Curated knowlege, trenchant insights & witty bon mots
Dr. Sima Samar, chair of the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission, posed that rhetorical question to me during some small talk after a Canadian Journalism Foundation session on democracy, journalism and the courts. She thinks the Canadian government, along with risking the lives of its sons and daughters, should put money towards funding Afghan TV and radio [...]
Wed, October 31 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
In March 2005, kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was on her way to Baghdad airport after her captors freed her. At a U.S. checkpoint, soldiers opened fire, wounding her and killing Italian secret service agent Nicola Capilari. Italy charged Mario Lozano in absentia after the Bush administration refused to turn him over. An Italian court [...]
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
From the Tyee: Journalism faces a crisis around the world and unless it's fixed, society is in big trouble, American scholar and media activist Robert McChesney says. “The market's not going to solve the problem…. The technology's not going to rescue us.” Great journalism requires resources, institutional support, well-paid journalists and competition, McChesney told an [...]
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
Two ostensibly human life forms were on the College St. TTC streetcar this afternoon. One of them has a lizard sitting motionless on his left knee. He extolls the virtues of the lizard as a pet to the other guy, who has close-cropped hair, a chain around his neck and is wearing basketball shorts — in [...]
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, Minutiae » Comments Off
He walked out of a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday after host Leslie Stahl asked him about his wife Cecilia. It's useful to know the interview was conducted before their divorce became public on Oct. 18. From the BBC: (a video snippet of Sarkozy walking out is available) “If I had something to say [...]
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
The recently departed press secretary from the Bush White House spoke at the American Magazine Conference. Here are some observations recorded by Jim Bercovici of Portolio.com's Mixed Media blog: (h/t to Romenesko) On the newspaper business: “The newspapers have to realize that they are a niche market and the one thing they can do better than anyone [...]
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
Maybe. Heck, maybe even probably (do I hear an 'undoubtedly'?). Their track record on being skeptical of U.S. government claims about adversaries does not inspire optimism, writes Lawrence Martin. From the Oct. 29 Globe and Mail column: (behind a paywall; must be a subscriber) Journalists must start from the perspective that American governments, not just George [...]
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
The Globe and Mail’s Jeffrey Simpson on the Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s antipathy towards the news media and its roots in the Conservative mindset.
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
From the BBC: A man out hunting in Iowa was shot in the leg after a hunting dog stepped on his gun, authorities said. The accident happened after James Harris, 37, put his gun on the ground to retrieve a fallen pheasant. One of a pack of hunting dogs following behind stepped on the trigger, [...]
Tue, October 30 2007 » Main Page, multimedia » Comments Off
Globe and Mail editor-in-chief Edward Greenspon had this exchange with a reader over the watchdog role of newspapers during an online chat about the new features in the Saturday paper: