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More Than Hockey: Canada's Expanding Sports Media Landscape

As fans look to connect with athletes, understand the latest scandal, and track the business of their teams, how are Canadian media and journalists tackling the challenge? How is technology changing how we cover the big leagues, the amateurs, and emerging issues—from the NFL’s handling of players’ off-field conduct to concussions in hockey? Bruce Arthur, sports columnist with the Toronto Star; Brenda Irving, commentator with CBC Sports Weekend, and Stephen Brunt, writer and broadcaster with Rogers Sportsnet, discussed the future of sports and the media.

CJF J-Talk: Breaking the Big Stories

Toronto, Nov. 27, 2014 - In a special CJF presentation, Kevin Donovan, investigative reporter and editor with the Toronto Star, and Diana Swain, senior investigative journalist with CBC News, shared the stories behind their biggest recent exposés. Paula Todd, investigative journalist, author, and broadcast and digital media professor, moderated this discussion on the secrets of responsible reporting and why investigative journalism matters to the future of news.

CJF J-Talk: Jim Roberts on Mashable

Please note the audio begins a few minutes after the event begins. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Toronto, Nov. 17 - Jim Roberts, the executive editor and chief content officer of Mashable, was quick to recognize the power of social platforms for engaging with news. In recent years, he has attracted more than 150,000 followers to his @nycjim Twitter feed. Roberts now leads the editorial team and oversees editorial strategy and operations at Mashable, a popular news source for the “Connected Generation,” with 40 million monthly unique visitors and 19 million social media followers. This acclaimed digital leader was in conversation with Globe and Mail media reporter James Bradshaw to discuss his leadership journey from legacy media (The New York Times) to Reuters Digital to Mashable. He also discussed the challenges Mashable faces in balancing journalistic credibility with innovative forms of viral storytelling that connect with digital audiences.

CJF J-Talk: Glenn Greenwald in conversation with David Walmsley

Toronto, Oct. 21, 2014 - Open source hero or every government's worst nightmare? Glenn Greenwald has championed making secret documents part of the daily news. Working with Edward Snowden to publish NSA secrets, Greenwald is a Pulitzer Prize-winner, lawyer and co-founding editor of The Intercept. He spoke with David Walmsley, editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail, about power, secrecy and journalism's role in an era of digital openness at CBC's Glenn Gould Studio. Audio courtesy of CBC News.

CJF J-Talk - Native Advertising: Journalism's Saviour or Sellout?

Toronto, Oct. 2, 2014 - Native advertising. Branded content. Custom content. Whatever it’s called, these ‘advertorials’ are controversial, yet news organizations see them as the latest and best business strategy. Jill Borra, executive editor at The Globe and Mail; Cathrin Bradbury, executive director of content development at Star Media Group; and Scott White, vice-president of content strategy and business development at Postmedia Network, discussed paid content, the blurring of lines between editorial and commercial content, and retaining the trust of readers with moderator Ivor Shapiro, chair of the School of Journalism at Ryerson University.

Covering the Oil Patch

Calgary, April 24, 2014 - It is an age when the words "tar" and "oil" applied to "sands" can delineate opposing sides; when "Keystone" elicits every emotion except indifference; when a proud province becomes a global petro power and citizens debate the legacy of Big Oil. In  the middle of the conflict are the energy reporters of Alberta, some of whom have the additional challenge of covering the "home team."  How well are they doing the job? How do they provide balance in the face of a massive industry with powerful roots in their community? What is the view from afar? Jameson Berkow, western bureau chief for BNN moderated this panel with speakers Claudia Cattaneo, western business columnist for the National Post, Clifford Krauss, Houston-based national energy correspondent for The New York Times, Gillian Steward, Calgary-based journalist and teacher at Mount Royal University, and Deborah Yedlin, business columnist for the Calgary Herald.

Does the Press Gallery Matter?

Ottawa, April 9, 2014 - Members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery recently voted unanimously to "reserve the right to ask questions in all photo-ops and availabilities with the prime minister, cabinet ministers, and all parliamentarians, to fulfil our function as journalists in a democratic society.” The vote was a reaction to restrictions on access to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his ministers--and a revealing glimpse of how the ground has shifted on Ottawa political reporters. The regular Prime Ministerial press conference is a thing of the past. Senior bureaucrats hesitate to brief journalists. The PM and ministers take their message on the road or send it out on weekly video clips. Opposition MPs use the same techniques.

As a result, is the influence of political reporters on the wane in the face of shrinking resources, wide use of social media, and the distance Ottawa puts between government and reporters? Does the national media coverage of the government matter as much as it used to?

Tom Clark, chief political correspondent for Global News and host of The West Block moderated this discussion with Jennifer Ditchburn, senior parliamentary correspondent for the Ottawa bureau of The Canadian Press, Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister of Multiculturalism, Senator Jim Munson, a former long-time member of the Press Gallery, and David Akin, national bureau chief for Sun Media and host of Battleground.

Vice: The New Establishment

Toronto, Feb. 27, 2014 - Suroosh Alvi, co-founder of Vice Media, talks with Anna Maria Tremonti, host of CBC Radio One’s The Current, about Vice’s journey from counter-culture Montreal magazine to New York-based media conglomerate, its unconventional approach to covering conflict zones, and plans to invest $50 million in their news operations over the next three years.
 

CJF J-Talk: Turning Digital Into Dollars

Jan. 23, 2014, Toronto - Traditional newspaper outlets are throwing up paywalls, pouring resources into digital, and increasing the amount of sponsored content—all in an effort to find a sustainable business model for journalism. The question is: What’s working? Canada’s top publishers Phillip Crawley, publisher of The Globe and Mail; John Cruickshank, publisher of the Toronto Star; Gerry Nott, senior vice-president of the eastern region, Postmedia Network; and André Pratte, editorial pages editor of La Presse, discussed revenue mixes and models in a shifting media landscape. Joshua Benton, director of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, moderated this discussion.

Celebrity Journalism: Guilty Pleasure or Real News?

Toronto, Nov. 28, 2013 - It's driving eyeballs to websites and media organizations love it. From Miley Cyrus to Gwyneth Paltrow, media outlets are betting--for better and for worse--that names in the news will sell. Is celebrity gossip real news or simply “click bait” in the digital universe? Malene Arpe, who writes the Toronto Star Stargazing pages; Alison Eastwood, editor-in-chief of Hello! Canada; Jonathan Kay, comment pages editor of the National Post; and Ben Mulroney, anchor of CTV's etalk discussed this phenomemon with Simon Houpt, senior media writer for The Globe and Mail.