Canada’s national fabric is paying price for depletion of journalistic resources: Hébert
OTTAWA—Under the guise of a migration to the digital world, Canada’s news media is undergoing the biggest journalistic fire sale of its history. It is taking place on such a scale that it might be more appropriate to call it a liquidation of information-gathering resources and it is happening under the nose of a political […]
Close race, changing polls making for tentative summer campaign plans
Recent polling numbers and events like the NDP surge in Alberta are changing the electoral map so significantly that leaders’ summer strategies are still a work in progress and will remain as flexible as possible to respond to opponents, strategists say. As Parliament winds down and the campaign gears up, the federal parties are poised […]
Vongdouangchanh new HT online, Power & Influence editor, Burgess new HT deputy editor
We have some news in the newsroom. Bea Vongdouangchanh, former deputy editor of The Hill Times who first joined the newsroom in 2005 and had been deputy editor since 2008, has returned after a well-deserved, one-year sabbatical. After travelling through India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and Cuba, North Carolina, and the Dominican Republic along with doing […]
Access to information laws need reform, say authors of how-to book
Canada’s access to information laws are the “ultimate form of democracy,” but they were designed in a pre-digital age with too many rules to allow governments not to disclose information quickly, if at all, and badly need to be modernized, say two veteran Hill journalists who just published a book on the subject. “Information is […]
Crowdsourcing dignity around the world to end cyberbullying
A Grade 3 class in Prince Edward Island recently launched an initiative to fight cyber-bullying using post-it notes. “Post it Positive” invites students to share positive messages with schools and local businesses in an effort to counteract the crippling effects of cyberbullying. According to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, at least one in three […]
Hill journalists say there’s too much government information control and Parliament has lost its power
OTTAWA CONVENTION CENTRE—Senior Parliament Hill reporters, speaking at the Manning Networking Conference, say it has become increasingly difficult over the last 20 years for journalists and MPs to obtain information about the federal government’s activities and that it’s hurting the public’s understanding of public policy, the perception of Parliament, and the government. National Post […]
Courts will have to decide if Elections Canada CEO can be ‘muzzled,’ say experts
PARLIAMENT HILL—Elections Canada and critics of proposed government legislation that will restrict communications between the chief electoral officer and the electorate say the measure will also limit information the chief electoral officer will be able to distribute to news media. A source told The Hill Times the electoral agency remains concerned despite assurances Minister […]
Finances at CBC spelled h-o-c-k-e-y
PARLIAMENT HILL—No matter how you scramble finances at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, it spells h-o-c-k-e-y. The viability of the whole enterprise rests on the national pastime. In 1959, CBC released a financial audit of its television programs. That would be unthinkable today; such information is closely guarded and proprietary. At the time, CBC monopolized […]
In the case of Innocence of Muslims, Canadian media managed to be sensational and uninformative
PARLIAMENT HILL—“Publish and be damned!” is the immortal newsroom cry, though it was uttered not by a reporter but a politician, the Duke of Wellington. In reality, media executives are much more officious. So it was Canadians were told Innocence of Muslims inflamed the Arab world; that the film was so provocative it threatened […]
Is poverty a subject for storytelling?
PARLIAMENT HILL—Is poverty a subject for storytelling? An Ottawa photographer, Shane Hultquist, attempted an unusual project. Hultquist is a freelance portraitist; he accepts commissions and assignments; he takes sports photos at the University of Ottawa. He wanted something different. Believing “every person has a story in them,” Hultquist set out to create a photo […]
