Journalists love lists. They're a great way to simplify and organize the crazy world we spend every day trying to interpret. What makes them even better is readers love them too.

A few weeks ago, the Books section of the Globe and Mail launched an ambitious new project: the 50 Greatest Books. Every Saturday for the next year (yes, year!) a writer or expert on a particular book will discuss the merits of his or her choice. According to the introduction of the series, the list won't be numbered, and there aren't many rules -- fiction, non-fiction, poetry, translations -- anything goes.

So far, it's generated quite a buzz on the forums at globeandmail.com. But can it keep readers engaged for the rest of the year? Only 46 more weeks to go.

Posted by Erin Tandy at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oprah Winfrey is getting her very own network starting in 2009, turning the Discovery Health Channel into the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Oprah's Harpo production company is sharing ownership with Discovery, and her website will be under OWN as well. OWN will air in about 70 million homes when it debuts. Like her TV show and O magazine, the network's programs will be about self-help, lifestyle topics, money, health, relationships, etc.

I wonder if Dr. Oz will get his own new show? And of course Gayle King...Dr. Phil if he cuts the Britney Spears "exploitation" that Oprah is supposedly angry at him for. A show solely about Oprah's book club! And a weight loss show, definitely...Oprah should have a lot of fun with this.

Seriously, good for Oprah--she'll make my mom and millions of other people very happy.

Posted by Rachel Barsky at 12:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During one of my interviews with Wendy Mesley for my review feature, she mentioned that she didn't feel like she was a very hard worker. Especially when she compared herself to Stephanie Nolen, someone "who's out there chasing the Janjaweed around Darfur."

Stephanie Nolen is an amazing writer, whose recent book, 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa was widely acclaimed. Her Globe features are always a must-read and there is usually a quote that gives me chills. This Saturday's Globe features a Nolen piece about the crisis in Kenya, about which she wrote, "Anger at vote-rigging in Kenya has worked to rip a thin scab off many years of frustration at poverty, corruption and inequitable land ownership that dates from the colonial era."

This is the quote that leads into a Globe and Mail special live chat with Nolen today about the Kenya crisis at 1 p.m. EST. Go and ask Nolen your questions or just read the discussion. If you miss it, they usually leave the transcript up for a few days.

Posted by Carla Wintersgill at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a lighthearted take on one personality in the U.S. primaries, and my bookmark of the week, because I'm sure your eyes are all glazing over from the torrential flood of opinion polls, punditry and "horseracism" (to borrow from our sister to the south).

Speaking of Slate, it is also home to Jack Shafer, one of the best and most consistent media critics right now. I haven't quite been able to fill the void Antonia Zerbisias created after she quit the watchdog scene in 2006, but Shafer assuages the pain quite nicely.

Posted by Canice Leung at 01:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ken Peters, reporter for The Hamilton Spectator, is back in the news, and with him the ongoing ethical debate about the use of anonymous sources.

Fourteen years ago, Peters wrote about substandard conditions at St. Elizabeth's Villa, a Hamilton nursing home. In the subsequent civil suit launched against the newspaper by the Villa, he was found in contempt of court and fined $31,600 for refusing to surrender information revealing the identity of an anonymous source. The Spec is now appealing, and evidence was reviewed last Tuesday.

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression are keeping a close eye on the case, and you can read their news release here.

As The Spectator's editor-in-chief David Estok wrote in an editorial this weekend, "In a free and democratic society individuals sometimes have to appeal to the media to right an injustice...It is in the publication of the information that a free and democratic society can thrive."

Couldn't have said it better myself. Anonymous sources - treated with appropriate skepticism, and subject to the discipline of verification that should be the hallmark of our trade - are vital to that first duty of journalism: the truth. A wise friend of mine said, frequently, "Evil can't live in the light." Anonymous sources can help journalists shine the light on the shadows of wrongdoing.

