Plus: We take you on a tour of Iraq that you won’t forget.

HANDCUFFED! Investigative journalists in Canada fight to remain free of interference from politicians, the police and the courts

THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS SPRING 2004 • VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3 • $3.95 L’ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES JOURNALISTES–

Spring 2004 Volume 10, Number 3

Publisher Nick Russell INSIDE Editor David McKie

Books Editor DEPARTMENTS Gillian Steward 4 First Word Read all about it! Media magazine will resume its edition that celebrates the work of the country’s top investigative journalists. Legal Advisor Peter Jacobsen By David McKie (Paterson McDougall) 5 JournalismNet Toolbars make surfing the Web faster and easier. By Julian Sher Designer Bonanza Printing & Copying 6 Point of View Investigative reporter Andrew Mitrovica weighs in with his surprising assessment of the Centre RCMP raid on the house of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill. Printer 8 Fine Print The recent victory of the National Post’s Andrew McIntosh to protect his sources from the Bonanza Printing & Copying RCMP is good news for journalists — despite the government’s decision to appeal the ruling. Centre By Dean Jobb Editorial Board 10 Profile When the Mounties searched the home of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill, she was Chris Cobb, angry.Now the veteran reporter is channelling that anger into a new book about her Wendy McLellan, experience. Sean Moore, By Daniel Smith Catherine Ford, Michelle MacAfee, 12 Profile Three Canadian journalists have made their mark at the BBC. Linda Goyette, By Doug Alexander John Gushue, Carolyn Ryan, 14 Writer’s Toolbox It’s time for reporters to lose their fear of numbers. Rob Cribb By Don Gibb Advertising Sales 16 Access to Information Crown corporations are at the heart of the sponsorship scandal, yet they aren’t even covered John Dickins by the federal Access-to-Information Act. They should be. By Anne P.Kothawala Administrative Director John Dickins 18 Foreign Affairs In the face of bombings, censorship and intimidation, a Zimbabwean newspaper continues (613)526-8061 Fax: (613)521-3904 in its attempts to expose government waste and corruption. So why did media outlets show E-mail: [email protected] little interest when the Daily News’ publisher and the Sunday editor recently visited Canada to solicit support for their struggle? MEDIA is published three times By Carrie Buchanan a year by: Canadian Association of 20 Diary When Rym Tina Ghazal entered into a wager about going to Iraq, little did she know what Journalists St. Patrick's Building, she was in for. Now the journalism student, who is about to graduate from Carleton 316B Carleton University 1125 University, looks back on her adventures and marvels at how she avoided disaster. Colonel By Drive Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6 32 Computer-assisted reporting An Ontario case involving a collection agency and the province’s keeper of the assessment rolls could have significance for reporters across the country. Reproduction without the written By Fred Vallance-Jones permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden 33 Ethics It’s time for journalists to advocate for national security laws that don’t infringe upon their rights. Media is a publication of the By Stephen J.A.Ward Canadian Association of Journalists. It is managed and edited 34 The Last Word CBC Television reporter Glen Deir recalls the time he went to interview the family of a independently from the CAJ and its Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan earlier this year. It was a day he’ll never forget. contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the Association. FEATURES Subscriptions: $14.98 (GST incl.) per year, 25 Atlantic Canada’sCanada Montreal-based Transcontinental Inc.is buying up more newspapers in Eastern Canada, payable in advance new powerhouse making it the country’s second-largest community newspaper owner, behind Sun Media. But what are the perils of increased concentration of ownership? Indexed in the Canadian By Kim Kierans Periodical Index. Canada Post Publications Canadian 28 Exposing the quacks Too many media outlets run uncritical stories about miracle cures. Mail Sales Product Agreement No. By Paul Benedetti 182796 ISSN 1198-2209 30 Fighting for freedom of Three of the country’s top investigative journalists have an emotional encounter with expressione journalism students in Halifax. Cover Photo By Mike and Linda Whitehouse Herald Photo/Peter Parsons FIRST WORD BY DAVID MCKIE Read all about it Media magazine will resume doing its part to support investigative journalism

