Larrass set out to answer thatquestion for Media magazine and passes on some help-ful advice based on the observations of academics,journalism students and employers with whom shespoke.

So perhaps Media magazine isn't the ideal vehicle

Continued on Page 33


JOURNALISMNETBY JULIAN SHER

Staying alert with GoogleThe search engine is now even more vital to journalists

It's hard to believe that an already powerfulresearch tool like Google could get any better, butnow there are two new free gadgets that make

Google even more vital for journalists.Both are alerts — automatic robots that send you

e-mail when the keywords you requested show up inGoogle or Google News.

GOOGLE NEWS ALERT

Google News at http://news.google.com is by far thebest news search tool on the Web. It gives you freeaccess to more than 4,500 news sources (English-lan-guage only), going back to the previous 30 days. Inother words, unlike regular Google which searchesthe Web and will return results from gossip pages,crazies and other unreliable sites, Google News getsyou only stories from mainstream media — aroundthe world.

You can use all the tricks that make regular Googleso precise. In other words, asking for news on Sharonwill get you over 6,000 results, including the IsraeliPrime Minister and Hollywood actress Sharon Stone.Simply keep adding words (sharon arafat) to narrowyour search.

You can also add phrases (sharon arafat "suicidebombings") and put them in quotes. And you caneliminate subjects that clutter your results with aminus sign (sharon arafat "suicide bombings" -pow-ell), but be sure there is no space between the minussign and the word that follows. Google has also comeup with an Advanced News Search athttp://news.google.com/advanced_news_search. Thisallows you to choose the media outlet (for example,BBC or the Washington Post) or the country and evento narrow the dates within the past month.

As if all this wasn't enough, you can now performthese searches automatically.

Google News Alerts at http://www.google.com/newsalerts is free. Google will send you an e-mailwhen news articles appear online that match the top-ics you specify. You can ask for as many as you want,and you can request they be sent once a day or asnews happens. You can program a simple news alertfrom the start by going to the News Alert page(www.google.com/newsalerts). Or, once you havedone a regular news search, simply scroll to the bot-tom of your results and you'll see a link asking you ifyou want to create an alert based on your searchresults.

Using the advanced search function, you can evennarrow your alerts to a single publication — but it'sa little more complicated. Let's say you want Googleto send you an e-mail anytime the Boston Globe talks

about the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. Firstyou must go to the Advanced Google news and makethat request. Then, at the bottom of the results, clickon the link that asks you if you want to create aNews Alert based on your results. Be sure to readthe t ips to f ind out how this is done athttp://www.google.com/help/faq_newsalerts.html.

GOOGLE ALERT

There is also a Google Alert for the main Googlethat searches the Web. It's at www.googlealert.com

and though it is not affiliated officially with Google itdoes have Google's blessing.

Tired of always returning to Google to check onthe same topic over and over again? Worried aboutmissing a new Web page on a breaking story? Thisfree and ingenious device runs daily Google searchesfor you and e-mails you whenever new results appear.You can run up to five separate searches.

You can also request simple searches (for example,every time Google finds a new Web page that talksabout a single keyword or phrase "breast cancer.") Or

you can program advanced Google searches to nar-row your search by domain or Web site. For example,you can request that Google Alert notify you anytimethe words Chechnya and bombing appears onthe Web site run by Human Rights Watch(www.hrw.org). Or you can request to be notifiedanytime the words "international human rights tri-bunal" appears on a Web site from Serbia-Yugoslavia.(the domain .yu)

OTHER GOOGLE FEATURES

There are devices and free gadgets you can usefrom Google.

Install the Google Toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com/ to have Google at your fingertips (thisonly works on PCs running Internet Explorer). Younever have to leave a Web page and open up Google todo a search. The Google toolbar is always open andsits on your browser toolbar. It gives you instantaccess not only to Google search, but also AdvancedGoogle, Google News and Google Groups. It evenblocks pop-up ads! (It doesn't serve you coffee,though)

The Google Button http://www.google.com/options/winexplorer.html is similar to the toolbar butsimpler and sleeker. With the button installed, all youhave to do is highlight any word or words on a Webpage with your cursor; then click on the Google but-ton that sits on your browser toolbar and — voilà!— Google opens up and does a search based on thoseterms.

You should also check out Google's Web Directoryat http://directory.google.com/ for a search by catego-ry, instead of just using keywords all the time.

And Google Glossary at http://labs1.google.com/glossary offers you a quick definition, not just of aword, but of a concept or an issue — for example,"ozone layer" or PCBs? You get several links to thebest Web pages that give you a snapshot of thephrase, its meaning and context. It's an excellentquick reference guide. For these and other Googleresources, see Jnet's Web page devoted to thebest search engines at www.journalismnet.com/search/best.htm

Julian Sher, the creator and Web master ofJournalismNet (www.journalismnet.com), doesInternet training in newsrooms around the world. Hecan be reached by email at [email protected] article and many other columns fromMedia magazine are available online with hotlinks on the JournalismNet Tips page atwww.journalismnet.com/tips

Google Alerts...runs

daily Google searches

for you and e-mails

you whenever new

results appear.

You can run

up to five separate

searches.

denly controlled half (later all) of the National Post, aswell as 14 metropolitan daily newspapers in everymajor Canadian city except Toronto and Winnipeg. Innine of those cities, his Global TV network alsoowned at least one local television outlet. And thatdidn't even begin to account for his company's many

other media tentacles: four more TV stations, 126smaller daily and weekly newspapers, six digital cabletelevision stations, a television and film productioncompany, Canada.com, the third most popularInternet destination in Canada.

Asper made his first fortune in the cosseted, high-

While reading "We'll Miss Izzy Asper'sCharm, Honesty and Opinions," Globe andMail editor Edward Greenspon's fond

paean to the late media magnate who died inOctober, I couldn't help but be struck by the discon-nect between those personal qualities that make forgood corporate company and better media copy, andthose that make for the best media owners.

As Greenspon explained in his weekly Editor's col-umn on Oct. 11, he first got to know Asper while cov-ering the "marginal to mogul" transformation of theMan from Minnedosa, Manitoba, during the 1980s.At the time, Asper seemed to be building his televi-sion empire one nasty boardroom confrontation orlawsuit at a time. But unlike so many entrepreneurswho hide behind layers of lawyers and stacks ofspokespeople, Asper wore his battles like badges ofhonour and was pleased as punch to share histhoughts about them, and almost anything else, witha bright young reporter, occasionally even putting itall right out there on the public record for the worldto read.

Greenspon's Asper was a contradictory man of"considerable charm… bright, engaging, witty…highly quotable… vindictive, cantankerous, cocky…A young reporter couldn't ask for more."

Greenspon's Asper, in fact, reminded me of anynumber of similar, self-made, swashbuckling entre-preneurs I've encountered in my years as a journalist.Quirky, quixotic, often querulous, they make strange-ly good company. I can remember more than oncestumbling back to my home or hotel room after yetanother night of trying to keep up with one of them,exhausted from simply attempting to understand thecomplex warp of their minds and the complicatedwoof of their machinations. Finally, alone with myown thoughts again, I too would thank whatevergods that be for handing me such a dream assign-ment and, just as importantly, that I didn't have to getup and go to work for that particular charming roguethe next day.

And then, suddenly, I did.I found myself writing for Edward Greenspon's

charming rogue.So did most of the journalists I knew.And he wasn't quite so charming anymore.By the time Izzy Asper's CanWest Global

Communications Corp. gobbled up Conrad Black'sCanadian newspaper empire in 2000, the self-styledmarginal man from Manitoba had become Canada'slargest and most important media mogul. He sud-

ly-regulated world of Canadian private televisionwhere you measure success by your ability not only topredict the next season's most popular American sit-coms but also to convince broadcast regulators you'redoing all that you possibly can, and more, thank youvery much, to produce Canadian content, whateverthat is, so why can't they just leave you alone and letyou get on with the business of television, which,don't you know, is making a profit? In that world, ofcourse, it helps to have the ear of those who regulatethe aforesaid regulators. Needless to say, Izzy Asper, aformer Liberal politician and friend to prime minis-ters, was very successful.

At one level, Asper at first seemed to regard hisnewfound newspaper empire largely as an extensionof this TV world, minus the inconvenience of somuch government red tape. He could use his newspa-pers to promote the greater good of his televisioninterests, and vice-versa. The emergence of theInternet offered an even more alluring, if elusiveprospect: inter-changeable journalists as industrialassembly-line "content providers," feeding the samestories to his Web portal, his newspapers and his TVstations from coast to coast. Synergy and conver-gence equalling reduced costs and increased profits.

At that entrepreneurial level, Izzy Asper's approachwas not that much different from what you wouldexpect of any other modern businessman with a newjournalistic toy to tinker with. (See BCE Inc.)

But there was another level. A very personal level.And it was at that level that Eddie Greenspon'scharmingly irascible, larger-than-life Izzy Aspertransformed himself into a very dangerous bull in thefragile journalistic china shop.

Asper seemed to possess, in almost equal mea-sure, the outsider's sense of grievance and the insid-er's sense of entitlement. That sense allowed him tosee himself — a proud westerner and an evenprouder Jew — as the victim of all manner of nefar-ious, eastern-establishment, corporate and mediaelite conspiracies, long after he himself had become acertified, card-carrying member of those elites. Thesense of entitlement also allowed him, at the sametime, to see his own role as that of the righteous/self-righteous, single-minded avenging angel, whoseever-expanding media empire gave him supernaturalpowers to right wrongs and smite anyone whounwisely suggested his wrongs might be someoneelse's rights.

Even, or perhaps especially, anyone in his ownemploy.

Izzy Asper never

seemed to understand

that he'd made it, that

his media empire was

larger and more

powerful than any in

Canadian history and,

consequently, that he

had a journalistic and

moral obligation to

provide a forum for a

range of views rather

than simply a platform

for his own.


FEATUREBY STEPHEN KIMBER

His dark legacyAsper seemed to possess, in almost equal measure,the outsider’s sense of grievance and the insider’s sense of entitlement


lie and keep repeating a lie. Then when you explodethe myth in their face, they are not embarrassed.They just bounce out of that lie and go on to the nextone."

Journalists who didn't agree with him on theArab-Israeli conflict, he told an Israel Bonds gala inMontreal, "have been taken captive by their own bias-es, or victimized by their own ignorance… [or] havebecome partisans in and not providers of knowledgeabout this war against Israel."

There was no wiggle room, no margin for dispute.Izzy Asper's views were gospel — to his sons, whoshared his worldview, to his underlings, who eithershared his view or pretended to and, of course, to themedia outlets his company owned.

While Izzy Asper may very well be rememberedfondly by editors like Eddie Greenspon who got toknow him as that colourful entrepreneur of "consid-erable charm… bright, engaging, witty … vindic-tive, cantankerous, cocky" — in short, a journalist'sdream subject — his legacy as the owner of a jour-nalistic enterprise will, I believe, be much darker.

There is, unfortunately a difference between beinggood copy and making good copy.

Stephen Kimber, a professor in the School ofJournalism at the University of King's College, quit as acolumnist for the CanWest-owned Halifax Daily Newsin 2002 after it spiked a column he'd written critical ofthe Aspers. The Aspers no longer own the paper, andKimber is now a columnist again.

Suddenly, there were unprecedented national edi-torials conceived and written at head office that allhis newspapers were required to publish. And therewere rules: no disagreeing with the national editori-als, even by columnists, no criticizing head office, nosympathy for the terrorist Palestinian devils.Columnists who didn't toe the line were muzzled,invited to quit or fired. Reporters who challengedthese strictures were threatened with suspension ordismissal. One publisher was fired simply for allow-ing his paper to publish a feature and editorial criti-cal of Izzy's good friend, the former prime minister.(That publisher was Russell Mills. Read his assess-ment of Asper's legacy on page eight)

Izzy Asper never seemed to understand that he'dmade it, that his media empire was larger and morepowerful than any in Canadian history and, conse-quently, that he had a journalistic and moral obliga-tion to provide a forum for a range of views ratherthan simply a platform for his own.

He also couldn't seem to accept a fundamentaltenet of modern journalism, that reasonable peoplecan have differing positions on the issues of the day.They couldn't, at least not about those issues thatmattered to Asper, especially the unquestioned,unquestionable rightness of the state of Israel.

His own simplistic view of the complex Arab-Israeli conflict was neatly summed up in an interviewhe gave to a conservative American Web publication."I learned the Arab culture and method of debatewhile exploring the '67 war," he explained. "They just

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Bregg/Maclean’s

THE BIG MAN IN TOWN: By the time Izzy Asper's CanWest Global Communications Corp.gobbled up Conrad Black's Canadian newspaper empire in 2000, the self-styled marginal man

from Manitoba had become Canada's largest and most important media mogul.


Canada needs more Izzy Aspers. The newspaperindustry, however, does not. Canadian entre-preneurs are always in short supply. Those

who resist the pressures to move to Toronto or theUnited States and build their businesses from theirhometowns are even rarer.

Canada would be a more economically balancedcountry if more successful Canadians boosted andbuilt their regions the way Izzy Asper relentlessly pro-moted Winnipeg. Asper made his fortune in televi-sion with the Global network over almost 30 years.This long immersion in the Canadian televisionindustry solidified his attitudes towards all newsmedia and their audiences.

One major difference between newspapers andtelevision is that broadcasters operate under govern-ment license while newspapers do not. Experiencehas shown that once a Canadian broadcaster has alicense, failure is unlikely. It is usually a governmentlicense to print money, as it was with Global televi-sion. Broadcasters know their licenses come up forrenewal and that they may require more licenses infuture for specialty channels. This results in subtlepressure to keep in the good graces of those withpolitical power.

Newspapers, which do not have to worry aboutlicenses, prize their independence from governmentand the freedom this gives their journalists. Asper'sattitudes, on the other hand, were shaped by decadesof licensed broadcasting and related involvement inLiberal Party politics.

Newspaper companies also usually have a loosercorporate structure than television networks. Onereason is that newspapers produce a much higherproportion of their own content than television sta-tions. Television stations make most of their profitsby broadcasting centrally produced, often foreign,programs. Since the proportion of local content islow, a structure with a high degree of central controlmay make sense.