Posted by Sara Chappel at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, there is such a thing. And you can get it at any grocery store or Chapters. Recently I spotted a Grey's Anatomy Magazine along side The Official CSI Magazine on a newsstand. At first I thought, "Who would buy these?" Then, I remembered my obsession with the Backstreet Boys in grade 5. I would have bought ANYTHING about them. I guess there are people who love the show that much.

The Grey's Anatomy Magazine has published 6 issues since its launch last year. Even with the writers' strike happening now, it seems they plan to continue publishing. At least you can still subscribe online.

I wonder who is paying the $39.95 for a six-issue subscription? And how much ABC is actually raking in from selling this book? Are journalists or PR professionals writing the content? Journalists or not, with a limited number of topics, they probably struggle to produce fresh profiles of the same characters.

The art and design of the book look very sophisticated. Sadly Canada doesn't have a huge market like the US to start any magazine that pops into our heads. Even the good Canadian magazines have to work hard to stay in business. In the States, they can create magazines about T.V. shows that look better than half the magazines in Canada.

It's a shame, really.

Posted by Miranda Voth at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shortly after the riots began in Kenya early this month, a friend mentioned that a number of her colleagues candidly admitted that they were grossly ignorant (my words, not hers) to the bloodbath unfolding in the region.

"Kenya?" they said puzzled. "What's going on there?"

I felt my blood boil instantly. Especially since her colleagues are (wait for it) journalists.

What bloody journalist doesn't know what's been going on there?

Yes, the coverage of the election and subsequent protests has been mediocre. I had to go digging to find out about the machete attacks and sexual assaults.

But, there has been enough coverage--as much as the white, male-run news organizations are going to allow on non-white men, women and children--for Canadians to have some sort of idea about what's happening. (Darfur ring a bell?) It's not as if I expect people to know the names Kibaki and Odinga like they should know Harper and Dion.

Really though, wake up and smell the dead bodies. At least read a newspaper once in a while. If you're cheap or lazy, or a combination of both, hit a newspaper's website.

Kudos to the Globe for publishing the piece on the 5.4 million lives lost in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998. Wait, have you not located Congo on the map yet? Angelina Jolie may have already visited the Congo, but still we can't bother to look for it.

Posted by Nina Boccia at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love service journalism. Journalists may look down upon it, dismissing it as inconsequential fluff, but I'm here to represent it.

Let's start with how many of us will write lots of great service journalism pieces. There's always a demand for fresh ideas for these. The truth is: they pay, they're fun to write and they're pretty helpful.

Average readers will likely flip through their magazines of choice before settling on a longer article. Chances are that the smaller "How To" pieces will catch their eyes. They'll skim, or read through, then move on to the next page. Service pieces are just as informative, they require as much research and attention to detail, as the longer pieces on the next page.

There's also a satisfying feeling that you've helped or entertained someone who will in turn want to read your publication again. Yes, that feeling is even stronger when you achieve it with a hard-hitting blockbuster article; but don't knock the chance to make a person's life a little easier or more enjoyable, with a personable, hands-on piece.

Service journalism is the fast food of the journalism world. It's quick and loaded with taste and enjoyment, with half the necessary proteins of a meaty feature piece. Who doesn't love a McChicken combo every once in a while?

Posted by Hayley Citron at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey, it happens sometimes. That dreaded ten-letter "P" word. The one you'll wear like a scarlet letter for the rest of your career (if you're lucky enough to have one after it). Sometimes it's an honest mistake; sometimes it's far from it. When a paragraph from Jenny Yuen's Toronto Sun profile on a local guerilla artist resembled, with near-verbatim similarity, a section of a Torontoist.com blog entry from several days prior, it did seem fishy enough for the blog post's author David Topping to investigate. So he posted a very public protest, outing the Sun writer for her journalistic no-no. Fair enough: the blogosphere has a hard enough time fighting for their legitimacy, and here was a chance to show the world (and mainstream media) that the little guy matters.