t is my usual practice to use this space to bureaucrats and politicians in their wake, and a peaceful nation is turning into a police state. discuss stories that are appearing in public yearning for more revealing exposés. There are three reporters at the centre of the Isubsequent pages of Media magazine.While I Media organizations created investigative storm, who also happen to be top-notch intend talk about some of the pieces that you'll be teams, and gave them the time and money to go investigative journalists: Andrew McIntosh from reading, I want to take a moment to discuss for it. But this support structure for investigative the National Post; Juliet O'Neill from the Ottawa stories that you haven't seen in this magazine for journalists has wobbled at times, with media Citizen; and author and freelance journalist, a while: Award-winners describing how they put outlets ostensibly cutting back to save money. Stevie Cameron. Their stories are covered from a together their exposés, which for the most part, This country saw a re-awakening of sorts when number of different angles in this publication can be described as investigative initiatives. In Conrad Black's National Post burst onto the because in one way or another, the stories raise these accounts, the authors articulated the scene, forcing competitors such as the Globe and important questions that cut to the essence of challenges they encountered both inside and Mail to beef up their commitment to digging investigative journalism in this country. Should outside their respective media organizations, and beneath the surface. This practice of exposing reporters share information with police? Should offered tips to other reporters who might want to liars, cheaters, corrupt practices and shortfalls in police have the right to demand that reporters tackle similar topics but lack the gumption, public policy has also been inelegantly referred to hand over information that could lead to the know-how or supportive bosses. in another era as muckraking. identification of sources? And how far should Traditionally, we have run these stories in the In his book Discovering the News,American reporters go to protect those sources? What edition after the Canadian Association of media historian Michael Schudson points out personal price do journalists pay for the dogged Journalists' annual spring convention, an event that unlike columnists, who have become well- pursuit of that elusive truth? These questions and that culminates in the naming and celebration of paid and celebrated fixtures in newspapers, many more receive much attention this edition. investigative stories judged to be the best in the investigative journalists haven't always enjoyed If recent incidents, such as Ottawa's never- country. We had even added accounts of the same kind of consistent recognition. Unlike ending sponsorship scandal, have taught us Michener award winners to our esteemed list. the Christie Blatchfords of the world, whose anything, it is that investigative journalism does Unfortunately,last summer we broke with pictures appear above their columns, they have have an impact. In this case, the Globe and Mail, tradition for reasons that should come as no not developed a cult following. Instead, which won a CAJ award last year for its coverage surprise to journalists: lack of money. So last investigative journalists tend to toil in relative of the scandal, rightly takes credit for exposing year's convention came and went, with no record obscurity,with their best efforts frequently forced many of the messy details that have turned the of tell-tale accounts of how the stories were put to play second fiddle to more mundane offerings notion of ministerial and bureaucratic together. Well, this year we want to remedy that that dominate the headlines all too frequently. accountability on its head. If investigative situation.Money is still tight,as it is for all but the To be sure, organizations, such as the journalism isn't given the proper support richest of publications. (Vanity Fair,can we Missouri-based Investigative Reporters and structure, which includes favorable court rulings please have some of your ad revenue?) However, Editors organization and the Canadian that allow reporters to protect sources, and the we have come up with one of those proverbial Association of Journalists,have done their best to courage of media outlets to stray from the pack win-win solutions. We have decided to produce support the craft by handing out awards and and pursue topics of public interest, then the post-convention edition of the magazine speaking up to support the right of these institutions such as governments will continue to exclusively online, thus once again making it journalists to do their work free from be unaccountable to the people they're supposed available to everyone. interference. And the advent of computer- to serve. Whether the sponsorship scandal With this initiative, we have re-established an assisted reporting has also helped to give becomes Canada's Watergate is beside the point. important, albeit minor, support structure for investigative journalism a boost in both What matters is that journalists recognize and investigative journalism, whose popularity has countries. CAR stories in Canada and the United support the work of those who comb through ebbed and flowed over the years in Canada and States have earned the Michener and the Pulitzer documents, nurture sources, battle with the United States. awards, respectively. impatient editors and producers more concerned The popularity and the mythology of So now I return to our modest effort to support about daily events than long-term projects, and investigative journalism were ushered in by the investigative journalism. Thumbing through past trust their own intuition to follow the money, Watergate scandal that brought down an editions and reading the accounts of journalists, which in many cases is taxpayers' hard-earned American president and turned to two little- who to this day are at the top of their craft,is truly cash. known reporters for the Washington Post into inspiring. So once we have the edition online, So let's recognize the work that exposes media superstars and role models for countless we'll be sure to spread the word. corruption. We at Media magazine will resume numbers of journalists, young and old. The Now moving on to what you'll be reading in doing our small part with an online edition that rigour and tenacity of Robert Upshur Woodward this edition of Media magazine. Investigative will hopefully inform and inspire you to become and Carl Bernstein were enduring qualities that journalism has been a subtext in a number of investigative journalists, determined to write and many journalists wanted to emulate as they, too, cases in Canada that have led to angst-ridden broadcast stories that make a difference in big envisioned leaving a number of deposed discussions, legal arguments and fears that our and small ways.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 4 JOURNALISMNET BY JULIAN SHER Handy toolbars They make surfing the Web faster and easier