A television station usually employs only a hand-ful of journalists to Asper's company, a newspaperhas 150 or more on the editorial staff. The reason isthat readers expect their newspaper to represent theircommunity and to reflect all aspects of its life. Theyalso expect to get local perspectives on national andinternational news when appropriate.

Asper's plan was to operate newspapers as muchlike television stations as possible, tightening centralcontrol and reducing costs by filling the pages withcommon material. As a result, editorial staffs of the

newspapers have been cut and a news desk inWinnipeg now has some control over the content ofall of the papers. The title of the senior executive ateach newspaper is being changed from "publisher,"which had signaled local control, to "general manag-er," a more typical title for someone taking ordersfrom a head office.

These changes have reduced the strength of theconnection of CanWest newspapers to their commu-nities and damaged their franchises. Asper failed tounderstand that strong connections between news-papers and their communities are vital to businesssuccess, as well as to good journalism. A successfulnewspaper must also earn the trust of its readers bystriving to be fair and honest in presenting the news.

The relentless attacks on the CBC in Asper's news-papers seemed motivated by the fact that the CBCwas a business competitor, rather than by any princi-ple. Using a newspaper to attack a business rivalseemed to be an abuse of trust to many readers andto many of CanWest's own journalists.

One-sided coverage of the complex situation inthe Middle East under Asper's ownership also dam-aged the reputations of newspapers that had tried toprovide balanced coverage under previous owners.These business and journalistic issues have fallenprimarily into the hands of Izzy Asper's younger son,Leonard, CanWest's CEO.

The good news for Leonard is that newspaperfranchises are robust and can survive a lot of dam-age. He should be aware, however, that newspaperscan continue to earn healthy profits for a consider-able time after they have been damaged, and this canprevent owners from recognizing problems.

The franchises of the former Southam newspa-

pers were built over many decades and are wounded,but not fatally. The damage that has been done canbe fixed with a determined effort and a markedchange in attitudes about the importance of inde-pendent journalism and trust. The most importantstep Leonard could take would be to changeCanWest's corporate culture and create a climatewhere all staff, from the corporate office to the news-rooms, feel free to speak up about journalistic andbusiness issues. Leonard will have to listen to thisfeedback.

There are still many excellent newspaper peopleworking for CanWest who remain proud of theirpapers in spite of staff cuts and central control. Theycan help fix the problems at the newspapers if theCEO creates a culture free of fear that will enable himto tap into this pride and advice. It's not too late tomake CanWest a respected name in Canadian news-paper publishing. But Leonard Asper will have tohave the vision and courage to set a new course forhis company.

Russell Mills is the former publisher of the OttawaCitizen whose firing at the hands of the Aspers madeheadlines, including in the Summer 2002 edition ofMedia. After a brief stint at Harvard University on aNeiman Fellowship, which he used to study the role ofjournalism in democracy, Mills is back in Ottawaheading up the journalism school at AlgonquinCollege.

FEATUREBY RUSSELL MILLS

Judging Mr. AsperThe late Izzy Asper failed to understand that strongconnections between newspapers and their communities arevital to business success, as well as to good journalism


ADVICE FOR IZZY’S HEIR: The most important step Leonard (pictured on the right) could take

would be to change CanWest’s corporate culture andcreate a climate where all staff,from the corporateoffice to the newsrooms,feel free to speak up about

journalistic and business issues.

Asper’s plan was to operatenewspapers as much like

television stations aspossible, tightening centralcontrol and reducing costs

by filling the pages withcommon material.


In a province where there is still a huge dividebetween First Nations people and later arrivals tothis land, where a native youth's unexplained

death on the outskirts of Saskatoon doesn't become asubject of official inquiry until 13 years after theevent, and where there is still anxious discussionamong many journalists about whether to use theword "Indian" or "native" or "indigenous" or "aborig-inal,” every little bit of clarity helps.

That's why a corporate gift in 1999 from the lateIzzy Asper's CanWest Global to the University ofRegina School of Journalism can be called the rightgift to the right place at the right time. It is contribut-ing to more balanced and knowledgeable media cov-erage of the sensitive issue of race relations inSaskatchewan.

The donation of $250,000 has allowed the schoolto fund a position known as the Global TelevisionNetwork Chair for one semester each year. FormerUniversity of Regina president, Lloyd Barber, found iteasy to convince his friend Izzy to donate to this

cause. "He was a staunch Winnipegger and could seethe same problems in his own city and province,"Barber recalled recently.

Established to contribute to young journalists'appreciation of the diversity of Canada's populationand particularly the history and culture of its FirstNations, the Chair has been filled by men and womenwho have supported and challenged students to lookfor the stories that need to be told.

Some of the visiting scholars have deliberatelymade these young people uncomfortable, forcingthem to think hard and long about their own atti-tudes, assumptions and gaps in their reading of his-tory. All have generously shared their knowledge andbrought to the school writers, artists, politicians andelders who have deepened awareness among aspiringjournalists, giving them confidence to explore issuesthey might otherwise ignore or avoid.

This semester, Dana Claxton, a founding directorof the Indigenous Media Arts Group in Vancouver,has taken leave from teaching First Nations art histo-ry at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design to bethe fourth person to fill the Global Chair at the U. ofR. School of Journalism.

Claxton, born in Saskatchewan, traces her familyhistory to those who accompanied the Sioux leaderSitting Bull to Canada in 1876 after defeating Custer's7th Calvary in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Claxtonhas directed projects for the National Film Board ofCanada, CBC Television, Vision TV and theAboriginal Peoples Television Network and her workhas had wide international distribution.

She says, like others before them, notably thewomen's movement in the 1970s, "Indians have nowjoined the discussion. That's the reality."

That reality won't be reflected on newspaperpages, television screens or the radio airwaves in ameaningful way until more journalists are comfort-able asking the necessary questions. More than justfocusing on how to approach native elders, who tocontact first when visiting a reserve, whether to offergifts of tobacco or not, students are being encouragedto engage in the same solid research on stories aboutindigenous people as they would on any other impor-tant story.

This engagement with the concerns of indigenouspeople can take journalists far beyond the borders ofSaskatchewan, as the third holder of the Global Chaircan testify.

Guatamala-born Leonzo Barreno is the director ofthe international centre for indigenous developmentat First Nations University of Canada, and he spent asemester in the journalism school sharing his broadperspective of Saskatchewan's native peoples in thecontext of those around the world who are becomingmore vocal and more visible and who have countlessstories to tell.

Well-known actor, activist, publisher and produc-er, Gary Farmer, of the Six Nations Reserve inOntario, was the second holder of the position. Hiscommunity activities in Regina led to an aboriginalfilm festival in 2002, which the school repeated in2003 and hopes to continue as an annual event.

The first Global Chair was Connie Deiter, a ReginaFirst Nations lawyer and author. Her book From OurMothers' Arms about the long-lasting effects on fam-ily life of the experience of residential schools won a1999 Saskatchewan Book Award.

The school welcomes nominations or individualapplications for future appointments to this GlobalTelevision Network Chair — an opportunity to bepart of making a difference in the world of journal-ism.

Patricia Bell is head of the School of Journalism at theUniversity of Regina. She was a staff writer at the OttawaCitizen 1983-1999 and,earlier,at The Globe and Mail.Herown interest in writing about Canada's indigenous peoplestems from her childhood in Fort Simpson, NWT.


FEATUREBY PATRICIA BELL

Izzy’s gift to the understanding offirst nations people

This engagement with the concerns of indigenous people can take journalists far beyond

the borders of Saskatchewan

Established to contributeto young journalists'appreciation of the

diversity of Canada's population and

particularly the historyand culture of its FirstNations, the Chair has

been filled by men and women who have

supported and challenged students

to look for the stories that need to be told.

HARD DRIVING AND GENEROUS:Asper's donation of $250,000 has allowed theUniversity of Regina's School of Journalism to

fund a position known as the Global TelevisionNetwork Chair for one semester each year.

BACK TO SCHOOLBY MARC EDGE

Professionalism versus pragmatismCanadians should pay attention to the way the debate overjournalism schools played out in the United States

When Columbia University in New York ele-vated its undergraduate journalism pro-gram to graduate school status in 1935,

one wag quipped that offering an advanced degree insuch a practical subject was akin to awarding an MAin swimming. The Master's program at Columbia hasproven a lightning rod ever since — for criticismfrom academics for its relentlessly vocationalapproach, and for praise from practitioners who con-sider skills training the only appropriate method ofjournalism education. It was thus to be expectedwhen the opposing camps skirmished again recentlyafter Columbia's new president, Lee Bollinger, movedto inject some more academic rigor into the IvyLeague school's journalism program.

The skills vs. theory debate has gone on unre-solved for decades in U.S. journalism schools, whereit has been called a "dialogue of the deaf." In Canada,journalism education lags far behind where it is inthe U.S., not only in history and sheer numbers, butalso in the state of the debate. Here the practitioners,many of whom dismiss the notion of instructioneven in skills, and instead argue for the traditionalapprenticeship system, have long held the upper handover the academics. Just listen to a few of the moreprominent professional voices:

• Robert Fulford: "It would be cruel to inform [jour-nalism students] they have embarked on a highly dubi-ous enterprise. Still, they will eventually learn theuncomfortable truth: many of those in the professionthey want to enter are convinced that this is preciselythe wrong way to go about it."

• Barbara Amiel: "If our Canadian journalists areas good as any in the world, as I suspect, the one draw-back from which they suffer is the existence of ourcourses on journalism . . . I suspect the good people aregood 'in spite of ' not 'because of ' their journalism stud-ies."

• Allan Fotheringham: "You cannot teach journal-ism any more than you can teach sex. The credentialsfor the trade are handed out at birth and there is nomanual applicable."

This antipathy helps explain why journalism edu-cation is a marginalized enterprise in Canada. Somepractitioners argue that if instruction is called for atall, it should be on the long-standing British model ofcraft school training in the basics. In contrast to thealmost century-long history of university journalismin the U.S., higher education in the subject north ofthe border is strictly a post-WWII phenomenon. The

original Big Three programs — at Carleton,Ryerson, and Western Ontario — didn't start untilthe late 1940s. Before 1975, when Concordia inMontreal began a degree program, university jour-

nalism education was an exclusively Ontario offering.Later that decade the subject spread both westward(Regina) and east (King's College, Halifax), but itwasn't until the late 1990s that a long-promised grad-uate school of journalism was established at UBC on

the West Coast. Still, the number of university J-schools in Canada can be counted on the fingers oftwo hands, while in the U.S., there were 458 four-yearprograms in the subject in 2002.

That's why it's worthwhile to consider the long-running debate in the States, especially the watershedtussle at Columbia, in pondering the future directionof journalism education in Canada, the popularity ofwhich is taking off despite the resistance of practi-tioners. In B.C. alone, the number of four-year jour-nalism programs has leaped in the past few yearswith the movement there to convert many two-yearcommunity colleges into degree-granting UniversityColleges. As a result, the former Kwantlen College insuburban Vancouver now offers a four-year programin journalism, as does University College of theCariboo in Kamloops, and soon the erstwhileMalaspina College on Vancouver Island will expandits media studies diploma into a degree program.

* * *

In the U.S., practitioner resistance to journalismeven being taught at the college level was also exhib-ited early on in the debate. It wasn't until the 1930sthat editors and publishers warmed to the idea, andthen only to provide themselves with some neededcredibility during the Depression. The long traditionof patronage by publishers started by Joseph Pulitzer,who bankrolled the Columbia program that began in1912, soon led to the naming of many free-standingprofessional schools after individuals or media com-panies, which extended the influence of practition-ers. A liberal arts model prevailed at other schools,such as Wisconsin, where journalism was taught inthe faculty of arts. Courses in economics, history, andpolitical science were mixed with skills training, andthis scholarly approach allowed for a more criticaland reformist relationship with the press. Social sci-entific research into mass communication began inearnest in the 1940s, and an increased research ori-entation at many universities required faculty to"publish or perish" if they wanted tenure and promo-tion. Soon the battle lines were drawn in many jour-nalism schools, with the "green eyeshades" from thenewsroom arguing for skills training on one side andthe "chi squares" with their slide rules pondering the-oretical questions on the other.

The most notable recent salvos exchanged in thelong-running battle, pre-Bollinger, came from theUniversity of Oregon and the Freedom Forum. TheOregon Report, as it came to be called, was a compre-hensive examination of journalism education in theU.S. that described many programs in 1984 as "little


NEW STANDARDS:Columbia's new president, Lee Bollinger, movedto inject some more academic rigor into the Ivy

League school's journalism program.

The skills vs. theory

debate has gone on

unresolved for decades

in U.S. journalism

schools, where it has

been called a

“dialogue of the deaf.”


more than industry-oriented trade schools" and ledto a movement at many universities toward a morescholarly curriculum. The industry backlash came adozen years later from the Freedom Forum, a well-funded group founded by the Gannett newspaperchain, which surveyed both journalists and journal-ism educators for their thoughts on the topic. Itsreport, titled Winds of Change, deplored theincreased hiring of journalism professors with Ph.D.sover those with extensive industry experience anddecried the movement in j-schools toward a more"generic" communication curriculum.

* * *

Canadian contributions to the J-school debateinclude Stuart Adam's comprehensive model forreform of journalism education. The former long-time director of Carleton's J-school argued in 1988that the merely quasi-professional nature of journal-ism itself failed to qualify vocational training in thesubject as a university discipline. Education aboutjournalism, he instead argued, is closer to the univer-sity's fundamental mission of equipping students forinformed acts of citizenship. The "mutually uncom-fortable" relationship between journalism scholarsand practitioners, according to Adam, should thus beresolved in favor of the former. His influential paperalmost landed him the vacant position of dean atColumbia back then, which would have madeBollinger's reform efforts no doubt redundant bynow.

When James Carey made his oft-quoted "plea forthe university tradition" in 1978, he freely admittedto borrowing the argument from Canadian economichistorian Harold Innis, whose theories on how"monopolies of knowledge" have controlled mediaand thus society throughout human history are wellknown to communication scholars, if not journalists.Like Innis, Carey saw the professionalization of high-er education as contrary to the fundamental missionof universities, particularly in journalism schools.Professional instruction, he argued, not only resultsin a curriculum devoid of intellectual thought, butone that often deliberately stifles it. "The new mediacentralize and monopolize civic knowledge and, asimportantly, the techniques of knowing," notedCarey. "The modern school of journalism begins itsteaching from the premises of the profession itserves."