But I can only imagine Topping's rant, including a bold accusation that Yuen had copied his work, blew up in his face. He later had to issue a retraction on his blog, apologizing for assuming it was the 26-year-old Yuen behind the copycat move. Calling someone a plagiarist, before it can proven he or she is, could qualify as libel. Talk about putting a damper on your own parade -- here's a great blog (and I mean great; Torontoist is consistently ahead of the game as far as Toronto pop cultural news goes) and they fumbled the ball right before the end zone.

Edit: The Sun did end up apologizing to Topping on Monday, and Torontoist now considers the matter resolved.

Posted by Canice Leung at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's almost funny how a notion of respectful coverage gets tossed out the minute a famous name is involved. When actor Heath Ledger was found dead yesterday, most reports seem to have turned to celeb gossip site TMZ.com for information, using questionable facts to provide a minute-by-minute coverage of this event. Such reporting seemed unwarranted here, especially since serving the public's need for information is seemingly replaced by serving the public's need for open-forum speculation, regardless of how it's done or how much truth is behind what is reported.

Sure, some believe that an actor is a public figure and that access to such details is the public's right. But I believe that some, like recently deceased actor Brad Renfro or Ledger are accountable to no one. And public fascination doesn't seem like reason enough to infringe on anyone's dignity to score a quote or post a juicy story.

Then again, like any other breed of media, entertainment news has to feed readers what they want. Even though TMZ.com's video of Ledger being removed from his apartment by paramedics is generating hits, the Toronto Star reported that onlookers with cell phone cameras arrived on scene, eager to catch a glimpse of the body. Maybe reporting with respect became an archaic notion.

Posted by Ashley Petkovski at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's exciting as a journalist to find new innovative and inspirational magazines, even if it means staying up until 3 a.m. reading it from front to back when class starts at 9 a.m. the following morning. That's what happened when I read the winter 2008 premiere issue of Clean Eating magazine.

The idea for Clean Eating started out as Oxygen magazine's special collector's issue and after its newsstand success it launched as Clean Eating magazine. What really struck me was this magazine isn't about trends and fads. It's well-researched nutrition and health advice that's actually helpful.

It was refreshing to see new visual and editorial ideas. I was inspired by the clean and colourful page layouts.

My biggest frustration with service magazines, especially those to do with food, is that the advice is difficult to follow. I find myself running around aimlessly in grocery stores looking for food products I've never heard of. The "recipe" section was particularly creative with an approach I've never seen before. It contained four monthly meal plan calendars, the recipes and cutout shopping lists. The sidebar tips would save time cooking, suggested new ways to use leftovers and have food alternatives and choices.

I was looking for something with new food ideas and magazine ideas. I got both.

Posted by Jennifer Webb at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Toronto Star Strike Watch

Toronto Star staff don't have to brave the minus 20 degree weather this week. Mauren Dawson, Chair of the Toronto Star unit of CEP SONG posted a statement at We Are The Star sometime over the weekend (the post has no date), stating that a tentative agreement was reached between management and the union at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Although no date has been set, Dawson states that the vote to ratify the agreement will be held some time this week. The details of the agreement cannot be released as of yet. The agreement comes after members of the Toronto Star unit voted, at an overwhelming 96 per cent, to go on strike this past Thursday, January 17. The strike was scheduled to begin last Saturday, January 19.

Posted by Rebecca Rose at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On January 18th, a federal judge ordered two Montreal La Presse reporters to reveal the name of the source who leaked a confidential Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) document accusing a man of having terrorist ties.

Based on the document, the La Presse report reveals that Moroccan-born Adil Charkaoui was found to be discussing a terror plot with his employee, Hashim Tahir, in 2000 and had received military training in Afghanistan. Charkaoui, who was arrested in 2003 and is out on bail under a federal security certificate, wants to halt case proceedings because he believes the leak infringes on his right to a fair trial. He says the information was damaging, false and illegal, and compares his situation to Maher Arar's. Meanwhile, La Presse plans to appeal the court's decision.

