Mainstream media already has itself on the ropes in the fake news fight
OTTAWA—Months after the 2019 budget announced the details $600-million bailout meant to help the fledgling and inflexible Canadian news media industry, they’ve been complicit in spreading disinformation. Canadian mainstream media needs to check itself. Over the Canada Day weekend, right-wing political advertiser and digital media platform Canada Proud tweeted a video of an interaction between […]
Advertising coalition launches political ad transparency platform to help standardize ‘complicated’ disclosure process
The Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada unveiled a new political advertising program aimed at helping both federal political parties and third-party advertisers meet new transparency requirements under the Canada Elections Act. This is the first time in Canadian history there is a designated ‘pre-writ’ period, which came into place on June 30 and is meant […]
Public servants handcuffed by unreasonable expectations of political neutrality
OTTAWA—On June 25, Blacklock’s Reporter broke a story that a prominent quasi-partisan Twitter personality, Neil Waytowich (a.k.a. “Neil Before Zod” on Twitter), was actually a former public service worker by day and anonymous Twitter political commentator and podcaster by night. Hot on the trail were MPs who quoted the public service code of conduct on […]
Time has come to legislate all political advertising 365 days a year
OTTAWA—Twitter received kudos last week for finally announcing the suspension of political advertising during the summer. The social media feed was late to that party, having been publicly scolded by Democratic Reform Minister Karina Gould for its silence on recent government legislation limiting social media advertising. Michele Austin, head of government and public policy for […]
House Justice Committee echoes calls for national database to track hate online
Setting up a national database to track hate-crime incidents to tackle the spread of hateful content across the country is a no-brainer, says one expert, while a Liberal MP says it may not be an easy fix. “One of the things that is clear from what we heard was there’s an incredible gap in data […]
‘Do you believe waiting for the next government to regulate social media is too late? Why or why not?’
Cory Hann Conservative strategist “I said only weeks ago about how the Liberals are acting like rushed high schoolers that put off their homework for too long and are now panicking at the deadline. The same applies here. The Liberals have spent three-and-a-half years waffling, and now people are asking where they’re at on key […]
Mark Warawa, 69, dies after cancer battle, MPs honour friend
Conservative MP Mark Warawa died on June 20 following a diagnosis of cancer in his pancreas, colon, and lungs. “It’s been an incredible honour to have served my community since being elected federally in 2004,” Mr. Warawa, a religious man, said in a posthumous statement. Mr. Warawa announced his retirement from federal politics in January […]
Journalists inherit ‘institutional blindspots’ that cloud coverage of race in politics, says media expert
Increasing the diversity of newsrooms isn’t a cure-all for improving political coverage of racialized people, says a media expert, who argues that journalists often end up inheriting the institutional blindspots of the outlets they work for. “Even journalists of colour sometimes will produce coverage that differentiates and treats white and racialized subjects differently,” said Erin […]
Three Globe and Mail Hill reporters to take voluntary buyouts
Gloria Galloway and Barrie McKenna will be joining fellow The Globe and Mail reporter Shawn McCarthy in taking voluntary buyouts from the paper. The three journalists have a combined 70 years of experience working for The Globe. Ms. Galloway joined The Globe‘s Ottawa bureau in 2004, following a stint as the newspaper’s deputy national editor. […]
Media fund panel takes shape amid transparency, partisanship concerns
Representatives are in place for the eight groups tasked with guiding the government on which journalism organizations should benefit from its nearly $600-million media-support fund, but only after securing a promise from the Liberals on more transparency. Outlined in the 2019 budget, $595-million was allocated through a new refundable tax credit for journalism organizations, a […]