The 1981 Royal Commission on Newspapersreport observed that Canadians were well prepared tounderstand new media through the "solid foundationof theoretical studies" left by their countrymen Innisand Marshall McLuhan, who together "alteredmankind's appreciation of the influence of media."Whether McLuhan's oft-quote "the medium is themessage" has influenced Canadian journalism orjournalism students is doubtful, however. I know thatas a journalist I never had the faintest understandingof such profound theories, but I had to take the old-fashioned apprenticeship route into the newspaperbusiness. Since going back to school a few years agoto study the subject I practiced for so long, I wish I'ddone so the first time around. Now that I teach jour-nalism, I actually envy my students for having the

benefit of some instruction in the subject first, notonly in the skills required, but more importantly onsome of the larger issues involved.

* * *

The Canadian equivalent of Columbia's controver-sial J-school is the one at Ryerson University inToronto. As perhaps befits Ryerson's former status asa polytechnic, its curriculum is almost exclusivelydevoted to skills training, except for a couple of

courses on such standard subjects as Media Law andEthics, and a laudable offering titled CoveringDiversity. But don't try telling some Ryerson facultymembers, who are understandably proud of theirschool's deserved reputation for graduating some ofCanada's finest journalists, that a few "concepts"courses are in order to help students better under-stand the role of journalists throughout history and

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Bregg/Macleans

HIGHER PLACES OF LEARNING: The key will be to strike the appropriate balance between theory and practice; there should be room for both in the university journalism curriculum.


around the world. You risk getting your head bittenoff, as I almost did during a job interview there as adoctoral candidate a few years ago. I returned to mydissertation research chagrined, but with a newappreciation for the level of resistance among jour-nalism educators in our country to theoretical con-tent in the curriculum. Needless to say, I didn't get thejob.

But things are changing, even at Ryerson with itsrecent elevation to research university status. Newfaculty members holding advanced degrees havefinally been hired, and the search now under way fora new director promises to help decide the journal-ism school's future direction. Here, for what they'reworth, are my suggestions for some additions toRyerson's journalism curriculum that would helpbring it into the academic world:

• Journalism History. I have to admit my bias here,as this was the subject of my dissertation research,but I think an historical perspective on the subject isessential.

• International Communication. Sometimescalled Global Media Studies. Space is the otherdimension, in addition to time, across which thepractice of journalism should be considered.


Continued from pg. 11Professionalism versus pragmatism

• Media Management. An understanding of thebusiness in which students will be working would beuseful, along with a few principles that should comein handy when they are promoted.

• Mass Communication Theory. This can also becalled Media and Society. The word "theory" scaressome journalists off and its connotation is overly sci-entific in this context. I prefer "thought" instead.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing against skillstraining, a reasonable amount of which I think isessential. The practitioners are right when they sayjournalism is a craft that can only be masteredthrough experience. Rather, I'm arguing that a well-rounded university education in journalism shouldprepare students for a career as a watchdog on pow-erful institutions by acquainting them with the grow-ing body of knowledge on the subject. To argue oth-erwise takes the anti-intellectual position in favor ofless knowledge and understanding, not more. Even inthe U.K., growing concern over the social importanceof journalism practices has led to an explosion ofundergraduate education in this area. Before 1990there were no BA programs in journalism there, butnow 46 universities offer degrees in the subject.

The key everywhere will be to strike the appropriatebalance between theory and practice, but there shouldbe room for both in the university journalism curricu-lum. It appears that this will be the outcome atColumbia, where the one-year master's program will

likely be expanded to two years, with more conceptualcoursework added. It can only be an improvement.

Marc Edge was a journalist in Western Canadafrom 1974 until 1995 and now teaches at NanyangTechnological University in Singapore. He is the authorof Pacific Press: The Unauthorized Story ofVancouver's Newspaper Monopoly (New Star Books,2001).

Journalism educationis a marginalized

enterprise in Canada.Some practitioners

argue that if instructionis called for at all, it

should be on the long-standing British model of craft school training

in the basics.

THE CANADIANASSOCIATION OFJOURNALISTS

NATIONAL WRITERS' SYMPOSIUM – SASKATOON. A number of broadcast andprint journalists were challenged and inspired by some of the best writers in north america at the CAJ's sixth annual National Writers' Symposium held in Saskatoon,October 25-26, 2003. The Canadian Association of Journalists would like to recognizeall the sponsors and advertisers whose generous contributions made this event possible.Their support helps keep Canadian journalism strong.

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Washington, my home state, was not blessedwith a graduate journalism school. An out-of-state university with heftier out-of-state

prices seemed my only option. But journalism is prob-ably not the best profession for paying off studentloans. That's why I decided to look north. Thanks to afavorable exchange rate, my dollar stretches farther inCanada. Even paying the swelled prices reserved forinternational students is comparable to in-statetuition at a Washington university.

But where to go? I looked for a list rankingCanada's journalism schools as U.S. News and WorldReports regularly offers. Finding none, I took my ques-tions to the editors. I sent out 15 emails to newspapereditors across Canada. About six responded andoffered consistent, but rather limited advice. CarletonUniversity was tops, they said, while all other univer-sities carried reputations that were neither exceeding-ly good nor deplorably bad. Liberated from rankingsor clear-cut guidance, I was free to do my ownresearch and make my own decision. Carleton's repand late admissions deadline made an application feeseem more a gamble than a sure thing. An editor Icontacted at a Vancouver newspaper said theUniversity of British Columbia's graduate journalismprogram was excellent. Although it was nearby andboasted state-of-the-art facilities, I ruled out UBCbecause it required two years and appeared slantedtoward the academic.

The value of journalism's scholarly side is up fordebate. Columbia University's journalism school hadto suspend its search for a new dean to ponder themerits of a more academic focus. While on the otherside, Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism,arguably the best school in the U.S., is strongly gearedtoward the practical.

Most of the Canadian news editors I contactedexpressed a preference toward applied skills ratherthan theoretical training. An editor at the WinnipegFree Press said he seeks out smart but practical jour-

nalists to whom he won't have to teach the basics. Headvised that it doesn't matter greatly where I get mydegree since universities really aren't the ideal placeto pick up nuts and bolts skills. In U.S. News andWorld Reports' 2004 graduate school guide, manyU.S. news executives said they preferred reporterswith master's degrees in other disciplines. OneAssociated Press bureau chief told U.S. News her hir-ing preference is for reporters with graduate degreesin "anything other than journalism."

The other Canadian editors I talked to seemed tofollow suit, stressing, more than anything else, a jobcandidate's demonstrated ability to do the job. This isproven less with thesis papers and more with solidclips and newsroom experience, they said. That's oneof the reasons Concordia University in Montrealnailed it for me. Concordia's 11-month program isshort and streamlined, which also cuts costs and


BACK TO SCHOOL

The big huntCheap prescription drugs, a lower drinking age,

a refuge for draft evaders. Americans cross the 49th parallel for many reasons. For Tristan Baurick, it was the J-schools

Most of the Canadiannews editors I contactedexpressed a preference

toward applied skills rather than

theoretical training.


Fellowship WinnerAndrew Duffy, a senior reporter with the Ottawa Citizen, haswon the 2003 Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy.

The Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy established in 1988, isdesigned to further the tradition of liberal journalism and commitmentto social and economic justice fostered by Joseph E. Atkinson, formerpublisher The Toronto Star.

Under the terms of the Fellowship, Duffy will spend a year doingresearch and then prepare a series of in-depth articles, to be publishedin The Toronto Star in the Fall of 2004.

He was awarded the Fellowship for his proposal entitled: ClassStruggles: Public Education and the New Canadian, and plans to exploresigns of an immigrant underclass developing in Canada's big cities andwhat the school systems are doing to prevent this from happening.

As part of the terms of the Fellowship, Duffy will receive a stipend of$75,000 plus an expense budget of up to $25,000.

The Fellowship, sponsored by The Atkinson Charitable Foundation, TheToronto Star and the Beland Honderich Family, is open to all seniorCanadian print and broadcast journalists.

Application forms for 2004 will be available as of January 12th, 2004.The closing date for entries is March 13, 2004.

Telephone inquiries: (416) 368-5152Email inquiries: [email protected]

Ionce heard an employer looking for freshly mint-ed journalism grads say he expected them to "hitthe ground running."

He ran a broadcast newsroom so wanted newrecruits to know a lot about current events, as well asbe adept with all the latest electronic/digital bells andwhistles used in assembling news items.

Sounds logical. Why would he want to hire some-one who needed more "training"? That would meanlost productivity, lost money, less news. Doesn't makemuch economic sense in today's frenzied news-rooms.

But his attitude, which is not at all uncommonamong news media managers, raises interestingquestions for those who organize and/or teach atjournalism schools.

Are journalism schools simply training grounds?Is their only purpose the production of a workforceready, willing and able to fit like cogs into the mediamachines that hire them? How can journalism pro-fessors be critical of the media machines while at thesame time preparing students to work for them? Andhow publicly critical can any professor be when

she/he depends on the media machines to provideinternships for students?

It seems the many questions come down to this:should we let the media machines be the sole defin-ers of journalism and how it is practiced? Or shouldjournalists and journalism schools re-invent or per-haps reclaim journalism?

Journalism as an academic pursuit is relativelynew in Canada (and the U.S.). Until 1965, for exam-ple, there weren't any journalism schools west ofToronto. Now there is a network of journalism pro-grams at universities, colleges and technical schoolsacross the country. As journalism schools spread, sodid the reach and complexity of media. And whereonce it was common for reporters and editors to haveonly a high school education, perhaps less, it is nowalmost impossible to work in news media without auniversity degree or some sort of post secondarytraining.

But how much of that education should be hardskills — writing to deadline, mastering the videoclip — and how much should be theoretical, is stilldebated vigorously. Students want well-paying work.


Employers want fresh, capable recruits. Without thehard skills, even the most intelligent, imaginativethinkers are going to have a hard time putting theirideas and research into a form that is suitable for adaily newspaper, radio or television newscast. But ifa student learns only skills, how exactly is he to knowenough to report on the affairs of the world aroundhim?

In addition, the explosive growth of communica-tions technology means journalism schools arealways trying to catch up rather than lead. For exam-ple, when media organizations decide reporters canhandle small video cameras as well as research, inter-view and editing, J-schools train students to do that.And as the boundaries between news and entertain-ment blur, news and current affairs items mustbecome shorter and flashier, whatever it takes to keepthe frenzied viewer's attention. So J-schools teachstudents how to do that, too. Since it doesn't look asthough the technology tide is about to abate, it'salready clear that unless J-schools step back anddevelop new mandates for themselves, they aredoomed to play catch-up for a long time.

It seems the many questions come down to this: should we let the media machines be the sole definers of journalism and

how it is practiced or should journalists

and journalism schools re-invent or perhaps reclaim journalism?

TRAINING GROUND:What kind of instruction do students need to get ready for the real world?


BACK TO SCHOOLBY GILLIAN STEWARD

A prescription for successPerhaps it’s time for J-school to retrench, go back to the roots of journalism as well as the roots ofthe communities that spawned them


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NORTH AMERICA’S RAILROAD

Not only that, all J-school curricula will look alikeas each school tries to outdo the other, so as to attractstudents and their prospective employers. Is this thefuture of journalism? Or is there another way?

Perhaps it's time for J-schools to retrench, goback to the roots of journalism as well as theroots of the communities that spawned them.Why should all journalism schools be the samewhen the communities they serve are not? Andwhy should journalism schools adopt the one-size-fits-all mentality of the media machines?We've already seen enough of the centralized, cor-poratized, converged and censored news mediathanks to outlets such as ABC/Disney, CNN/TimeWarner, CanWest Global. Even our public broad-caster, CBC, hasn't been able to resist the trends.It is so over-centralized that regional voices andissues sound much the same whether you are inToronto, Halifax or Winnipeg.

If journalism schools are to resist beinghomogenized, they will have to develop special-ties. Sounds like a tall order, but think of it asfocusing resources already at hand. Carleton, forexample would be the place to go if you wanted tolearn the journalism associated with politics, gov-ernment, and public administration. MountRoyal College in Calgary (soon to be granted uni-versity status) could be the centre for Web jour-nalism. And perhaps it could also develop exper-tise in journalism devoted to investigatingresource extraction and the environment. The J-school at the University of Regina could focus onsocial documentary and literary or narrativejournalism. This would fit well withSaskatchewan's history and its burgeoningAboriginal population. University of BritishColumbia could focus on journalism that serveslarge multi-cultural communities.

This sort of approach would encourage profsand students to imagine, and possibly create, newways of doing and delivering journalism.Journalism schools would become more likeresearch incubators than training grounds. It isalready no secret that many students do not seethe mainstream media as the be-all and end-all ofa career in journalism. They often view it astawdry, predictable, out-of-touch and resistant tonew ideas. Many students are looking for new andmore independent ways to use the knowledge andskills they glean from journalism schools.

Specialization doesn't have to mean each J-school is a fortress unto itself. Networking is eas-ier than ever with the Internet and other forms ofcommunication. And perhaps increased special-ization would yield more research and thus moredata on the state of Canadian journalism.

It all comes down to one last question: If jour-nalists and people who care about journalismdon't act to restore and renew something so inte-gral to democratic society, who will?

Gillian Steward is Media's books editor. She isalso a former managing editor of the CalgaryHerald and a visiting professor at the University ofRegina's School of Journalism.

An Internship is a contract. It's an agreement onthe part of the student to do what it takes tomake the internship a valuable experience.

But there must also be a readiness on the part of thepotential employer to be somewhat of a mentor to theintern and provide invaluable feedback during thefew crucial weeks that might determine the student'sfuture aspirations. It's simple. But too often, theinternship is a flop. Why? Well, as a recent journalismgraduate, I wanted to explore this issue. So I set out totalk to former interns, journalism professors andemployers to find out what makes internships work,and what doesn't.