The judge said that evidence for the security certificate, which allows a person to be detained or deported if suspected to be a national threat, is supposed to be confidential, and it's against the law for a third party to divulge the information.

Rarely do courts order journalists to divulge their sources and rarely are they arrested for not complying. However, it's strange that there is no law protecting the rights of journalists in these kinds of situations. The right to justice automatically trumps the right to protect sources, and therefore, the right to a free press, which is a fundamental right in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Nowadays, it is more common than it was ten years ago for the media to report on the proceedings of trials and information regarding defendants, especially when it is in the public interest, which I believe it is in this case. Still, I also believe that any news organization must be extremely careful about the credibility of the source, any ulterior motive the source may have and how much proof there is to back up the claims before publishing such sensitive information. The context of the information should also be explained to readers. If all this was taken into consideration, then I believe the La Presse reporters were justified in publishing the information and should not be forced to compromise their ethical code by exposing sources.

Even after taking precautions if the CSIS information turns out to be incorrect, it will shed light on CSIS's intelligence-gathering practices, hold them accountable for targeting an innocent man and raise questions about the security certificate. Isn't it the job of the press to promote discussion about these difficult issues?

Posted by Sanam Islam at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is little doubt Toronto Star employees will walk off the job as early as next week if they can't reach agreement over labour issues with Torstar Corp.

Wednesday night, the union voted 96 per cent in favor of a strike. Star City Hall reporter John Spears, who attended the strike vote meeting, said the 80 per cent member turnout was "enormous," since most meetings usually only get 40 per cent. "When you get 96 per cent of 80 per cent that's a remarkable consensus among the members."

The earliest possibility of a strike would be a minute after midnight on Friday.

If there is a strike, I will bake some cookies - made from all fair trade ingredients of course - and go and support the strikers.

Can someone bring the milk?

Stay tuned: we're going to have a regular "Strike Watch" on this blog as developments arise.

Posted by Ana Maria De La Fuente at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A woman came today to class,
Saluted our courage.
She said that many amongst us
Will choke on bitter porridge.

There will be some exemptions, still ...
The darkness shall consume you!
Once accusations flow, they will
Blame heartless ones among you.

Hold on to that humanity,
When shattered families grieve.
One murdered child-stolen sanity ...
Please, false assumptions stop to weave.

Avoid, forget, don't spell that word!
No closure may exist.
And victim's parents only wish:
Save others from that horrid mist.

So, twice a day she met the press
When her own Alison died.
Are there still people amongst us
Who never ever cried?

She claims she held complete control,
Over the herd that crammed her loan.
She feared corruption most of all,
In memories where her daughter roamed,

The other day, a girl was killed.
News people have all gathered.
Details of torture someone spilled,
Like that was all that mattered.

Avoid, forget, don't spell that word!
No closure you'll achieve.
While parents suffer through this lot.
It takes lifetimes to grieve.

Note: Technically, Lesley Parrott spoke to us yesterday.

Posted by Alina Seagal at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Journalists spend hours upon hours interviewing people, asking the tough questions and stepping on toes that nobody else will step on. But when they are put in the hot seat, sometimes lessons learned are thrown out the window for a brief moment of defensiveness.

What is it about being on the other end of an interview that makes some journalists go from professional to that difficult source with their back raised? Journalists know how things work -- they play the game every day. So when they are put on the spot why do they start making demands that they know can't be accommodated?

Can I read the article before you publish it? -- No! Every journalist should know that a writer cannot pass along an article to a source before it goes to print. This leaves room for possible influence from the source on what the article reports. This compromises the reporting.

Can you read my quote back to me? -- No! As with the first question, this compromises the reporting.

Who have you spoken to? -- A journalist should know that your sources are yours. They can wait until the article comes out in order to see who else you have spoken to.

Is there something terrifying about being interviewed by a journalist that even those in the industry fear? A little bit a professionalism is called for when anyone in the journalism industry is being put on the spot, even with the most difficult or touchy subjects. A source in the journalism industry losing their cool when on the other end of the reporting process is surprising, yet not unheard of this year at the RRJ. These people really test our skills as reporters.