hen you're surfing the Web, the to-use, common language search tool called Ask SPECIAL TOOLS toolbar is that top row of buttons Jeeves. But you can also hunt for material in news, Walways on display in your browser the stock market, weather, maps and the Ask Jeeves Finally, there are some specialized tools that that allows you to click on "Home," "Back," Kids Web sites. do more than search. "Forward" or type in an address. But you can Teoma: One of the newer search engines,Teoma's Alexa at http://download.alexa.com gives customize your Web surfing by adding other Search Bar at http://sp.ask.com/docs/teoma/toolbar/ you access to Google search results — but also toolbars. These are all free downloads that gives you some of the special features of this brilliant all the special functions of the Alexa Web page. become a permanent part of your Web work. new tool and provides the ability to e-mail any Web Alexa tells you about the Web page you are They can save you time by giving you instant page you view. visiting — who is behind it, how popular it is, access to information you frequently require. what are similar sites. A great tool to have for Choose the one or two that conform to your the Internet detective! needs and tastes. Dave's Quick Search Taskbar: This is the king of the specialized tools at SINGLE SEARCH ENGINES http://www.dqsd.net/. Unlike all the other tools, this toolbar installs itself on your taskbar — Most of the basic search engines now offer that bottom strip of icons on your desktop. toolbars. What's neat is that each of them usually Type in any word and it searches Google. also provides bonus features that can come in very Simply add an exclamation point to the word handy. (for example, fbi!) and you get Google's "I'm Google: In previous columns, we have seen Felling Lucky" function, which automatically the advantages of the Google Toolbar at transports you to the first result. Type in any http://toolbar.google.com. It gives you instant access city, followed by an asterisk (Paris*) and you not only to Google search,but also Advanced Google, MULTIPLE SEARCH TOOLS get the weather.Put a colon at the end of a word Google News and Google Groups.It even blocks pop- (larceny:) and you get a dictionary definition. up ads! (Google offers only a version for Internet If you like using more than one search There are tons of other shortcuts to learn. Explorer, but you can get a volunteer-created Google engine at a time, there are also toolbars for you. bar for Netscape at http://googlebar.mozdev.org/). Dogpile: One of the best multiple search engines, the Dogpile toolbar at www.dogpile.com queries 13 major engines — including Google. You can search through yellow or white pages and check a dictionary and thesaurus. Trellian at http://www.trellian.com/toolbar/ allows you to retrieve up to nine result pages for many different search engines.

So as you can see, there is a lot to choose from. My personal favourites are the Google Ya ho o: The Yahoo Companion at Toolbar and Dave's Taskbar. Experiment with a http://companion.yahoo.com/ allows you to search few of them to see what is the best fit for you using Yahoo, but also gives you access to your Yahoo — and happy, speedier surfing. Mail, plus you can save your favourite bookmarks and access them from any computer. Julian Sher, the creator and Web master HotBot: This veteran engine has a Quick-Search of JournalismNet (www.journalismnet.com), Deskbar at http://www.hotbot.com/tools/.Of course,it does Internet training in newsrooms around the gives you handy access to its own decent search The Groowe Toolbar at http://www.groowe.com world. He can be reached by e-mail at engine,but you also can send e-mail,check maps and gives you Google, but also Yahoo, Teoma, [email protected]. This article and many even install an alarm. AllTheWeb,AltaVista and many more.You can also other columns from Media magazine are available Ask Jeeves: This toolbar at do specialized searches — for example, find online with hot links on the JournalismNet Tips http://sp.ask.com/docs/toolbar gives you the simple- pictures from AllTheWeb, news from AltaVista. page at www.journalismnet.com/tips