Journalism internships are becoming increasinglyimportant for aspiring journalists. They could beconsidered today's sine qua non into the job market.With rising competition for landing jobs with themedia, employers are increasingly on the lookout forprevious experience. Why? As Rolley Mossop says,they want only "the best of the best." Mossop, whoworks with CBC Television and Newsworld inToronto, says internships are the way for media orga-nizations to assess talent and find the cream of thecrop. This puts the pressure on the aspiring journal-ist to get the most out of the experience and leavebehind a positive impression. After all, the internshipis supposed to help journalism students find a jobthat pays once they graduate, right? But it doesn'talways work that way. Sometimes employers get a badimpression of the students. Conversely, students mayfind the experience dissatisfying and discouraging.They leave with no practical savoir faire, no clippings,no demo tapes, no contacts, and a sense that theywere no more than a nuisance.

Where did it go wrong? I spoke with students,employers and professors and, based on their feed-back, I put together an advice column that I hope willhelp everyone make internships a success. I, myself,did a one-month internship with CBC Radio inOttawa, and that got me thinking as well.

TO THE STUDENTS

1. Be realistic when making your choice. Are youassertive and independent enough for an experiencewith a large organization, such as CBC Television inToronto? Are you ready for hands-on experience at abusy daily newspaper in the Maritimes? Or are youmore of an observer and don't want to get your handsdirty? These are important considerations whenmaking your selection. Think about what yourstrengths and needs are. Most importantly, ask your-self what exactly it is you want to get out of theinternship and then choose the place you're most

likely to have the experience you're hoping for. Don'toverwhelm yourself. Having CBC Newsworld on yourrésumé might look good, but if you have nothing toshow for in terms of demo tapes and good references,the name won't do you much good. "If you go to anorganization, and you find that it feels impersonal toyou, if you find you're not getting enough attention,well, then that's a signal to you that you probablydon't want to work in that kind of area," says Mossop.In other words, he says, don't choose to do yourinternship with a busy media outlet if you need guid-ance in a structured environment. However, if you dochoose to intern with an "impersonal" and busymedia outlet, it's up to you to find yourself a mentor.Someone who will answer your questions and vet

your copy before it goes to the editor or producer whomay not have a lot of time for feedback. Choose amentor who can conduct post mortems with youafter one of your pieces has made it into the paper oron air.

Ryan Laverty, a recent journalism graduate fromthe University of King's College in Halifax, for exam-ple, did his one-month internship with CBCNewsworld in Calgary in November. He knew he wasprobably going to get much hands-on experience. "Iwas just hoping to get an idea of what television wasabout," says Laverty. He says in his last two weeks, heended up working with the tape producer who had thetime to answer all his questions. "There was more timefor conversation," he says. So if you don't expect too

"Once you agree to take on an intern,

you've made acommitment. An

internship is like acontract. It's anagreement to do

whatever you can to help someone develop."

– Henk van Leeuwen, the Station Manager for CBC

Radio Cape Breton

much and decide to either observe or put in a lot ofyour own effort, then you've chosen to get the best outof your internship. And you won't be disappointed.

2. Once you've made your choice, prepare yourselffor the internship. Do research on the organizationand come up with some story ideas for your firststory meeting. Show the producers and reporters inthe newsroom that you're motivated and that you'reexcited to be there. Be professional. Dress well, butnot too well. And, always show up on time! RolleyMossop says it's the first impression that counts. "It'syour first chance to begin to build your professionalreputation," he says. "If you arrive early every morn-ing, you're well-informed, you're contributing tostory ideas, you're really hustling and demonstratingcritical thinking abilities, and [if you have] the abili-ty to make people love to work with you, then you'veachieved the most important goal of an internship."Then, says Mossop, people will remember you andthat helps when applying for a job later on. Henk vanLeeuwen, the Station Manager for CBC Radio CapeBreton, says it's a 50/50 agreement. "There has to bethe appetite and the interest and the hunger to learnto make it a worthwhile experience," he says. It's atwo-way street. But you're attitude has to come first.

3. Don't get discouraged if you don't get the attentionyou want. A newsroom is always busy, and it's rarethat someone will hold your hand throughout theinternship. Laverty says Newsworld Today in Calgarywas so busy, reporters rarely had time to spare."Everybody was just doing their work," he says. "Andthey expect that if you're there, you should knowwhat you're doing." He says it's not that they don'twant to talk to you, they just don't have the time. RuthDavenport, a recent journalism graduate from King'sCollege interned with Halifax's Daily News. She saysshe learned very quickly that internships are self-directed. "On the first day, I fell down on that," shesays. "I felt directionless." Davenport says it took hera few days to gather her confidence and pitch ideas.She says the most important thing is not to let your-self slide into a self-pity mode. Instead, get moreinvolved, ask questions, talk to people. "No one mademe feel stupid for asking questions," she says. "Myideas were always well received which really boostedmy confidence."

4. Don't get intimidated by hierarchy. You might bethe "intern" but you're important, and you're therebecause you want to be there. So get the best out of it.If you feel you're in everyone's way, then that's a real-ity you have created for yourself. Obviously, you don't

BACK TO SCHOOLBY ANNE LARRASS

Let’s make a dealInternships can be valuable for students and newsrooms. But too frequently they go awry


MEDIA, FALL/WINTER 2003 PAGE 17PHOTO CREDIT: Anne Larrass

want to aim too high. Pitch story ideas you can dorealistically. The first few days, Davenport says, shefelt inferior. She pitched story ideas that she wasn'tallowed to do, such as writing about the RoyRomanow report. She says those stories werereserved for senior writers. That doesn't mean youshouldn't think big. Just be realistic. And if you find afresh angle no one has thought about, you will usual-ly get producers and executives curious. Always beconfident when pitching your ideas. "I was dealingwith intimidation," recalls Davenport. "I was afraid tospeak up." But, she says, she had to overcome thatfear. And after the third day, she says, she no longerfelt like a student. "I felt like a journalist. They trust-ed me, even though they didn't have to."

5. Always ask for feedback. Some organizations don'tassign mentors to interns. So it's up to you to ask forfeedback. Laverty says, "feedback was sometimeshard to come by. The first time I got some was when Iscrewed up," he says. Later, when he went to apolo-gize to the producer of the show, Holly Preston, shetold him it wasn't his fault and recognized that "peo-ple don't take the time to train properly." When peo-ple are too busy to come to you, go to them and askthem questions. In most cases, reporters are glad togive feedback. Eleanor Beaton, also a recent journal-ism graduate from King's College in Halifax waslucky. She did her internship at CBC Radio CapeBreton that provided her with a mentor, Henk vanLeeuwen. "They gave me a lot of feedback and slowedme down to make sure I was doing a good job," saysBeaton. She also says, she and van Leeuwen sat downevery second day to talk about how she was doingand to listen to the work she had produced. She saysthis helped her learn more and improve. In Laverty'scase, at CBC Newsworld, he says, "unless you askspecifically, they don't feel like you need help or haveproblems." And that's the case in some large mediaoutlets, be it newspaper of broadcasting. Sometimes,especially when it gets busy, people can't come to you,but that doesn't mean you can't go to them.

TO EMPLOYERS AND PROFESSORS

1. Help students make the right choice when select-ing a media outlet. As the student's professor, discussthe options with the student and talk about his/herexpectations. If you feel the student might get moreout of an internship with Victoria's Times Colonist,rather than the National Post, then make that sugges-tion and explain why. Help students get a realisticview of a place. Stephen Kimber, the former directorof journalism school at the University of King'sCollege, says he would never tell a student not to go toa certain media outlet. "But I would certainly ask thestudents to think about their choices," he says. "If themedia outlet called to ask about the student, I wouldbe honest about my concern." This is a way to avoiddisappointment on both ends. As an employer orinternship supervisor at a media outlet, always talk tothe student before he arrives for the internship. Talkabout what you expect from him, and find out aboutthe student's expectation. "We really try to make surethat there's a good match between a student's per-sonality and abilities and interests and what's going

to be happening when they're at that job site," saysLois Sweet, coordinator of the jobs and internshipprograms at Carleton University. "If the students aregoing to go [into an organization] and be half-heart-ed, they're not going to be good ambassadors for ourprogram." In other words, if you feel the match ispoor, be honest. It's better for you, and it gives theintern a chance to have a good experience elsewhere.

2. Once you agree to take on an intern, you've made acommitment. As Henk van Leeuwen says, "an intern-ship is like a contract. It's an agreement to do what-ever you can to help someone develop." In otherwords, take the time to write out a plan. Inform yourstaff the intern is coming. Make the intern feel wel-come. In Laverty's case, "they didn't know what to dowith me the first day," he says. "It was hard."Remember, you're not obliged to take on an intern. Ifyou decide you want to, but only under the conditionthat the intern is self-assertive enough to work understressful conditions or content with just observing,then make sure you establish that during the pre-

interview. If you still take on an intern despite nothaving the time, you're not doing anyone a favour.Davenport says the first day she arrived at the DailyNews, her supervisor, Dave Rodenheiser, had gone toJamaica. She says she had an interim supervisor, buther internship really took off once Rodenheiserreturned a week later because he had a plan for her.Make sure the intern feels you want her there, andthat you have things for her to do. Make her feel wel-come.

3. Give the intern things to do. The worst thing for anintern is to feel as though he's just an extra body. Takeadvantage of having someone who can contributenew ideas and views. "If the interest and motivation

of the student is high, then you have an obligation tomatch it and try to find hands-on things the interncan do," says van Leeuwen. He says he benefits fromtaking on interns because " they bring in new ideasand question everything." Lois Sweet agrees. She saysmedia organizations should take advantage of stu-dents if they're motivated. Executive producers andmentors "should think about how they can use thestudent, how the student can fit into the show, whatthe student could contribute," says Sweet. At CBCRadio Cape Breton, where Eleanor Beaton did herinternship, she says she got to follow through withmany of her story ideas. She wrote script-clips,pitched suggestions for show line-ups, chose musicstings. And finally, she was allowed to produce theChristmas show. Similarly, at Halifax's Daily News,Davenport says they didn't doubt her abilities. "Theywere willing to give me a chance," she says. Kimbersays, the worst is if an outlet thinks a student is notcapable of doing the work. "Then the student getsfrustrated." In other words, if you've agreed to takeon an intern, and the intern wants to contribute, giveher a chance.

4. Give the intern constructive feedback. Give him asense of how he's doing. Van Leeuwen says, eventhough "it's not easy sometimes" to take the time forinterns, "the internship can be useless if the employ-er can't take the time to sit down with the intern andsay, 'look, here's how it's going,' or 'here's how it's notgoing.'" It doesn't mean you have to hold their hands.But do what you can to help the student learn andhave a good experience. If you can't provide feedback,tell the intern before she arrives. Select only thosewho can work independently and who don't rely onfeedback. At CBC Television in Toronto, Mossop says,they choose only those students who don't need a lotof direction. "Students who don't do well are thosewho need more structure," he says. Mossop says, overthe past few years, CBC-TV in Toronto has reducedthe number of interns it takes "so that we canincrease the quality of the experience the internshave." If by reducing the number of interns helps youmake the experience for the student more worth-while, then you might want to consider doing that.

In the end, students want to leave the internshipwith a portfolio and contacts that will give them goodreferences during their job hunt. And that's possibleonly if the internship is a success for all participants.If the staff in a newsroom give off a sigh of relief theminute the intern steps out of that office for the lasttime, something went wrong. Internships are anexchange of ideas and creativity. Everyone shouldtake advantage of that! There will be a lot of creativeminds graduating from journalism schools acrossCanada very soon. Most of them have made it this farbecause they had good experiences during theirinternships and left inspired and bursting with newideas. Thanks to those who took the time to make theinternships a success. Let's keep it that way!

Anne Larrass is a recent graduate of the School ofJournalism at the University of King's College in Halifax.She is now living in Ottawa where she does freelance workfor the German Embassy's newspaper, German Forum.

“No one made me feel stupid for asking questions.My ideas were always well received which really

boosted my confidence.”- Ruth Davenport commenting on her

apprenticeship at the Halifax Daily News


BACK TO SCHOOLBY FRED VALLANCE-JONES

A meeting place for professionals and mentorsWhen journalism schools get it right, they can be indispensable

Journalism schools have always been viewed withskepticism in a craft where being a skeptic is abasic job requirement.

And it's easy to write them off.After all, a good lib-eral education rounded off with a dose of life experi-ence is a pretty good way to get started, and much ofwhat we do can be learned on the job.

But the schools have an important role nonethe-less, especially today when the practice of journalismis more challenging and complicated than ever. Forsure I have a built-in bias, in that I graduated with aBJ from Carleton and teach part time at Ryerson. Butmy reasons go much deeper than mere pride or self-interest.

When journalism schools are doing their job well,they form a backbone of professional formation wewould be foolish to give up.

Take the subject I write about here: computer-assisted reporting. You can certainly learn themechanics of using database and spreadsheet pro-

grams at a business college, but those technical skillswon't teach you how to use them to unearth stories.The way journalists use these tools is unlike the way

anyone else uses them.Only a journalism school can teach those methods

because why would anyone else bother? And withoutthe complementary interviewing, writing andreporting skills, the ability to use CAR isn't muchuse.

The same goes for other specialized skills such aspursuing investigations or photojournalism. A J-school is the only place that can bring it all together.

Another reason to have journalism schools is togather in one place talented professionals who haveworked in the field, as well as academics who haveundertaken the professional study of journalism.When paired with the use of sessional lecturersdrawn from newsrooms, a rich and challenging intel-lectual environment is created that can only serve toadvance our craft and give the students a real headstart as they begin their careers.

For while the schools areindispensable when theyare good, they also have

the potential to be verybad when they slide intoformulas, complacency

or mediocrity.

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OBITUARYBY PAUL ATTALLAH

Neil Postman, 1931–2003Ultimately, he gave an eloquent voice to a widely shared

distrust of the media and unease at the way it transformsentertainment into news and news into entertainment

When Neil Postman, chair (until 2002) of thedepartment of culture and communication at NewYork University, died on Oct. 5, 2003, he was thatrarest of thinkers, an intellectual widely recognizedand read by the general public, whose catchphrases("amusing ourselves to death," "the disappearance ofchildhood") entered the lexicon and helped shapethinking about the media. A media critic, author of20 books and over 200 essays, Postman was one ofonly 17 university professors at NYU, and held thetitle of Paulette Goddard Professor of Media Ecology.Colleagues and students remember him for his liveli-ness, humour and humanity.