Posted by Ashley L. Pergolas at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Around this time four years ago I was taking five university credits in my last semester of high school. All I wanted was to go to university and get the heck out of St Catharines. This meant I spent that last semester slaving over my homework, while my friends went to parties and discovered beer and similar substances.

I wrote and sent many letters to universities, but I knew there was only one place I wanted to go and that was Ryerson University for magazine journalism.

I found the letter I wrote to Ryerson and I thought I would post it. The incorrect use of upper case letters, awkward sentences, horrible punctuation and lameness aside, I think this letter is direct proof I was always supposed to be a journalist.

[sic]

The Realization I wanted to be a Journalist came from reading, watching, hearing and simply experiencing pieces of journalism. One film in particular helped me decide permanently that I want to become a journalist. The film Live from Baghdad, and HBO film produced by Mick Jackson, has had a powerful influence on me.

In this film a CNN reporting crew was sent to Iraq to cover the Gulf War. They quickly learned they could not sit around and expect stories to be given to them. Exploring and researching Iraq, its people, and Saddam Hussein was the only way to get great stories. I enjoy figuring out problems through research instead of being dictated to. The film showed me that journalists come to understand about different cultures through experience rather than what they have been told and this interests me.

From this film I learned that journalism is ultimately here for the people who cannot physically be somewhere to understand both sides of a story but can experience it through a reporter or writer. Journalism has the power to bring cultures together and can even break them apart but either way the truth is put in the open. In Live From Baghdad CNN became the voice of Iraq and the USA and was trusted by both. I have always believed communication is the key to problem solving and this is why the film made me realize I want to be in this business.

In the many kinds of journalism journalists must leave out their opinions and biases. The reporters in the film know what they saw and wanted the opposing countries to know but they could not bluntly say it. Actions speak louder than words and journalists do not necessarily have to tell people what is right and wrong. Instead they trust viewers to see the truth without giving an opinion. This is a talent I would love to work on developing.

Live from Baghdad has an impact on me because it demonstrated the kinds of things journalists get to go through and it showed me journalism is a field that allows me to learn for life.

Posted by Miranda Voth at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sometimes reviewing video games for video game magazines can be pretty hard. After all, there's been two fairly recent high-profile controversies in the gaming industry that shows it. In an editorial, Dan Hsu, the editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly claims that game publishers deny both access and advertising in response to bad reviews. Considering that the bread and butter of video game magazines is showing people the new games that are coming up, this leads to a pretty untenable position for reviewers.

In addition, there is a persistent rumour that Jeff Gerstmann, the editorial director for Gamespot.com, was fired for a bad review of a video game, Kane and Lynch. His text and video review was also removed as well. And it's not hard to see, when an option allowed you to make the background match the characters in the game. Gamespot claims that the firing was planned in advance and that the text and video were removed for copy and audio purposes, but so far no one in the gaming industry seems to buy it.

Game over, I guess.

Posted by William Stodalka at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While the fundamentals of journalism, or to be more accurate, the fundamentals of research for any academic purpose strictly prohibit Wikipedia as an authoritative source of information, this article proves that Wikipedia is not necessarily our biggest concern.

When incorrect information is posted to Wikipedia, even short-term, it enters the long-term answers database at other Internet go-to guides like answers.com and reference.com, both of which are programmed to copy information verbatim from our favourite citizen encyclopedia. So while Wikipedia may be close to as authoritative as the Enclycopedia Brittanica in factual information, it still maintains the ability to breed misinformation through other Internet sources.

The sad thing is, when I read about the team of researchers responsibly for verifying all the information on Wikipedia, my first thought was, "But who would they consult? They obviously can't use Wikipedia." It's a good thing I'm not a RRJ staff member circa 1984.

Although it's a bit muddled at time and seems to lose its sense of objectivity, this article gives a good overview of the recent lawsuit, allegations and problems Wikipedia is facing.