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 5 POINT OF VIEW RCMP follies When the Mounties raided the home of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill, there was indignation. Some people even wondered if Canada of all nations had become a police state. Investigative reporter Andrew Mitrovica weighs in with his assessment — and it may surprise you

et me get right to the gastronomical point: I nearly became ill when I read in my Lmorning paper that Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill had her home invaded by a gaggle of RCMP officers. I was on the precipice of regurgitating my breakfast for a number of reasons — some obvious, others might surprise you. Oh, how I dreamt that the Mounties had stormed my home after my "controversial" book on that other paragon of investigative adroitness and skill, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that hit bookstores across the country. Rather than holding a news conference instantly condemning the invasion of privacy and railing against the "jackboots" for stomping on the freedom of the press, I would have invited the cops in, offered them cookies and coffee and said: "Go ahead, fellas. Search away until your hearts are content!" Then, I would have called my editor at Random House and told her of the assault. What a flood of publicity that bit of drama would have generated. Surely, I would have assumed the mantle of media martyr Ms. O'Neill now reluctantly occupies. I would have been courted by breathless radio and television talking heads, asking me how the fearless, award- winning investigative reporter was holding up under the terrible strain of it all, and whether I was bitter or angry at being the victim of a blatant attempt to muzzle the press.All the while, my book's snappy title would have been repeated over and over again on the airwaves, courtesy of THE CONDEMNED MAN: Amid all the front-page reporting alleging ominous but utterly unsubstantiated the Mounties. Damn it! The lost opportunity, as I links between Mr. Arar and al-Qaeda, The Citizen did find time to pen a tiny editorial mildly suggesting that said, was nearly enough to make any first-time Ottawa call a public inquiry to shed a “little light” on the “murky” world of intelligence. How nice . author sick. Sadly, I knew that a posse of Mounties would running CSIS wanted to do, of course, was to instruments. So, when Canada's newly minted never come knocking on my front door draw attention to my exposé. Prime Minister loudly and publicly blasts your brandishing a search warrant, giving them the To whit,the decision to raid Ms.O'Neill's home institution's carefully orchestrated leaks tarring right to rifle through my underwear or my four- and office had precious little to do with the law or the reputation of Canadian torture victim,Maher year-old daughter's Barbie collection, searching protecting national security. Rather, it had Arar, as unconscionable, well, sir you better hop in vein for a morsel of information about my everything to do with protecting the jobs of to it and start putting on a very public show carefully concealed sources. This, even though career spooks like CSIS Director Ward Elcock, designed to convince the political powers-that- my best-selling book was overflowing with and career cops like RCMP Commissioner be that you're doing something to plug the "state" secrets — most of them shedding a high- Giuliano Zaccardelli. 'unfortunate' leaks or you just might kiss your beam light on the epidemic of incompetence, Both mandarins have lived and worked in healthy paycheque goodbye. graft and corruption at CSIS. The raid never Ottawa for a very long time and their political Whatever its motivation, the decision to raid occurred because the last thing the apparatchiks antennas are undoubtedly finely tuned Ms. O'Neill's home and office backfired terribly