Postman's career began in 1953 as an elementaryschool teacher. Following military service, heobtained an MA in English (1955) and an Ed. D.(1958), both from Columbia University. In 1959, hejoined the English department of New YorkUniversity.

In 1961, he published Television and the Teachingof English. At precisely the time that Newton Minnowlambasted American television as "a vast wasteland,"Postman argued that it should be used in the class-room. This unconventional attitude continuedthrough Teaching as a Subversive Activity (1969), TheSoft Revolution (1971).

This early phase focuses on linguistics and lan-guage teaching rather than on technology, and ismarked by a contrarian approach similar toMcLuhan, whom Postman frequently claimed as animportant precursor.

Postman's outlook, however, underwent a majorreversal with the publication of Teaching as aConserving Activity (1979), the very title indicatingthe distance he had travelled since 1969. He nowbelieved that media, in the very process of reachingyoung minds, also produced deleterious effects.

This theme was repeated in Postman's two best-known and most influential books, TheDisappearance of Childhood (1982) and AmusingOurselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age ofShow Business (1985). It continued in How to WatchTV News (1992), Technopoly: The Surrender of Cultureto Technology (1993), The End of Education:Redefining the Value of School (1995), and Building aBridge to the Eighteenth Century: How the Past CanImprove the Future (1999).

In this second phase, Postman became increasing-ly suspicious of technology and the media, especiallytelevision. Unlike reading, which "teaches us to rea-son, (...) television, with its random unconnected

images, works against this linear tradition and breaksthe habits of logic and thinking." Furthermore, tele-vision turned our previously private life into publicspectacle, thereby undermining the authority ofadults and causing the "disappearance of childhood."

Ultimately, he hoped that a return to the past couldhelp re-instate a more civilized present.

The fundamental impact of modern technology,therefore, is to disintegrate and disarticulate earliersocial relationships. It replaces the culture of thebook and its deep roots in logical reflection and crit-ical self-distance with a purely visual culture charac-terized by surface appeal, shortened attention spans,and a shallow insistence on the trivial.

Postman's views on the state of news and journal-ism, while a theme in much of his later writing, wereespecially trenchant in How to Watch TV News. Heresented the impact of visual culture on books andespecially of television on print. USA Today, a televi-sion program masquerading as a newspaper, exem-plified this impact perfectly and caused Postman topredict a day when we would give awards for "the bestinvestigative sentence."

He despaired at the capitulation of news to enter-tainment and insisted on the value of education. It isplain from Postman's writing that he wanted journal-ism in the university and the university in journal-

ism. Although specific examples of journalistic prac-tice may be dispiriting, journalism itself remains thelanguage of democracy, the conversation in whichfree societies and individuals speak to themselves. Ithas a specific obligation to civic culture and civil

society, and therefore to the values and habits ofmind which allow them to thrive. It needs to reach itsaudience but not to pander to it. Does journalismbelong in the university? Where else could it belong?

Postman was an early exponent of the view thatcommunication should not be understood merely asthe transmission of effects and impacts but moreimportantly as an overall cultural environment,which subtly shapes beliefs, habits and attitudes.

Ultimately, he gave an eloquent voice to a widelyshared distrust of the media and unease at the waythey transform entertainment into news and newsinto entertainment. In the age of Jerry Springer'saffirmative vulgarity, Oprah's creamy blubbering, andthe news that Joe Millionnaire will be back for anoth-er season, it's hard not to feel some sympathy.

Paul Attallah is associate director of the School ofJournalism and Communication at CarletonUniversity. He is a convert to the place of journalism inthe university but also watches television.

CREDIT FOR PAUL ATTALLAH PHOTO: Paul Couvrette MEDIA, FALL/WINTER 2003 PAGE 19

THE UNABASHED EDUCATOR: It is plain fromPostman’s writing that he wanted journalism in the

university and the university in journalism.

He resented the impact of visual culture on books

and especially of televisionon print. USA Today, a

television program masquerading as a

newspaper, exemplifiedthis impact perfectly and

caused Postman to predicta day when we would

give awards for "the best investigative sentence."


ETHICSBY STEPHEN J. A. WARD

Crisis ethicsHow not to practise quality journalism

There are two ways that journalists can dealwith the ethical standards of their profession.One approach is what I call "crisis ethics." The

other approach is deliberative ethics — the dailyincorporation of ethics into the making of newsroomdecisions.

To test which approach predominates in yournewsroom, take an actual example — the coverageof the Iraq war last spring. Ask yourself these ques-tions:

• Has your newsroom conducted a thorough reviewof its coverage? • Have you discussed issues raised by the conflict,from the use of embedded reporters to the broadcastof pictures of captured soldiers? • Have you considered changing your guidelines (orcreating guidelines) for these issues? What would youdo differently next time?

• Have the reporters and editors who were part ofthe coverage had an opportunity to exchange viewson the problems and successes?

If the answer to most of these questions is "no,"then your newsroom may practise crisis ethics.

Crisis ethics is the tendency to make decisions inthe middle of a crisis or a breaking story, without pre-existing guidelines. It is the tendency to respond tocoverage controversies after a problem occurs. Crisisethics is reactive and opaque to the public.Deliberative ethics is pro-active, principled andtransparent to the public.

Crisis ethics is tolerated in too many newsrooms,even though such an attitude in most any other pro-fession would be criticized as negligent. Some jour-nalists dismiss deliberative ethics as an academicactivity unsuited for newsrooms. Some journalistspoint to the speed of newsgathering as an obstacle to

ethical decision-making. Still others assert that jour-nalism is a pressure-packed, unpredictable practicethat defies principles. Journalism decisions are madebest by gut instinct or a "case-by-case" approach.

To all of these points, I have one thing to say.Twaddle.Newsrooms are pressure-packed places, but so are

hospital emergency rooms and airport towers. Doesanyone seriously suggest that emergency doctors orair traffic controllers find pre-arranged proceduresand standards unhelpful? It is true that you can't doethics in a crisis. But that is an argument for priorthought and preparation. Nor is speed necessarilyincompatible with accuracy. News agencies have beendoing "fast" news according to pre-established stan-dards for over a century. True, the pace of journalismincreases with the multi-media, 24-hour news clock.But that is an argument for new guidelines andimproved news management.

USE MY PHOTO, PLEASE: Embedding wasn't the only controversy during the American-led war. News outlets were also able to avail themselves of actionphotos provided by the U.S. Armed Forces. The caption in the paragraph below, explains the details in this photograph that was taken by Master Sgt. Terry L.

Blevins. "Joint service security forces from the Air Force and Army team up to provide protection for base personnel and assets at a forward deployed air base inSouthwest Asia in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom March 23, 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people,

eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and end the regime of Saddam Hussein."


Finally, the idea that journalism situations are sounique as to defy principles and guidelines is anexaggeration. In journalism, we face similar types ofstories day in and day out. Even when new technolo-gy and novel situations pose new problems, existingguidelines can help us think our way through theconfusion. Scepticism about the relevance of ethicscan have a corrosive influence. It can rationalize acasual approach to standards. It can be an excuse forbad newsroom management.

I was invited not long ago to visit a newspapernewsroom after it had been publicly criticized forrunning the photo of a murdered youth on the frontpage. I discovered that neither the section editors northe photojournalists had clear photo guidelines, andthey lacked established procedures for dealing withcontroversial pictures. On another occasion, I askedthe business journalists from another newspaperwhether they had rules on owning stocks in compa-nies they report on, or restrictions on productendorsements. The editor said the paper had a clearpolicy, although it was not written down. But many ofhis reporters were unaware of such a policy andexpressed concern about possible conflicts of interestin their section. So much for the informal case-by-case approach.

Insouciance toward journalism ethics existsdespite the fact that ethical scandals have delivereddevastating blows to major newsrooms. Several yearsago, the Cincinnati Inquirer ran grovelling front-pageapologies for mishandling an investigation intoChiquita Banana. More recently, reporters JaysonBlair and Rick Bragg were dismissed at the New YorkTimes for fabrication and misuse of stringers, respec-tively. In London, the Hutton inquiry raised questionsabout the reporting methods of Andrew Gilligan and

the BBC. In these cases, basic ethical standards wereviolated, stretched or shown to absent.

Ethical scandals, however, do little to bring aboutsubstantial positive change across the profession.Instead, the usual result is a piecemeal 'fix' to prob-lems at a particular news organization. The editors inquestion issue pious apologies, individuals areblamed and media critics decry the state of journal-

ism. Once people get weary of moralizing about thelatest incident, talk of ethics subsides until the nextscandal. The attitude of crisis ethics graduallyreturns. Such intermittent displays of public piety byjournalists in trouble don't wash with the citizens. Itfeeds their cynicism.

One can speculate why crisis ethics dominatesdeliberative ethics in many newsrooms. Is it a stresson profits and the "big story" in a competitive mediamarket? Is it due to a decline in newsroom resources?Is it lack of leadership and commitment? Is it part ofthe culture of journalism to be wary of talk of ethics?

Whatever the reason, the way forward requires adeliberative approach to ethics. At quality news orga-nizations, it is already being practised. Good editorsfind time for discussion of "best practices." Goodnewsrooms are already preparing, both ethically andtechnologically, for coverage of the next public healthcrisis, or the next major conflict.

Good news organizations are debating the mostreasonable guidelines now.

We don't need another book on what is wrong withjournalism. We don't need more breast-beating. Weneed newsrooms that take concrete steps to developand protect standards. Also, we need to learn fromethical scandals by implementing whatever preventa-tive measures are recommended.

If such steps are not taken, the public has goodreason to doubt the sincerity of the news media'srhetoric about their commitment to credibility andthe public interest.

It is just more twaddle.

Stephen J. A. Ward is a columnist for Media maga-zine. He also teaches at the University of BritishColumbia's School of Journalism.

The idea that

journalism situations

are so unique

as to defy principles

and guidelines is an

exaggeration. In

journalism, we face

similar types of stories

day in and day out.

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In the fall of 1963, I was working as an officeboy and darkroom replacement at the LondonFree Press. The managing editor, Ivor Williams,

told me he had recommended me to CP for a job inits new darkroom. I had just won a CP picture of

the month and wanted to move on and up tobecome a news photographer. I got the job. It was awonderful opportunity to learn the ins and outs. Iwas working in the darkroom when John F.Kennedy was shot and took wire pictures for 36

hours non-stop, watched Winston Churchill'sfuneral and many other world events through thewire negatives in the CP darkroom. This fueled thedesires and I soon started shooting any event thatI could as a freelance photographer: The Beatles;NHL hockey, including Stanley Cups with theToronto Maple Leafs winning. Can you imaginethat?

The civil rights movement in the southern stateswas on the go. I followed the movement with greatinterest. When it was announced that MartinLuther King Jr. was to lead a 50-mile march fromSelma, Alabama, to Montgomery, I had a feelingthis was going to be an historic event.

I decided to take a few days off, head south totake some photos that might help advance mycareer from a darkroom technician to a news pho-tographer. Back then, Interstate-75 only went as faras Cincinnati; the rest was two lanes through themountain hillbilly country of Tennessee andKentucky with memorable names like RabbitHash, Kentucky. I arrived in steamy Montgomery25 hours later. A visit to the police station secureda media card, then I found the motel whereAssociated Press had set up shop. I met the pho-tographers, who were hard as nails.

I followed a civil rights demo from a blackneighborhood to the State legislature that wasringed by police. They wouldn't let the demonstra-tors use the sidewalk, so they had to march on theroad. The demonstrators pleaded with the police tolet them on the sidewalk, but the police refused. Itwas illegal to march on the road. You had to be onthe sidewalk. So the police vans came and they allwere arrested for marching on the road, and notthe sidewalk.

This march was led by two young men — onewhite, the other black. The black man spoke to thepolice, who were blocking the way onto the side-walk. He said "My name is Willie Ricks. I'm fromTennessee and I want to walk on the sidewalk.Governor Wallace says I can walk on the sidewalk.Please let me on the sidewalk." The police wouldnot let them on the sidewalk, hence the arrests.Three years after this demonstration, Willie Rickswould become Brother Mukasa Ricks and alliedhimself with Stokley Carmichael. Ricks was thefirst member of the Student Non-ViolentCoordinating Committee (SNCC) to use the call-and-response chant "What do we want? BlackPower!" This is the scene that I had expected. Thisis what papers and TV news showed.

Hearing of a white demo, I went to have a look. Iwas shocked. White people marched, carried racist


PHOTOJOURNALISM

The face of hateWhen he was a young and hungry photographer,Lynn Ball traveled to America’s Deep South to witness a scene he’ll never forget

NIGGER, GO HOME:Some of the women had fouler mouths than the men. Housewives, their hair in curlers,

carried signs with the words “WHO NEEDS NIGGERS.”

placards, and verbally abused any blacks whomarched past them. I couldn't believe the language.Some of the women had fouler mouths than the men.I witnessed several of the white rallies and really hada hard time understanding what was going on.Housewives, their hair in curlers, carried signs withthe words "WHO NEEDS NIGGERS?"

The time for the start of the march was near, so Idrove over to Selma, got my press card from the infa-mous Jim Clark, the sheriff of Selma. I was at thechurch bright and early where the 50-mile march toMontgomery was to start. Speakers, Ralph Abernathy,Ralph Bunche and Martin Luther King Jr. got thecrowd in the mood to march and they were soon onthe road.

It was an unforgettable sight to see the marchcross the bridge over the Alabama river. The next dayI headed north, as I had to get back to work inToronto. It was nice to get home.

Lynn Ball is retired from his job as the OttawaCitizen's chief photographer. He was also theCanadian Press' first staff photographer, a positionhe secured after shooting the pictures of the demon-stration in Selma.

MY NAME IS WILLIE RICKS: When police denied demonstrator organizer Willie Ricks his legal right to walk on the sidewalk, he approached this policeman and declared:“My name is Willie Ricks. I’m from Tennessee and I want to walk on the sidewalk.

Governor Wallace says I can walk on the sidewalk. Please let me on the sidewalk.”

GENERATIONAL HATRED: Age didn’t seem tomatter. Hate found a home in the old — and young.


