Now on J-Source: HuffPost's Canadian ambitions; Saskatchewan's strong journo job market; Covering mental health stories

TORONTO, Aug. 2, 2012 /CNW/ -

FEATURES

Media Ownership
The Huffington Post's Canadian ambitions
Depending on who's talking, The Huffington Post is either a partner for homegrown media or a threat to it. Now that it is launching regional editions in B.C. and Alberta, Jonathan Sas looks at the U.S. media firm's international expansion and its effect on the Canadian media ecosystem.
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Health and Medical Journalism
Who, what, where and when: How journalists miss the 'why' in mental health stories
Reporting on mental illness in all its complexity is a hard thing to do well, especially in an if-it-bleeds-it-leads media environment. Chelsey Burnside looks at where Canadian journalists and news organizations are coming up short when they cover mental health stories and how they can do better to get the answer to that elusive fifth W.
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The Business of Journalism
Why Saskatchewan is a good place to be a journalist
There is a place in Canada where three things are growing: the economy, the population and advertising dollars. Welcome to Saskatchewan, where, Angelina Irinci reports, journalism grads are in demand and media outlets are springing up to take advantage of ad dollars that are more free-flowing than elsewhere in the country.
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Town Hall
His Girl Friday: Adapting journalistic issues of the 1930s for 2012
Journalism in 2012 is not as it was in 1930s: This was playwright John Guare's challenge in revising two popular treatments of journalism in The Front Page and His Girl Friday. Janice Neil looks at how Guare's production of His Girl Friday, which made its Canadian debut at the Shaw Festival this summer, responds to contemporary issues in journalism.
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Researching Journalism
Alternative Media in Canada: An Interview With David Skinner
A new collection, "Alternative Media in Canada," is the first to provide an overview of Canadian alternative media practices. Lisa Lynch interviewed David Skinner about the book's central themes and about the relationship between mainstream and independent journalism in Canada.
Link to article

THE BIG ISSUE

#NBCfail, Guy Adams and Twitter's response

The hashtag #NBCfail has been trending on Twitter worldwide all week, though the reasons for this have evolved as stories develop. It began with NBC's decision to put marquee events on tape delay, showing them during prime time hours when advertisers are willing to pay more. This, coupled with what has been described as lackluster commentary from NBC's announcers, launched the hashtag into international notoriety. Then, Independent Los Angeles correspondent Guy Adams joined in with his criticism of NBC. In one of his tweets, Adams made note of NBC Olympic President Gary Zenkel's corporate email address. (Here it is important to note that NBC and Twitter are official partners in presenting the Games.) Adams' account was subsequently suspended. As it is known now, it was Twitter who alerted NBC to Adams' tweet and had the broadcaster file an official complaint based on the tweeting of the email. Long after the journalism community on Twitter exploded and the damage had been done in terms of public relations, NBC rescinded its complaint and Adams' suspension was lifted. An entire day after the ordeal began, Twitter released an official statement, admitting they'd messed up.

The entire situation has led to much commentary: Jeff Jarvis says Twitter needs to learn the lesson that newspapers learned, in that trust is its asset and that it must run its business accordingly; Mathew Ingram, after acknowledging that suspending a journalist is a dangerous, looks at the legal side of things, namely, whether Twitter is a publisher or distributor and the liability issues associated with being the former; and Dan Gillmour says that this decision and Twitter's response is a defining moment for the company.

EVENTS CALENDAR

• Sept. 5: Nineteen Eighty-Four in 2012: The Assault on Reason, ON
• Sept. 13: CJF J-Talk: David Carr, ON

IN THE NEWS

» J-Links: Ballast Mag reaches fundraising goal; Corus joins media giant ad alliance
» Fellowship open for journalists who cover international peace and security
» J-Links: B.C. reporter faces possible charges; Farewell to Winnipeg Free Press' editor
» City of Toronto offers media training to residents after Danzig Street shooting
» J-Links: Defence Minister's wife slams article for 'distorted' comments; TDSB reducing price tag for information
» Toronto Star legal affairs reporter Tracey Tyler dies of cancer at 50
» J-Links: Tory MP received money from radio station bidders: "Late But Great" vs. "Worst But First"

RECENT POSTS

» #NBCfail at the 'social media games' indicative of big media's struggle in new landscape
» Teaching j-students how to live-tweet events
» Canadian London 2012 press room named after Randy Starkman
» On the Toronto Star's now-infamous Danzig St. shooting cartoon
» Week in review: Social media and the Danzig St. shooting
» What does a photographer need to cover the Olympics?

TOWN HALL

Journalists do not always know what will or will not be valued. In some cases, and I am thinking of science writing, the value of the story may not be readily apparent, nor identified. In many cases that is the purpose of writing the story - to bring facts into awareness and followed by [sic] debate and discussion. ...

Reader: Jeff Thurston
Article: "What is journalism?" A live discussion with CAJ report author Patrick Brethour

J-Source and ProjetJ are projects of The Canadian Journalism Foundation in collaboration with leading journalism schools and organizations.

CJF J-Talks: Our next season of talks kicks off September 13 with David Carr, media columnist and culture reporter for The New York Times, in conversation with Michael Enright, host of CBC Radio's The Sunday Edition. More details to come.

SOURCE: News - Media