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 6 PHOTO CREDIT: CP/Jonathan Hayward or wonderfully, based on your point of view. The In any event, whoever was leaking disparaging The Citizen's chutzpah is breathtaking. Mounties and collaterally,CSIS,have been buried information about Mr.Arar had clearly picked his One might suggest that the Ottawa Citizen and in an avalanche of predictable and not entirely or her media horse, and that was largely the its sister newspapers have a lot to answer for.Let's misplaced criticism. (More on that later.) CanWest news service. (I am aware that CTV see: using anonymous "intelligence" sources to Just as the first wave of nausea passed,another News reporter Joy Malbon also parroted repeatedly suggest that a Canadian citizen is an was building behind it when I read that Ms. anonymous spy sources insisting that Mr. Arar unrepentant terrorist and a compulsive liar might O'Neill had cast herself as the innocent victim of was, to put it mildly, no saint.) be a good place to start. And talk about acts of what amounted to an act of police brutality. I Amid all the front-page reporting alleging intimidation. To my way of thinking, a powerful remembered the piece Ms. O'Neill penned about ominous but utterly unsubstantiated links media conglomerate crucifying a lone citizen on Mr. Arar in early November 2003. In her 1,500- between Mr. Arar and al-Qaeda, The Citizen did its front page ranks in the pantheon of overt acts word story, she relied on conveniently find time to pen a tiny editorial mildly suggesting of intimidation. anonymous intelligence sources and a that Ottawa call a public inquiry to shed a "little Gordon Fisher, CanWest president of news and mysterious document to, in effect, condemn Mr. light" on the "murky" world of intelligence. How information,then weighed in with this own rather Arar as a terrorist,who had received training in a nice. apoplectic assessment. The raid on O'Neill notorious camp for terrorists in Afghanistan. "smacks of a police state mentality that one might Ms. O'Neill went on to list the reasons that her equate with the former Soviet Union, rather a publicity-shy "security source" had offered for All the huffing and Canadian democracy," Mr. Fisher said. why the new government was so dead set against Oh really? a public inquiry into Mr. Arar's disturbing case puffing about a "police Mr. Fisher's comments certainly reflected — principally, that it could undermine ongoing state" and "dark" days another apparent editorial change of heart at probes into "terror plots" in Ottawa. The piece of CanWest. "investigative journalism" could just as well been for democracy emanating Rocco Galati, a diminutive and feisty Toronto written by CSIS or the RCMP. lawyer, represented many Canadians and landed Editors at The Citizen decided literally to top from CanWest's offices in immigrants accused by Ottawa of being terrorists. off the front-page story by affixing a sensational Winnipeg and Ottawa Recently, Mr. Galati felt compelled to abandon the headline to Ms. O'Neill's story."Canada's Dossier cases after receiving a death threat.In announcing on Maher Arar," the Citizen proclaimed. Doesn't might be a tad more his decision, Mr. Galati suggested that laws to the word "dossier" sound so official, so vitally summarily arrest and prosecute suspected important, and so credible? How could any right- plausible and genuine terrorists rendered Canada a "totalitarian" state thinking reader possibly question its veracity or where individuals, mostly of Arab or Islamic even existence? if the news service's descent, disappeared into "gulags." And yet, despite effectively having stamped reporters weren't playing Later, CanWest's Jonathan Kay assailed Mr. the word terrorist on Mr. Arar's forehead — a Galati. In his December 12, 2003, column, Mr.Kay stain that is not easily removed — Ms. O'Neill footsie so blatantly with did what even the most pedestrian propagandists and her many supporters in the media do when they seek to undermine the messenger vehemently insisted that she was the victim. cops and/or spies. — he raised questions about Mr. Galati's state of That's when the urge to vomit welled up in me mind. Employing epithets like "meltdown," again. By late January, that pathetic, almost invisible "unhinged," "towering rage," "paranoid attitude," Then I recalled that Ms. O'Neill's piece wasn't call had turned into a roaring, unrelenting battle and "hysterical outbursts," Mr. Kay more than the first story by a veteran CanWest reporter cry. What prompted The Citizen's dramatic and implied that Rocco Galati is one sick puppy to given prominent play throughout the newspaper sudden aggressiveness? It had nothing to do, of think that we live a totalitarian state reminiscent chain to cast serious doubt on Mr. Arar's course, with Mr. Arar's often eloquent and of the former Soviet Union. consistent and powerful protestations of persuasive responses to the terror charges made Not surprisingly, Mr. Kay fell silent when a innocence. by spies or cops hiding in the shadows, ably senior CanWest news executive began musing On December 30, 2003, the National Post's shielded by their willing media conduits. publicly that Canada was also morphing into a Ottawa bureau chief, Robert Fife, wrote a line No, it wasn't that at all. "police state." I suppose Mr. Kay's galling story claiming the "Canadian and U.S. On January 21, 2004, a white female reporter's hypocrisy can be chalked up to his intelligence officials are '100-per-cent sure'" that home and office were raided by police. That was understandable desire to keep his column. Mr.Arar had indeed trained at an al-Qaeda camp the trigger. All the huffing and puffing about a "police in Afghanistan. "Raids by teams of RCMP on the home and state" and "dark" days for democracy emanating Two "exclusive" stories relying on anonymous office of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet from CanWest's offices in Winnipeg and Ottawa and unaccountable "sources," separated by only O'Neill…have unleashed a firestorm of criticism might be a tad more plausible and genuine if the few weeks, had suggested that Mr. Arar was a and renewed demands for a public inquiry into news service's reporters weren't playing footsie so terrorist and a liar. the Maher Arar affair," wrote CanWest's Bruce blatantly with cops and/or spies. Their complicity Call me a conspiracy theorist if you must, but Garvey. in besmirching Maher Arar's name and I wondered whether CanWest's little campaign to The vitriol and hyperbole quickly escalated to reputation came back to bite them soundly in the "out" Mr. Arar had anything remotely to do with apocalyptic proportions. "It is a black, black day behind. I think it's a deliciously ironic the fact that its chief rival, the Globe and Mail, for freedom in this country," fumed Citizen editor- comeuppance. had taken a sympathetic view towards Mr. Arar in-chief Scott Anderson. "I am outraged. The and his determined bid to have a public inquiry Canadian government has a lot to answer for and Andrew Mitrovica is an award-winning into the possible complicity of Canadian police it's intimidation to prevent the search for the journalist and author of the book Covert Entry: and security services in his abduction, truth." Spies, Lies and Crimes Inside Canada's Secret deportation and torture. That's when I reached for the Gravol. Service.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 7 FINE PRINT BY DEAN JOBB Good news for journalists The recent victory of the National Post's Andrew McIntosh to protect his source will resonate across the country