HISTORY IN THE MAKING:When it was announced that Martin Luther

King Jr. was to lead a 50-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, I had a feeling

this was going to be an historic event.


DIARYBY MOLLY AMOLI K. SHINHAT

The cone of silenceThe CBC’s parliamentary bureaus clam up when asked fortheir views on the so-called Ottawa project

I'm not used to people being afraid to talk to me.All I was doing was asking about a new building,a new newsroom. But after just two calls to jour-

nalists in CBC's parliamentary bureaus for radio andtelevision, it became evident that fear was holdingcourt.

I can appreciate the serious worry about conse-quences to jobs or careers, but I thought I'd be amongthe Believers. Believers, that is, in press freedom andfreedom of speech.

At a visceral level it's still difficult for me to get myhead around the ease with which some turned theirbacks on these two ideas, principles essential to thework of every Canadian journalist. These are ideaspeople, especially journalists, have died for. Withoutthose two bulwarks of democracy, just what exactlywould Canadian journalism be? Or, more to the point,what kind of journalism would these same journal-ists be practicing?

When I pitched the story to The Hill Times aboutCBC's new broadcast centre and its integrated news-room in Ottawa, I thought, naively, it'd be a typicalstory about moving — straightforward and, frankly,pretty dry. But it didn't take long to discover just howcomplex and disturbing the reality was.

To be fair to everyone in the bureaus, no, I did nottry to reach everyone. As the story developed, someservices got a lot more calls than others. That said,the vast majority of those I spoke to feared some-thing.

On discovering that the CBC is exempt fromAccess to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests,the journalists' perspectives became all the more crit-ical. The public would absolutely want to know what

they thought because they — not executives or managers — are the people the public "knows" and trusts.

When journalists at the top of the profession in anindustrialized western democracy — nu n i o n i z e d ,

mostly white,middle class —get scared to talk, I reckonwe've all got something to worry about.These are peoplewith all kinds of societal privilege and power who knowpress freedom and free speech law inside out.

THE SCARY BUILDING: By around week two (of what became a month) ...

I had some great chitchat,but the reasons journalistsgave for not talking were

all over the place.

—

I have nothing but respectfor the small number ofemployees who did talk,whether it was on or off

the record.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jake Wright


The situation was particularly ironic, when afterturning me down, they'd be off nailing down allkinds of Parliament Hill sources, asking them to doexactly what I'd just wanted them to do — trust me and talk.

After speaking to several journalists and gettingnext to nothing, on the advice of one person, I triedthe main number for one of the bureaus. The personwho answered said we'd never met and I wasunknown to him, so he wouldn't be passing me on toanyone else there.

Since when does anyone in journalism expectaccess to be based solely on previous personal con-tact or some kind of "name recognition"? Of course,because of the open office, this response basicallybroke out the duct tape for everyone there.

I was staggered that someone in journalism wasopening this particular freezer door for journalistsover a BUILDING, a NEWSROOM. I had to askmyself, why?

If moving into one building and integrating news-rooms is all such a brilliant idea, why weren't thejournalists all feeling free to burn up my phone lineand tell me about it? I had some great chitchat, butthe reasons journalists gave for not talking were allover the place. Many had "advice," but few wanted totalk. And for all that, with one maybe two exceptions,I could smell the fear over the phone. I have nothingbut respect for the small number of employees whodid talk, whether it was on or off the record, eventhough not all those interviews or that informationmade it to the published story.

But the more journalists' fear I heard, the moredisturbing and frankly upsetting it became.

At the same time, it was pathetic because so manywere quite willing to let "somebody else" talk, in thiscase, a tiny number of sources. And now the story'spublished, the bystanders are doing what? Waiting forsomething to happen?

Perhaps later these individuals may feel someregret when they hear a resounding silence from thepublic over the situation. But it'll be one mirrored,indeed irony of ironies created, by their own.

That said, to hear from those talking, peopledeeply committed to their work, trying to dodemanding jobs and cope with a situation where thehuman dimension has been, let's say, "mismanaged"by a bunch of suits.

Journalists fight to top the heap when it comes toskepticism. Throw enough fear and instability atthem, and of course, they're going to use all theirskills to suss out the situation. Later those fears mor-phed into anger and pain, and as a journalist, thechallenge was finding the line between being humanand doing my job. I would realize, I don't stop beinghuman when I go to work.And as a human being, mygut response when I see someone afraid or in troubleis to protect them.

By around week two (of what became a month), Ifelt like I was actually researching two stories: the on-the-record version and the off-the-record version. Ihadn't set out to write a fairytale, a novel or a newsrelease. The story changed almost daily, and I felt aresponsibility to try and close the gap as much aspossible without anyone getting hurt.

David McKie, a CBC reporter, is an on-the-recordsource for the story I wrote. He's also the editor of thismagazine, one deeply committed to press freedom,free speech and media transparency. Being asked byhim to write about my experience for Media maga-zine has been a very strange experience, as you canimagine. It's also been mind-stretching. It may evenbe a mistake that ends up costing me something.As ajournalist, on the continuum between access to andcritiquing a large news corporation, doing this mayset me up for a lot of closed mouths and slammeddoors.

When I consider how many CBC journalists Ihoped would talk and given my own belief in free-dom of speech and press freedom, I felt like I'd be ahypocrite if I turned down McKie, despite my appre-hensions.

My parents paid heavily many times to ensuretheir children could live in a place where they would-n't get their faces rearranged too frequently for open-ing their mouths and speaking.

That said, I wavered plenty, even after I'd agreedtwo write this story. But then, my dad was briefly intown.

I didn't even have to talk to him about it.I just looked at his face. Even as a little girl grow-

ing up in England, he always went out of his way toremind me to be brave.

Molly Amoli K. Shinhat is an Ottawa-based free-lance journalist. She can be reached [email protected].... I felt like I was actually researching two stories: the on-the-record version and the off-the-record version.

UPDATEBY DAVID MCKIE

I’m still hereLe Journal de Montréal Michel Auger made headlines three years agoas he lay on a hospital bed with six bullets lodged in his back. Sincethat time, he has willingly talked about his ordeal and hisdetermination to keep going. Media magazine recently caught up withAuger at a gathering of reporters at the second annual conference inMontreal of the Canadian Association of Journalists and theInvestigative Reporters and Editors

It was with defiance that Michel Auger stared at thecamera as the photographer snapped a shot of himin a hospital bed, tubes attached to his nose and

neck. A slight smile graced his face, as if he were pos-ing for a run-of-the mill picture.But it was no ordinaryscene: Auger, the intrepid crime reporter who hasspent the past forty years chronicling the movementsof the organized criminals in Quebec, had just beenshot: six times in the back. Someone wanted him tostop doing his job. But Auger survived, and continuesto ply his trade, unafraid that he may suffer the samefate.

Journalists across the country rallied to his support,demonstrating publicly and demanding tougher lawsto prevent this kind of thing from happening. Therewas even an attempt to mimic the bold steps taken bythe Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) inresponse to the death of Don Bolles.

He was an investigative reporter for the ArizonaRepublic who, during his 14 years with the paper, haduncovered secret political slush funds controlled bythe state patrol, and Mafia influence in a nationalsports concession firm. One of his stories revealed thenames of nearly 200 organized crime figures and asso-ciates who lived in Arizona. After an aborted meeting

with a source to obtain information on a land fraudscheme by the sports firm, Bolles returned to his car.He turned on the ignition and was blown up by sixpieces of dynamite planted under the vehicle.

The IRE viewed the killing as an assault on pressfreedom and organized a team of investigativereporters that detailed corruption among politiciansand businesses in Arizona. After three months work,the team produced about 80-thousand words thatexamined the state of corruption in Arizona.

Michel Auger is well aware of the Arizona Project,and during his presentation to the Canadian andAmerican journalists, he made reference to similarattempts that were made in Montreal to use his near-death experience as motivation to launch a broadinvestigation into organized crime.The initiative failedfor reasons that may be worth examining in the future.However, Auger continues to be a one-man wreckingcrew, undaunted in his attempts to expose wrongdoingin Montreal's underworld.

Sitting in a stuffy hotel room at the second annualCAJ/IRE joint conference entitled: CROSSING THE49TH: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM TECH-NIQUES FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER,Auger talked about how he works sources in order to

gather information; and the importance of makinglots of phone calls and keeping your ear to the ground.Then, towards the end of his formal presentation, heanswered the question that seemed to be on everyone'smind: Is he afraid to do his job? This is what he had tosay, for the record.

"Don't listen to what I'm telling you because it's nota risky business. I was the third reporter to be shot inMontreal; another reporter was killed in Vancouver,Tara Singh Hayer, working for a Sikh communitynewspaper…in 1998, he was shot and killed. I waslucky to be alive after I was shot and I was lucky to getback to my work to do exactly the same thing, threemonths after I received six bullets in my back.

After I recovered, there was a march in Montreal byall reporters. It was done in Ottawa and Toronto.All thereporters got together when I was lying in hospital.That also helped to secure the fact that the reporters,even if the Hells Angels wanted to silence me, wantedto kill me,didn't gain anything.So the bikers were con-stantly in the news.

Today, I'm still working against the family pressureto retire, but I think I'll be doing that type of job for afew years again."

MEDIA, FALL/WINTER 2003 PAGE 26 PHOTO CREDIT: John Dickens

THREE MONTHS AFTER THE SHOOTING: Michel Auger holds up a copy of Media magazine with his photo on the cover recuperating in hospital after he was shot following published stories

on the Hell’s Angels biker gang. He recounted his ordeal at a panel discussion in Ottawa, Wednesday Dec. 6, 2000, some three months after taking six bullets in the back.

THREE YEARS AFTER THE SHOOTING:Michel Auger shares tips on reporting on organized criminals with a gathering ofCanadian and American journalists on

Oct. 4, 2003, at a CAJ/IRE conference — three years after the shooting.

PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Hanson/CP


Sources_AD

The Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy established in1988, is an award designed to further the tradition ofliberal journalism and commitment to social and economic justice fostered by Joseph E. Atkinson, formerpublisher of The Toronto Star.

It will be awarded to a full-time journalist for a one-yearresearch project on a topical public policy issue, culminating in the publication of results in a series ofarticles, which the journalist is then free to develop into a book.

The Fellowship includes a stipend of $75,000. As well, abudget for research expenses of up to $25,000 is alsoavailable. The research year begins September 1, 2004.

Application forms will be available as of January 12,2004. The closing date for entries is March 15, 2004.

The Fellowship is sponsored by The Atkinson CharitableFoundation, The Toronto Star and The Beland HonderichFamily.

For Application Forms:Elizabeth Chan, Coordinator, The Atkinson Fellowship Committee One Yonge Street, Suite 1508, 15 Floor Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E5

Telephone inquiries: (416) 368-4034

Call for Entries forCanadian

Journalists

REPORTBY CHRISTINA MONTGOMERY

Drugs in the newsHow well do journalists meet the public’s growing demandfor information about new drugs? With mixed success


The morning paper hits the breakfast table andthe headlines point to yet another miracle.There's a new drug that lowers cholesterol.

Helps with flu symptoms. Eases osteoporosis. Slowsthe onset of Alzheimer's. Makes arthritis less painful.

Forget for a minute the dizzying challenge that suchheadlines present as you scramble to tend to your ownhealth, or your family's. Spare instead a thought for thejournalist charged with translating the daily flood ofnews releases on those miracle developments intoclear, complete, responsible stories.

As anyone covering a health beat can attest, it real-ly is a flood. Canadians now spend $15 billion a yearon pharmaceuticals — more than we do on doctors— and drug companies bombard reporters withinformation to prime that medical market.

How well do journalists meet the public's growingdemand for information about new drugs?

With mixed success, according to Drugs in theNews, a study from the Canadian Centre for PolicyAlternatives (and published in the Canadian MedicalAssociation Journal on April 29). Assembled lastspring by a team of researchers, physicians and acad-emics, the study set out "to assess whether Canadianscan rely on a major source of information — dailynewspapers — to provide us with the good, the badand the ugly about new drugs."

The authors picked five prescription drugslaunched in Canada during the last five years with ahigh degree of media attention. They chose the year2000, searched 24 of Canada's largest daily papersand analyzed the 193 articles that described thedrugs - all to assess how the drugs were reported.

The results, they say, "raise concerns about thequality of information Canadian consumers receiveabout new medications through the media," includ-ing findings that:

• Benefits of new drugs were emphasized over pos-sible harms, regardless of the length of the story.Every story mentioned a benefit, but 68 made nomention at all of possible side effects.

• The stories often failed to distinguish between realclinical benefits (effects that have an actualimpact, like reducing fractures or heart attacks)and what are known as "surrogate" benefits(changes in risk factors, like an increase in bonedensity or a lowered cholesterol reading).

• Only one in four stories quantified the benefits orharms of a drug, and of those that did, 26 per centof the time the information was misleading.

• Benefits were usually listed in the first quarter ofthe article; harms were listed in the third quarter.

• Only four per cent of stories listed contraindica-

tions, or the conditions under which it isn't safe totake the drugs.

• Financial interests behind the study were rarelyreported. Some stories quoted academicresearchers or patient groups without reportingthe financial links they may have had to the man-ufacturers — something medical journals arerequired to do.

• Only about one in six stories mentioned non-drugoptions for the conditions the drugs were meant totreat — diet or exercise, for example.

Should any of this matter? The authors clearlybelieve so. They argue that what we read in newspa-pers is influencing how our massive drug spending isdirected, and that individuals turn to the mediaincreasingly for information about new drugs.

Of 250 Canadian doctors surveyed in 1999, 84 percent said they believed that news stories influencedthe kind of treatments their patients demanded, thestudy says.

Recent research further shows that the cumulativeeffect of media reports combined with the education-al materials provided to physicians, has an actualeffect on prescribing practices.

And that poses a problem for journalists, it con-cludes. "Reporting on pharmaceuticals demands anability to interpret complex scientific informationwhile remaining resilient to the aggressive marketing

techniques of the pharmaceutical industry," it says."At the same time, there are few independent

experts to assist journalists in interpreting medicalresearch." Needless to say, the problem hasn'tescaped the notice of the journalists trying to do thereporting. In a 1998 report prepared for HealthCanada, working journalists raised concerns about:the lack of policy governing coverage of "scientificbreakthrough" stories; the staging of elaborate newsconferences by the pharmaceutical industry; the dif-ficulty in finding independent information; the gov-ernment's apparent abdication of its role in providingsuch information; and the decline of consumer advo-cacy groups that, with better resources, might pro-vide alternative, non-commercial viewpoints.

