Reporting with Care: Ethical Journalism in the Shadow of Intimate Partner Violence

In the lead up to International Women’s Day, the Canadian Journalism Foundation, in partnership with the Canadian Women’s Foundation, hosted a panel discussion on reporting intimate partner violence (IPV). With over 40% of Canadian women experiencing gendered violence from an intimate partner, this “shadow pandemic” demands sensitive and ethical journalism.

Our panel comprised seasoned journalists who shared their experiences and insights on the challenges and responsibilities of covering IPV. This event sparked a collaborative dialogue on establishing best practices for reporting IPV, ensuring victim support, and shaping public discourse for better policy responses and outcomes for survivors.

About the Panelists

Molly Hayes

Molly Hayes is a national reporter for The Globe and Mail, which she joined in 2017 as the inaugural recipient of an investigative reporting fellowship through the Canadian Journalism Foundation. She reports on issues relating to crime and social justice–taking a particular focus in recent years on intimate partner violence and gender-based violence in Canada. Her 2022 series with colleagues on IPV and femicide received the Landsberg Award, for coverage of women’s equality issues. Molly was also a previous finalist for the Landsberg Award in both 2020 and 2021.

Jana Pruden

Landsberg-Award nominee Jana G. Pruden is an award-winning feature writer at The Globe and Mail, and the host and co-creator of the hit narrative podcast series, In Her Defence.

The former crime bureau chief of the Edmonton Journal, Jana previously worked at the Regina Leader-Post, the Medicine Hat News, the Prairie Post and the Interlake Spectator. She is also a sessional journalism instructor at MacEwan University and a presenter at Pandemic University Pop-Up School of Writing.

In 2020, Jana was chosen as the Minifie Lecturer at the University of Regina’s School of Journalism. Her lecture, entitled Give Me Rewrite: Drafting a New Future for Journalism, can be watched on video here, or read here.

Her writing has also appeared on Longform, Longreads and Byliner, and in magazines such as The Walrus, Reader’s Digest and Sharp.

Hannah Sung

Hannah Sung is a co-founder of the award-winning Media Girlfriends, a production company led by journalists of colour who prioritize inclusion in media. She is a 20+ year veteran of Canadian media, previously working at the Globe and Mail, CBC and TVO. Hannah began her career in music television at MuchMusic, where she was the host of shows including MuchNews and The NewMusic. In 2020, she was the Asper Fellow at the University of Western Ontario. She created At The End Of the Day newsletter and podcast featuring conversations on how to care for ourselves and others in a pandemic world.

Michael Friscolanti

Michael Friscolanti is Editor-In-Chief of Village Media, which owns and operates 23 local news websites across Ontario, as well as The Trillium based at Queen’s Park. An award-winning journalist and author, he was a reporter at The Toronto Star and National Post before joining Maclean’s as a Senior Writer. His in-depth coverage has earned four National Magazine Awards and three CAJ Awards for investigative journalism.

 

About the Moderator

Anna Maria Tremonti is a long-time journalist who has traveled Canada and the world covering societal change, political upheaval, and armed conflict.  As a reporter for CBC Radio and Television, she worked across Canada before being posted in Berlin, London, Jerusalem and Washington.

She was a host of CBC TV’s the fifth estate, and the founding host of CBC Radio’s flagship current affairs program The Current for 17 years before shifting into podcast production. The limited interview series “More” was released in early 2020.  “Welcome to Paradise”, released in 2022 explores her own story of intimate partner violence and the long-term consequences of such abuse.  She was also a UBC Journalism Fellow in the 2022/23 academic year.