Posted by Jessica Lockhart at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're used to newspapers and magazines shipping their print content to the web, but how often do we hear about blogs making it into print?

According to an article in the New York Observer, The New York Times plans on bringing articles originally published in its local news blog (City Room) over to its print editions. This move is to drive readers to the website. Details on how it will be done have yet to be confirmed but The Times already runs The Caucus, its political blog, and Bits, its technology blog, in print editions as discrete columns.

I want to say Newspaper: 1 Blog: 0, but if the paper can popularize its blog using this tactic perhaps it's a win-win situation.

Posted by Mimi Szeto at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

How can you not love a man who openly admits he tried to shape the public opinion on Iraq?



I do. In fact, a picture of Rupert Murdoch is taped to my computer screen in the RRJ lab.

I'm not sure of the exact date I decided I liked Murdoch, but I remember being as giddy as hell when I picked up the July 2, 2007 issue of The New Yorker. Ken Auletta's cover story "Murdoch's Price," just oozed with suspense: A confident Murdoch pitted against the divided Bancroft family.

In early December 2007 he did the impossible. He purchased a company that wasn't for sale -- the Dow Jones & Company -- and became the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. To some Americans it's considered their most credible newspaper. Goodbye credibility? He's already ordered that articles be shorter and there be more hard news. He wants the Journal to be the guy on the heels of the New York Times in the newspaper race. That is, until he decides he wants to own that one too.

The purchase appropriately won him title of Dealmaker of the Year for 2007 by The New York Times Dealbook. Following up on his win, Seeking Alpha -- a financial website -- published these maps highlighting Murdoch's business deals and some of the family ties that may have helped secure them.

It's the existence of the historically family-owned businesses that Murdoch and the ambitious deal-makers like him continue to threaten. The Bancroft's aren't his first victims. Nearly 40 years ago Murdoch convinced the Carr family to sell him the London tabloid paper News of the World. They had owned the paper for almost 80 years.

What Murdoch decides to take over in 2008 remains a mystery to all but him. What can I say, I like a mysterious man.

Posted by Nina Boccia at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Men become women, the living are suddenly dead and members of innocent families are pegged as terrorists. These are just a few examples of the damage done by careless reporting, writing and editing.

All of these examples are from Craig Silverman's book Regret the Error. It was published in fall 2007 and has generated quite a bit of buzz since then. Despite the buzz, I admit it wasn't on my reading list until it became required reading for an upcoming assignment. I had visited the site that inspired the book and laughed and grimaced at the corrections it publishes, but had no interest in reading a book I assumed was a mere collection of these mistakes. Fortunately, I didn't have much of a choice. I haven't finished the book yet, but I've read enough to know it's much more than a list of amusing mistakes and corrections.

Silverman, a Montreal-based journalist and author, launched regrettheerror.com in 2004. In Regret the Error he illustrates how (and how often) the media makes mistakes and how these mistakes alienate readers. Silverman has a strong voice throughout the book and carefully backs up his points with solid, transparent research. He also offers suggestions to correct the common problems the book highlights.

Silverman doesn't just make suggestions for others -- he takes his own advice. He has devoted a webpage to corrections for his book . Also, the site gives you the option to sign up to recieve new corrections to the book via email.

I recommend Regret the Error to any journalist or aspiring journalist. It's astounding to see how many mistakes we make on a regular basis and how much they can do -- both to our readers and our reputations. Luckily, Silverman suggests ways for us to both avoid and fix them.

Posted by Erin Tandy at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One new magazine that I discovered in the last few weeks is CNN Traveller, which is actually pretty good. I've been disappointed with most magazines in the last few years -- it seems like they've all been overtaken by celebrity gossip and 400 word "features."