anuary 21, 2004, will be remembered as a seize the document, so it could be analyzed for McIntosh's relationship with his source should be good day and as a bad day for journalists, the fingerprints and traces of DNA that might protected by privilege — a status Canadian Jsources they rely on to inform the public, and identify who leaked it. courts have been reluctant to afford to the media. freedom of the press in Canada. While the document had been sent to the Post While the law treats most information that passes It was a bad day, of course, because a squad of anonymously, McIntosh discovered it had come between lawyers and their clients as confidential, Mounties descended on the home of Ottawa from a source he had promised to protect. The journalists and their sources — like doctors and Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill that morning, Post handed over the document in a sealed patients — must prove, case by case, that their carting away anything that might identify the envelope and, backed by The Globe and Mail and relationship deserves to be protected from prying insider who leaked information on the case of the CBC, challenged the legality of the seizure. eyes. Maher Arar, the Canadian man imprisoned and Media lawyers attacked the warrant as a Justice Benotto, applying a legal analysis tortured in Syria. violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. known as the Wigmore test,found that McIntosh's But it was a good day for the media — indeed, Forcing journalists to expose confidential relationship with his source was worthy of a very good day — because in Toronto, a judge sources,it was argued,tramples on freedom of the protection. was handing down an important precedent that press and hinders the ability of media outlets to What's more, exposing his informant would will ensure the authorities think twice before inform the public. Important stories — the sale harm an important societal interest while doing going after a journalist's confidential sources. of tainted food, the dumping of hazardous waste, little to advance what amounted to a fishing Justice Mary Lou Benotto of the Ontario scandals like Watergate — could go unreported. expedition by police. Superior Court struck a powerful blow for press Justice Benotto agreed. "Sources may dry up if "It is through confidential sources that matters freedom, striking down an RCMP search warrant their identities were revealed," she wrote. of great public importance are made known," she used to seize a document leaked in April 2001 to "Confidential sources are essential to the effective wrote. "As corporate and public power increase, Andrew McIntosh, the award-winning National functioning of the media in a free and democratic the ability of the average citizen to affect his or her Post reporter who broke the Shawinigate scandal. society." world depends upon the information The document was political dynamite — a Sources may have valid reasons for seeking disseminated by the press.To deprive the media of Business Development Bank of Canada loan anonymity, she added. "They may, themselves, be an important tool in the gathering of news would authorization that suggested then-prime minister breaching a duty of confidentiality.They may have affect society as a whole." Jean Chrétien stood to benefit from a 1997 stolen the information. They may fear economic Since the judge who signed the search warrant decision to lend $615,000 to the Grand-Mère Inn. reprisals. They may lose their jobs. failed to consider these important issues, Justice According to the document, the inn owed "They may fear for their safety. They may fear Benotto ruled, the seizure was invalid and both $23,040 to J. & AC Consultants Inc., a Chrétien for the safety of their families." She rejected the the document and McIntosh's source were family holding company.As Justice Benotto noted: assertion of government lawyers that such actions protected. "This, if true, may have placed the prime minister should not be encouraged. "If employee Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General has in a conflict of interest." confidentiality were to trump conscience," she launched an appeal. Assuming the ruling stands, When McIntosh contacted the bank for said, "there would be a licence for corporations, what will it mean for journalists? While courts comment, officials claimed the document was a governments and other employers to operate outside Ontario are free to take a different forgery and called in the RCMP. An officer without accountability." approach, other judges are certain to find Justice convinced an Ontario judge to issue a warrant to The judge went on to consider whether Benotto's reasoning to be sound and persuasive.