The drug industry, the study for Health Canadanotes, makes it easy for reporters to do the easy thing.It happily provides sophisticated press releases,ready-made quotes from experts and scientific jour-nals, patient groups and media-savvy physicians whoprovide a fast, multi-sourced story.

The dangers of the whirlwind that such stories canunleash is detailed in the report, which cites the

“Reporting on pharmaceuticals demands an abilityto interpret complex scientific information whileremaining resilient to the aggressive marketing

techniques of the pharmaceutical industry,” says thestudy co-authored by Alan Cassels (pictured above).

Only one in four storiesquantified the benefits

or harms of a drug,and of those that did,26 per cent of the time

the information was misleading.


example of Celebrex, an arthritis drug launched inApril of 1999 only to break all records for new drugsales. Because clinical studies hadn't been done, nofull trial reports were published by launch time, anddoctors were prescribing the drug without reviewingevidence on its benefits or potential risks.

To examine the role that newspapers play in suchevents, the study examined five drugs: Aricept,launched in August 1997 for Alzheimer's; Celebrex,launched in April 1999 for arthritis; Evista, launchedin January 1999 for osteoporosis; Lipitor, launched inMarch 1997 for high cholesterol, and Tamiflu,launched in January 2000 for influenza.

On average, every day in 2000, at least one articlementioning the name of one of these five new drugswas published in Canada's 24 largest daily newspa-pers. The analysis of how those papers presentedtheir information has wide implications.

Consumers lose when they use drugs unnecessar-ily, or without understanding the benefits and draw-backs. Public policy makers, especially those involvedin drug-benefit plan management, lose when they failto use appropriate sources of drug information.Schools of journalism lose when they don't invest inbasic statistical literacy training. And cutting cornersin medical coverage, the study concludes, does no oneany favours.

Christina Montgomery is a Vancouver Provincereporter and copy editor.

Editor's note: The authors of Drugs in the News:How well do Canadian newspapers report the good, thebad and the ugly of new prescription drugs? are: AlanCassels, Merrilee Atina Hughes, Carol Cole, BarbaraMintzes, Joel Lexchin and James McCormack. Thestudy was funded by Industry Canada's Office ofConsumer Affairs.

The full text of the study, along with the journal-ist's guide and list of independent sources of druginformation, can be found at: http://www.policy alter-natives.ca/bc/drugs/drugs_in_news.pdf

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives(CCPA) describes itself as an independent, non-par-tisan research institute founded in 1980 to promoteresearch on economic and social issues. It monitorscurrent developments in Canadian society and theeconomy, and offers progressive policy solutions on awide range of issues. Journalists who would like toreceive CCPA news releases by email should contactShannon Daub at 604-801-5509, or [email protected]

What we read in newspapers is influencing

how our massive drugspending is directed...

and...individuals turn to the media increasingly for information about

new drugs.

Tip sheet

Astudy that not only analyzes the prob-lem but gives you practical tips onhow to address it? That's precisely

what the Centre for Policy Alternatives hasprovided.

As part of the Drugs in the News study,the authors prepared a checklist that servesas a sort of journalist's guide to covering pre-scription drugs— an equally effective list forboth reporters and editors. It's drawn up inthe form of a set of basic questions with tipson why they're important and how to answerthem.

Topics include:Drug indications: Ask what medical conditions the drug has been officially approved to treat. Be specif-

ic. "Regulatory approval of a drug for treating specific conditions ensures there is evidence that the drug hassome beneficial effect for that condition. If it hasn't been approved for a condition, there is no guarantee thedrug can provide any benefit and patients may be needlessly put at risk for side effects," the checklist notes.So, if an unapproved use is discussed in an article, it's worth mentioning that such use hasn't been approved,and that there may be little to no evidence of any benefits for that condition.

Drug contraindications: Look at who should avoid the drug and who could be more harmed than helpedby taking it.

Clinical benefits: The point here is to ask whether the claimed benefits have a tangible, meaningfulimpact on patient health. For example, a drug may lower cholesterol, but is there evidence it lowers the chanceof heart attack? Journalists are urged to remember that non-clinical benefits, often called "surrogate" or"intermediate" endpoints, can lead to exaggerated impressions of drug effectiveness.

Clinical harms: Since all drugs have risks as well as benefits, note if the harmful effects are mentioned. Isthat information presented in as much detail as the benefits, so a story can provide the reader with a balancedunderstanding of all of the drug's effects?

Costs: Can you determine the price of the drug therapy? Do consumers feel taking a new drug that mightshorten flu symptoms from a five-to-seven-day stretch to a four-to-six-day stretch is worth $45 or more? Costof diagnostic tests needed to initiate or monitor a prescription should also be noted.

Follow the money: Has pharmaceutical industry funding of studies and spokespeople been disclosed tothe reader? The money trail in pharmaceutical reporting can be just as important as in political reporting.Regulatory safeguards are supposed to minimize the presence of ineffective and dangerous drugs on themarket, but financial allegiances can strongly influence the interpretation of drug data. Independent sourcesof drug information are ideal for journalists requiring expert opinion on the quality of drug claims — andthe checklist concludes with a Web site and phone number list of just such sources, all independent of thepharmaceutical industry.

Magnitude: Ask if numbers have been included to unambiguously explain the degree of benefit or harm.Otherwise, how is a patient to know if the benefits are proportionally greater than the risks?

Absolute numbers: This one's a bit tricky. Try looking at whether the magnitudes of benefits and harmshave been provided as absolute differences. "A medication may reduce the proportion of patients having aheart attack from 10 in 100 to 7 in 100," the checklist notes. "In relative terms, there is a 30 per cent reduc-tion in risk, while in absolute terms the risk has been reduced by three per cent. Relative values can be verymisleading and any numbers greater than 10 per cent are usually relative numbers." Journalists shouldalways cite the absolute magnitude of benefit or harm.

Time: Note how long patients need to take the drug to achieve a benefit. Drug therapies for acute condi-tions are usually taken over a very specific period of time. Chronic and preventative therapies can be takenover an extended or indeterminate period of time. Readers should be told if there's a minimum time neces-sary to achieve any benefit — and whether benefit and harm profiles shift during long-term therapy.

Drug and non-drug alternatives: Have drug and non-drug alternatives been included in your story?Different drug treatments can have radically different benefits and harms, and noting drug alternatives cangive readers options when talking to their doctor about a treatment. As odd as it sounds, non-drug alterna-tives like exercise and dietary changes should be included in any discussion of drugs in the news, the check-list suggests.

Missing elements: Finally, if any of the information above is unavailable, has the reader been alerted toits absence — and the impact this may have on the interpretation of the remaining information? Frequently,study articles and research summaries selectively report information about benefits, harms and study fund-ing. Providing incomplete drug information to the public can be as misleading as inaccurate information.

- Christina Montgomery

The Nova Scotia government's own lawyers havejoined a chorus of demands for a reduction inthe highest access-to-information fees in the

country.After a 10-month review of the province's

Freedom of Information and Protection of PrivacyAct, an advisory committee is recommending thatfees imposed in April 2002 — hiking the minimumcost of pursuing an access request to the appeal stagefrom $5 to $50 — be rolled back. The increased feesearned the Nova Scotia government the dubious Codeof Silence Award at last spring's national conventionof the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ). Theannual award is handed out to institutions that dotheir best to thwart access to information that shouldbe publicly available. Nova Scotia beat out institu-tions such as Health Canada for the award.

"Many government officials work tirelessly to keepvital and often troubling information hidden fromthe public," said Robert Cribb, former CAJ president,after bestowing the province with a plaque featuringa padlock hanging from chains. "This award honourstheir dedication. From public health risks to govern-ment waste, our finalists have shown an abiding com-mitment to secrecy."

Critics, including the CAJ, have attacked the fees asa barrier to openness and accountability. Those com-plaints were repeated in presentations and writtensubmissions to the committee, which found thatapplications have dropped 40 per cent since fees wereincreased.

The committee, which includes two governmentlawyers, wants the province to rescind a $25 feeimposed to appeal a refusal to disclose documents— a service that used to be free. It also calls for thereturn of a provision for two hours of free searchtime, which can now cost an applicant up to $60 perrequest.

The initial fee for filing a request would remain at$25, in line with Alberta but still far above the rest ofthe provinces, which charge a nominal $5 or providethe service for free.

The lone journalist on the five-member commit-tee, however, said the proposed relief does not go farenough. "Keeping the application fee at $25 stopspeople at the door and does not keep the process at abargain price," Keith Corcoran, a reporter for a small-town newspaper, wrote in a dissenting opinion.

The government insiders and the remaining com-mittee members — a retired business lobbyist anda former journalist now in public relations — saidthey took into account the estimated $950,000 annu-al cost of administering the act. The governmentcollected only $16,000 in fees during 2002 under thenew fee structure.

The committee's brief report — just 12 pages,plus appendices — puts forward 45 other recom-mendations, including the appointment of an inde-pendent arbitrator to field complaints about inva-sions of personal privacy. It also calls on the provinceto establish a committee to review privacy protectionfor individuals and businesses once new federal pri-vacy legislation is in place in 2004.

To make the act more efficient, the committee saysgovernment officials should be better trained andable to reject applications they consider "repetitiousor incomprehensible." Corcoran again dissented,arguing the "small percentage" of frivolous requestsmakes this power unnecessary.

Several recommendations relate to the powers ofthe review officer, who has the right to inspect gov-ernment records and can recommend furtherdisclosure. But retired CBC Television executive,

Darce Fardy, who holds thepost, says the committee ignored measures toenhance his independence and bring his office in linewith information commissioners in other jurisdic-tions.

He also questioned the committee's motives inrecommending that he provide "full reasons" for hisdecisions, noting his rulings are detailed and routine-ly cited with approval by the courts.

"Committees such as this one, particularly withtwo government lawyers as members, need to be verycareful that they're not seen as questioning theintegrity of the independent oversight officer," saysFardy.

Justice Minister Michael Baker has promised aresponse early in 2004. The opposition parties, whichhave increased leverage with the minorityConservative government, are demanding improvedaccess and a rollback of fees to pre-2002 levels.

The committee's report is available online at:http://www.gov.ns.ca/just/foi/foipopreviewrepor-toct24.pdf

Dean Jobb, a freelance journalist and author basedin Wolfville, N.S., teaches research and media law tojournalism students at the University of King's Collegein Halifax.


REPORTBY DEAN JOBB

Committee seeks changes to Nova Scotia’s access lawApplications have dropped 40 per cent since the province increased the cost of gaining access to government documents

The committee, which

includes two government

lawyers, wants the

province to rescind a

$25 fee imposed to

appeal a refusal to

disclose documents —

a service that used

to be free.

THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND

PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACTADVISORY COMMITTEEREPORT

Submitted to the Minister of JusticeOctober 24, 2003


BOOK REVIEWSBY WENDY MCLELLAN

Study paints journalists as left-wing, biased messengers

Hidden Agenda:How Journalists Influence the NewsUBC Press,Vancouver,188 pages, $24.95 paperback, $85 hardcover

Iam a journalist. Politically, I would place myselfsomewhat left side of the middle, and I'm inter-ested in environmental, feminist and human

rights issues. Typical, according to Lydia Miljan andBarry Cooper, authors of the recently publishedHidden Agenda: How Journalists Influence the News.And they don't mean it kindly.

In a book burdened with academic writing and sta-tistical analysis, Miljan and Cooper attempt to provethat journalists allow their own opinions to shape theirreporting and that their biases set the news agendamore than media ownership.

To prove their theory, the authors worked with theOttawa survey research group, COMPAS, in the winterof 1997/1998 to poll the opinions of 804 sampleCanadians and 270 journalists (they didn't differentiatebetween columnists and reporters, including both intheir sample). They spoke to both French and Englishrepresentatives and asked them about their politicalleanings and how they viewed such things as religion,abortion, aboriginal and homosexual rights and theright of Quebec to separate from Canada.

The authors then analysed coverage of economic,social and national unity issues in a selection of news-papers (Calgary Herald, Globe and Mail, Le Devoir),television programs (CBC the National and TheNational Magazine, CTV News) and two francophoneTV programs (Radio-Canada's Le Téléjournal and LePoint). By overlaying the opinions of journalists withtheir reporting, Miljan and Cooper conclude that jour-nalists are biased.

Before summarizing their research, it might be use-ful to note the authors' political perspectives.

Both are political scienceprofessors — Miljan teachesat the University of Windsorand Cooper is at theUniversity of Calgary.Miljan was a graduate stu-dent in Cooper's depart-ment.Cooper is also man-aging director of theAlberta office of theFraser Institute. Demo-graphically, the authors

determined that journalists weremore educated, less religious and older than the aver-age Canadian. They were also more likely to be marriedor living common-law, and members of a union.Ideologically, they found that about one third of thejournalists surveyed identified themselves as eithermoderately right-wing or moderately left-wing, butthere were more left-leaning journalists than in thegeneral population.

They were more likely to support a woman's right toan abortion, aboriginal rights and equality for gay cou-ples. In reporting economic news, Miljan and Cooperfound stories more often highlighted the bad news ofincreasing unemployment and when fewer people wereout of work, the good news was scarce or ignored.When overlaid with political leanings, the authors con-cluded that the stories matched the moderate, middle-of-the-road politics of journalists.

In addition, the two English-language newspapersand the private broadcasters reflected a slightly moreright-wing position, while the CBC presented the infor-mation with a bias to the left.None of the media outletswere found to be "cheerleaders for capitalism." Onsocial and national unity issues, the results were essen-tially the same; the reporting matched the moderatepolitical leanings of journalists. Most of the time, theauthors said, journalists provided objective fact-basedreports, but occasionally they slipped on ideology.

According to the authors, this is proof that owner-ship has nothing to do with the coverage of economicissues; rather, it is individual journalists and their ownopinions that make a difference. In the case of the CBC,however, the entire organization was found to reportfrom a moderately left-wing perspective and was most"hostile" toward capitalism.