CNN Traveller is a bimonthly mag with gorgeous photos and features that take you all around the world. In the Nov.-Dec. issue, for example, the magazine looks at Poland's Bielowieza forest, the last "ancient" or untouched forest in Europe. They travel to to China, Colombia, Russia, the States, the Sahara, Mozambique and more. In their Sept.-Oct. issue, CNN Traveller goes to Romania, Naples, Tasmania, Vietnam, Libya, France, and Turkey.

Anyway, if you want to check out a magazine that offers something other than the regular clothing and makeup ads, have a look at CNN Traveller. And no, Ted Turner did not pay me to endorse this CNN product!

Posted by Rachel Barsky at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, every journalist should watch The Wire tonight.

Every season has a focus and this season's focus is the media. It's probably the smartest, angriest show I've seen on television.

Every scene with them is a great scene. I've seen the episode beforehand, and the scenes with the media are probably the weakest. But it's better than 90 per cent of the television out there. And hey, it has more appeal to everyone who's got journalism in their blood.

The Wire doesn't shy away from the way journalists talk -- lede, double-dot deadline, 13 inches below the fold, etc. It's nice to have a show this well written, and to deal with the issues journalists of facing of buyouts, layoffs, and a lack of aggression on the staff. So I encourage you, if you're lucky enough to have HBO, to watch this tonight. If not, you're missing out.

Posted by William Stodalka at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's post-Christmas, and I find myself wallowing in nostalgia -- prompted, no doubt, by the second Classic Sesame Street DVD set I got in my stocking last week. You know, the one with the warning label that says the set may not be "developmentally appropriate" for young children, or some such nonsense like that. I don't need to go into how silly THAT is -- other people have done that already. And really -- I grew up on pre-Elmo, psychedelic Sesame Street, and I turned out fine.

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL...oh. Oops. Sorry. Heh heh.

Anyway, there's more to childhood than television. (How's that for a segue!) There are also magazines. My parents started me on the long road of hopeless magazine addiction with subscriptions to Chickadee and Owl , both proudly Canadian and both still going strong. 3-2-1 Contact (now defunct, alas) and Ranger Rick gave me science and nature news from south of the border. Thanks to Ranger Rick, I can still make a mean peanut-butter-covered pinecone bird feeder. Talk about marketable skills!

I was curious to find out what was available for Canadian kids today, so I did a little exploring. The old favourites are still out there, but there are few new-ish mags that caught my attention. YES Mag is a Canadian science magazine for kids that contains no advertising -- a refreshing change in the usually ad-heavy mag world. Kayak has nothing to do with paddles, but is a Canadian history magazine for kids published by the National History Society. (Honestly, if anyone can make Canadian history interesting, more power to them.) Finally, my new favourite, Crow Toes Quarterly, a quizzical, quirky, dark literary magazine for kids, like an Edward Gorey picture come to life, only edgier.

If you know a child, or if you are a child, or even if you were a child at one point, these mags are worth a look.

Posted by Sara Chappel at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Drum roll please! We've returned to you. Hopefully you survived another amazing holiday season and spent enough time with turkey/latkes (or both) to part with it until your next festive reunion.

I spent my holidays watching foreign news. It's absolutely fascinating: almost as if they are reporting from some different planet. Obviously, the local press wouldn't place an Afghanistan story at the top of their broadcast if their country sent no troops to that region. So, you end up finding out that events happen in other countries too. All this sounds obvious, but I never sit down to think about the news I am missing. What about all the non-major-catastrophe-that-must-be-reported types of events happening in Sweden, Thailand or even India?

Now, I realize that these countries pop up in the news every now and then, that a broadcast operates within a limited airtime and that we must report what we think Canadians want to know. That's neither good not bad -- just realistic. Still, I am wondering about the Canadian angle on international stories. Considering that we strive to produce unbiased stories, we really can't claim that a report from a Canadian correspondent differs from a report from a French one. A Canadian approach manifests itself in the kinds of details or stories we pick, or perhaps do not pick. Choosing an Afghanistan story over a report from Thailand -- that's what makes a Canadian angle.

Posted by Alina Seagal at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)