THE LEGAL RIGHT TO PROTECT SOURCES: In her ruling on the case involving National Post reporter Andrew McIntosh (seated in the middle, flanked on the right by the Ottawa Citizen's Juliet O'Neill and on the left by author Stevie Cameron), Mary Lou Benotto of the Ontario Superior Court argued that: "Sources may dry up if their identities were revealed. Confidential sources are essential to the effective functioning of the media in a free and democratic society."

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 8 PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Creagen Her approach is firmly grounded in Supreme Court of Canada precedents that recognize the vital role of a free press and the media's right to gather news. Your way. Connected. The ruling will undoubtedly help the Ottawa Citizen's lawyers as they try to quash the warrant Stay in touch with the CN story, used to search O'Neill's home. And in future, judges will have to consider the implications for with media contacts throughout press freedom before authorizing the police to raid newsrooms and reporters' homes in search of North America. insiders who leak information. In fact, Justice Corporate Ian Thomson (Ontario) Benotto says media outlets have the right to be Mark Hallman (Toronto) Phone: (905) 669-3128 notified — and to assert the right to protect Phone: (416) 217-6390 After hours: (416) 818-1745 After hours: (416) 729-7238 Email: [email protected] sources — before such warrants are issued. Email: [email protected] If the influential Ontario Court of Appeal Pierre Leclerc Louise Filion (Montreal) (Quebec/Maritimes) Phone: (514) 399-5416 Phone: (514) 399-3108 After hours: (514) 891-4489 After hours: (514) 231-4362 While the law treats Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

most information that Operations Jack Burke (United States) Graham Dallas (B.C./Alberta) Phone: (312) 755-7591 passes between lawyers Phone: (604) 501-5306 After hours: (312) 848-2530 After hours: (604) 202-5687 Email: [email protected] and their clients as Email: [email protected] confidential, journalists Jim Feeny (Saskatchewan/Manitoba) and their sources — Phone: (204) 934-7313 After hours: (204) 795-2059 like doctors and Email: [email protected] patients — must prove, www.cn.ca case by case, that their relationship deserves to be protected from prying eyes. upholds her ruling, it will carry even more weight in other provinces. But Benotto's ruling does not offer blanket NORTH AMERICA’S RAILROAD protection for a journalist's sources. She stressed that McIntosh's case was "unique" and his story so important, dealing as it did with the country's top elected official, that the right to protect his source must prevail. A promise of confidentiality may still turn out to be a promise a journalist cannot keep.A police raid may be justified or a journalist may be subpoenaed and forced to reveal a source as part of a court case, when refusing to do so could be punished with a fine or jail time. But when pursuing stories of significant public importance, media outlets have gained a new weapon in the struggle to protect sources.

Freelance journalist Dean Jobb teaches media law at the School of Journalism, University of King's College in Halifax. His legal guide for writers, The Fine Print, will be published later this year by Emond Montgomery Publications.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 9 PROFILE BY DANIEL SMITH Wake-up call When Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill rose one morning to find RCMP officers waiting at her door, she also received a metaphoric wake-up call. Now she’s writing a book about her experience