At the Vancouver office of the Fraser Institute,Cooper presented some of his research to launch thebook.In a meeting across the hall from the David AsperCentre for the Study of Law and Markets, Cooperexplained that journalists are narcissistic, non-reli-gious, post-materialist Marxist sympathizers. "Thereare lots of people who study the media and say journal-ists don't matter; it's the owners that matter," Cooper

told the gathering. "There's no doubt ownership doeshave some effect on the editorial direction of a newspa-per. It appears however, that the editorial control is seenmost strongly in a newspaper's staffing decisions." Inother words, like-minded people work for organiza-tions with matching ideologies. And the staff controlthe news.

The book's conclusions are disappointingly pre-dictable. And the research is so far removed from thenewsroom, it offers little insight into the daily news-gathering process. The surveys were also conducted in1997, before the National Post was launched and whenConrad Black and Hollinger controlled the majority ofthe country's major daily newspapers, but no televisionnews.

Despite the obvious political perspective and unsur-prising findings,the authors do make a couple of pointsthat are always worth contemplation.

First, the media tend to focus on bad news. We fre-quently hear this complaint from the public, and atleast in their analysis of the coverage of economicissues, Cooper and Miljan found that journalists, espe-cially at CBC, choose a negative angle to lead their sto-ries rather than a positive one.

Finally, journalists don't like to acknowledge theyhave opinions on the issues they cover. Cooper andMiljan built their case on the suggestion that journal-ists develop their stories based on their political sym-pathies. Most people — journalists included —would likely agree they have opinions on most issues,particularly abortion and gay rights.For journalists,thechallenge is to strive to report accurately, with honestyand integrity of intention despite personal opinion.Sometimes we fail. "Journalists have positions onissues, but journalists don't like to confront thesethings," Cooper said in an interview. In this instance,he's right, but to conclude that journalists are thereforefollowing their personal political agenda in reportingthe news is a long leap.

Wendy McLellan is a reporter with the VancouverProvince.

HARSH WORDS FOR JOURNALISTS: In ameeting, Barry Cooper (pictured above)characterized journalists as narcissistic,

non-religious, post-materialist Marxist sympathizers.

Miljan and Cooper attemptto prove that journalistsallow their own opinions to shape their reporting and that their biases set the news agenda more than media ownership.


BOOK REVIEWSREVIEWED BY JULIAN SHER

A book for broadcasters of all ages and levels of experience

The Television News HandbookAn Insider’s Guide to Being a Great Broadcast JournalistBy Vin RayMacMillan,$26.95 Cdn, 415 pages

In his introduction, VinRay points out that whilethere has been an explo-

sion of news outlets, "infor-mation alone doesn't nec-essarily make us wiser…Indeed, the central paradox of thisexplosion in news output is that there is now agreater need than ever before for trusted, goodjournalists … Great journalists turn what audi-ences need to know into what they want toknow."

Ray should know. A veteran TV producer andsenior news editor, he is in charge of therecruitment and development of on-air talent atthe BBC. This handy book aims to show every-one from students to veteran practitioners whatTV journalism is all about.

The book is divided into three parts. Thefirst part — "To Be the Best" — deals with thecraft of TV storytelling. It is based largely onthe "masterclass" prepared for and used by BBC

journalists. With extensive examples from BBCscripts, sound bites and visuals, Raylooks at writing, story flow, packag-

ing, pieces to camera and editing.He dissects scripts to show you sim-

ple words, turns of phrases andgrammar that can lift a story off the

screen. His section on context andunderstanding — "making connec-

tions: "what does this mean to me" —should be required reading for every

pompous, dry correspondent who toooften fill our airwaves.

Some of the best insights in the bookcome from the various quotes Ray collects

from top news people. "The sine qua non ofjournalism is to be in a state of perpetualamazement and bewilderment, tinged with atouch of anger, at the way the world works,"says John Humphrys, presenter of BBC's popu-lar Today show. John Simpson, the Beeb'sfamous world correspondent, writes that jour-nalists must show "an impatience and irritabil-ity with bullshit and self-importance, especial-ly the official kind" and "a pervasive radical-ism, independent of party politics, and a per-

manent sympathy with underdogs and vic-tims."

The second part of the book — "Getting inand Getting on" — is aimed at journalistslooking to land that first job. It's one of themost extensive treatments ever found in a book.You'll learn about the best courses to take inuniversity, how to prepare a show tape and howto survive that first interview.

The final and largest section of the book ismade up of 200 pages of annexes — long listsmainly of interest to UK readers of news agen-cies and journalism schools, but also helpfulinternational Web sites, awards and confer-ences.

No journalism school in the country or train-ing department at a broadcasting networkshould be without Vin Ray's book. Aspiringjournalists should make this their first invest-ment on their career path. And even veteranbroadcasters could use the insights and inspi-ration within these pages.

TV journalism is part art, part craft, partpassion and part luck. Vin Ray helps you put itall together.

MANDATORY READING: Vin Ray's section on context and understanding — "making

connections: what does this mean to me" — should be required reading for

every pompous, dry correspondent who too often fill our airwaves.

Many students find mentors among the jour-nalism faculties, people they go back to again andagain long after they have graduated. Not insignif-icantly, the schools also bring like-minded peopletogether. I don't need to tell you that journalism isunlike just about any other line of work. We don'tplay by the same rules as the rest of society. Insteadof conformity, we treasure individuality. Ratherthan aiming to please authority, we challenge it.And we live by constant deadlines. The journalismschool is the perfect place to simulate that envi-ronment while instilling our shared values.

Finally, having journalism schools makes astatement that what we do matters and we careenough about it to nurture it for the next genera-tion. Students today have more choices than theyhave ever had, from the broadly academic environ-ment at Carleton, to the practical orientation atRyerson, to the skill-focused programs at manycommunity colleges. Tens of thousands of stu-dents and graduates can't be so horribly wrong.Which isn't to say J-schools shouldn't be workingto keep up with the constantly-changing businessand regularly renewing their faculties. For while

the schools are indispensable when they are good,they also have the potential to be very bad whenthey slide into formulas, complacency or medioc-rity.

And while the schools will continue to graduatetalented journalists, many others will come to ourbusiness by other means. Which is fine, because inthe end what makes journalism strong is its diver-sity, not some ideological commitment to journal-ism schools.

I am proud to say that I have a BJ from Carleton,and am honoured to have studied under the likesof the late and great Phyllis Wilson, who taught usto love writing, especially when we spelled namescorrectly; the late Wilfrid Kesterton, who fosteredmy lifelong fascination with media law; and thevery much alive and kicking Peter Johansen, whohad everything to teach about common decencyand taking the time to get it right.

These people helped me get started in the bestjob there is, bar none, and I can only thank themfor it.

Fred Vallance-Jones is a special reports writer atThe Hamilton Spectator, and a part-time journal-ism instructor at Ryerson University. He earned hisBJ Honours at Carleton University in 1984.

Continued from pg. 18A meeting place


for trying to bring these different worlds together. Butuntil someone comes up with something more effec-tive, it's one of the best vehicles we have.

We have also devoted space to another big story inthe world of journalism: the recent death of Izzy Asper,the late owner of media giant CanWest. The mediamogul was one of those larger-than-life figures aboutwhom everyone seemed to have an opinion. For thepurposes of evaluating part of his legacy, we haveassembled views from detractors and supporters.

And we use our Last Word to revisit a story thatdominated this magazine in the fall, 2001 edition: theterrorist attack on the United States. Ever since Sept.11, the Bush administration has been obsessed withrooting out terrorists; and that obsession has had adirect impact on journalists. In their rush to trackdown terrorists, media outlets, with the help of lawenforcement agencies on both sides of the border, havemanaged to tarnish the reputations of some law-abid-ing citizens who were detained and let go with littlefanfare. The ever-unfolding case of Maher Arar, theOttawa resident who the Americans deported to Syria,is an example of how the U.S. government's attempt tomete out justice, post 9/11 style. The award-winningauthor and former Globe and Mail reporter AndrewMitrovica was invited to share some of his thoughts onour last page.

We hope we've provided you with yet anotherprovocative edition. Have a safe holiday season andwe'll see you in the New Year.

Continued from pg. 4The great divide

keeps the focus on practice rather than theory.Former students told me their final internship pavedthe way for jobs at good dailies and national papers.

But I have to admit, Montreal was the major sellingpoint. It's been a long-held dream of mine to work as aforeign correspondent, and Concordia's settingseemed an ideal training ground. I figured immersingmyself in a foreign culture and language would simu-late what I'd face later as a stringer or in an overseasbureau. Although he knew little about Concordia'sjournalism program, one Globe and Mail editor saidMontreal's international environment was reasonenough to head to Quebec. So far, I've received ahealthy dose of culture shock.During the summer ses-sion at Concordia, I covered a press conference at theSt. Jean Baptiste Society HQ, the Fête nationale cele-brations and a Palestinian refugee march. These areexperiences I'd be hard pressed to match at the top-ranked U.S.schools in quiet Missouri or Kansas towns.

I'm not the only American crossing the border forjournalism training. I'm joined by two other Yanks atConcordia who are cashing in on a graduate journalismdegree at a budget price. And as long as the Looniequits creeping up on the U.S. dollar, we will graduateand enter newsrooms free to savor the long hours with-out having to worry too much about the low pay.

Tristan Baurick is presently studying at ConcordiaUniversity in Montreal.

Continued from pg. 13The big hunt


THE LAST WORDBY ANDREW MITROVICA

Media outlets are too eager to root out terroristsEver since Sept. 11, 2001, media outlets seem hell-bent onrooting out terrorists — despite the needed proof

When will it end? When will the media's irre-sponsible rush to judgment end? When willreporters and editors in Canada stop rely-

ing on police and intelligence sources to tar thenames and reputations of the innocent? When willcommon sense, fairness, and, dare I say, a hint ofdecency, return to our newsrooms?

I ask these questions because since the events ofSept. 11, 2001, it appears that many journalists —including those toiling at tabloids, prime-time news-casts, and sober-thinking major newspapers —have all but abandoned the notion of due diligencebefore splashing the names and pictures of "suspect-

ed terrorists" on their front pages and our televisionscreens.

Scores of men, women and their families —mostly Islamic or of Arabic descent — have been, ineffect, charged, tried and convicted as "terrorists" bynewspapers and television networks thirsting after ascoop in the media hysteria Sept.11 has spawned.

The disturbing scenes are becoming all too famil-iar. Harried "suspected terrorists" shielding theirfaces from cameras feeds the indelible impression ofguilt. Well-choreographed raids by police haulingbelongings from a "terror" suspect's home offer thesupposed "seal" of proof.

Aided and abetted by a coterie of self-anointedsecurity experts and police and intelligence "insid-ers," who conveniently hide behind the cloak ofanonymity, newspapers and newscasts have been

filled with ominous news of yet another nest of ter-rorists "linked" to Osama bin Laden lurking in ourmidst, poised to strike with lethal ferocity.

The stories follow a familiar arc. First, news leaksof the arrest or detention of an Arab or Muslim whom"well-placed" authorities insist has "ties" to terror-ism. Then the usual gang of Opposition MPs, formerintelligence officers and sound-bite-proficient acade-mics offer up the predictable whipping boys toexplain away the latest "Canadian connection" to ter-ror; namely, Canada's "lax" immigration policy andthe "under-funding" of police and intelligence ser-vices.

But the alarmist voices, headlines, intelligenceexperts, and reporters are, more often than not, sim-ply wrong.

We saw an example of this regrettable saga playitself out several months ago. CNN — the self-pro-claimed "world's most trusted news source" —sounded the alarm, reporting that five Arabic mencarrying false travel documents and bent on terrorhad infiltrated the United States via Canada. That the"link" to Canada rested on a shred and was unsub-stantiated had little bearing on news editors north ofthe border. Newscasts and newspapers were filledwith the "threat" posed by the illusive and potentiallydangerous gang of five.

The story gained even greater cachet in Canadawhen police sources "confirmed" that the alert for thestealthy terrorists was triggered by information sup-plied by a man holed up in a Toronto jail. More ban-ner headlines dutifully followed suit.

But there was more. The informant had informa-tion that many more terrorists had slipped into theUnited States from Canada. The story hit the mediastratosphere, with the pictures of the five suspectedterrorists shown over and over again in the never-ending cycle of rumour that increasingly passes fornews on all-news channels.

The story eventually imploded. The FBI admittedit was all based on a house of cards and blamed itsineptitude on its once-prized informant, turnedhoaxer. The world's pre-eminent law enforcementagency sheepishly removed the pictures of the fivemen from its Web site and called off its hound dogs.The FBI acknowledged that it didn't even know if themen ever stepped foot inside the United States.Despite its colossal faux pas, the FBI has yet to offeran apology.

Not surprisingly, media outlets north and south ofthe border that were unreservedly complicit in this

disgraceful episode weren't inclined to offer the menan apology either.

So the five men now join a long list of others mediaoutlets — working in cahoots with CSIS and the FBI— have accused of being terrorists, despite lack ofproof. Among them:

Nabil al-Marabh, a Syrian refugee claimant whoworked as photo clerk in Toronto;

Liban Hussein, a Somali immigrant who operateda money-transfer business in Ottawa;

Najeeb Al-Hadi, a Yemeni national arrested atToronto's Pearson Airport on Sept. 11, 2001.

After a query from an enterprising Associated

Press reporter in Washington, the U.S JusticeDepartment acknowledged that 99 per cent of theindividuals it has detained since Sept. 11 have beenreleased after no evidence could be found connectingthem to any terror group or terrorist activity.

Editors should keep that unassailable fact in mindthe next time they're inclined to stamp "terrorist" onsomeone's forehead.

Andrew Mitrovica is an award-winning journalistand author of the book Covert Entry: Spies, Lies andCrimes Inside Canada's Secret Service.

THE EMOTION STILL LINGERS:The anger and longing for justice that Americans

felt after the attack has turned into a determination to root out perpetrators that

has become problematic for suspected terrorists.

Scores of men, women and their families —

mostly Islamic or of Arabicdescent — have been, ineffect, charged, tried and

convicted as “terrorists” bynewspapers and televisionnetworks thirsting after a

scoop in the media hysteriaSept. 11 has spawned.

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew Vaughan/CP

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