uliet O'Neill, the Ottawa Citizen reporter who made headlines earlier this year when her "(The book) will be a Jhome and office were raided by the RCMP, is working full-time on a book about her blend of media history, experience. As she walks into the small café where we are politics, courtroom drama meeting for lunch, O'Neill points to a table in a back alcove, tucked away from the slight and personal drama," she afternoon crowd. "It's a bit more private over here," she says. says. "It will give readers And privacy is everything to a woman who has a glimpse into the impact been robbed of it. That will be a major theme of her book, of an incident like this — because when officers rifled through "every nook and cranny" of her home on that winter morning, having your privacy including her lingerie drawer and her most personal papers, they left with notebooks, sucked away — and it microcassettes, a copy of her hard drive — and will explore themes of O'Neill's sense of intimacy. "I want to tell people what it feels like to have press freedom and your privacy completely stripped away," she says. "It really is quite awful." society's quest for balance O'Neill lives in a quiet Byward Market house just a couple of blocks from this Clarence Street between security and café. In the front part of the house, with a perfect Juliet O’Neill is thinking of calling her book ‘Wake-Up civil liberties." window view of the Notre Dame Basilica, is her Call.’ “Because on more than one level,”she explains, home office, where she has been typing away “that’s what it was.” while the motivation is strong and the memories News, she experienced her share of state raids that they "smacked of a police state fresh. restrictions on press freedom long before this mentality." And while the former Soviet Union O'Neill expressed an interest in writing out her January. was definitely a police state, says O'Neill, "it was story to her editors at the Citizen, and both they For example, O'Neill remembers how she and not in the sense that you'd expect the authorities and the executives of CanWest Global her colleagues were regularly spied on in to come crashing into your house and rifle Communications, owners of the paper, have fully Moscow. The apartment complex where she lived through your stuff. supported her endeavour. She is currently in the Soviet capital was home to a host of foreign "In Moscow, the absence of privacy was a fact working on the book nearly every day on the journalists,business people and diplomats,and it of life," she says. "But you would never dream of Citizen's payroll. was common knowledge that state officials were something like this happening here in Canada, in "There's an interest in my case all over the always listening. 2004." world," she says, pointing to the attention the One day while searching for her cat, O'Neill Drawing on that element of shock, O'Neill is international media have paid to her ordeal and remembers poking her head into a room on the thinking of calling her book 'Wake-Up Call.' the many letters she has received from concerned top floor of the building. "Inside, there were two "Because on more than one level," she explains, people worldwide. banks of reel-to-reel tapes with headsets, one "that's what it was." "People care,because an international principle along each wall," she says as she brushes a strand The officers woke her up early in the morning — freedom of the press — is at stake here," she of her shoulder-length brown hair away from her on Jan. 21 — a wake-up call in its most literal says. "That is why I am writing this book." face. "I think I found the listening room." sense. For the general public, she says, the raids And government interference with that But accustomed as she was to writing under should be a metaphoric wake-up call — "international principle" is not a new or recent the government's watch before the January raids, reminding us not to take freedom of the press for experience for O'Neill. As a reporter who they still came as a complete shock to O'Neill. granted. And for herself, the incident has been a between 1989 and 1993 covered what was then Gordon Fisher, CanWest's president of news tremendous learning experience — "that was my the Communist-led Soviet Union for Southam and information, told media the day after the own wake-up call," she says.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 10 PHOTO CREDIT: James Bremner Though she has not signed any publishing flip a coin to see who would have to go cover a of Toronto on a Southam Fellowship, then put contract to date, she has multiple interested boring committee." her studies to the test in a year-long stint on the suitors, including CanWest. "All I can say for The two-woman bureau split up in 1989 when foreign policy beat for Southam and the Citizen. sure is that it will be published," she says. O'Neill left to fill the opening with Southam She also spent two years writing profiles for O'Neill hopes the end product will be a News in Moscow.After studying Russian for six the Citizen before taking her current job as the versatile and affordable paperback that will not months, she headed to the Soviet Union and, as newspaper's features writer. only serve as a useful handbook for journalists- she describes it, "hit the ground running." "She is a consummate professional and a in-training, but also as an interesting read for If there were highlight reels of the Soviet terrific journalist," says Jim Travers,who headed the general public. Union's collapse, they would look a lot like the Southam News when O'Neill was in Moscow."As "It will be a blend of media history, politics, headlines from O'Neill's Moscow days. an editor, when you have her in the field, you courtroom drama and personal drama," she She remembers clearly the night Gorbachev know that you will always be one step ahead says. "It will give readers a glimpse into the was temporarily unseated as leader in the instead of one step behind." impact of an incident like this — having your military coup of 1991. She covered first-hand And striving to stay one step ahead has made privacy sucked away — and it will explore the ongoing military tensions between Armenia her career a very compelling story. themes of press freedom and society's quest for and Azerbaijan and the battles for independence As the waitress clears our dishes, O'Neill balance between security and civil liberties." in small Soviet satellites like Estonia, Latvia and reaches forward and stops the tape recorder she It will also serve as a memoir of sorts, using Lithuania. brought along (she will need these memories as the incident as a starting point to share some of "The stories were handed to me on a silver much as I). what she has learned in almost 30 years as a platter," she admits of her time in the Russian "Time to go get back to writing," she says. journalist. capital. "The Soviet Union collapsed before my The past month has been an unforgettable But for O'Neill, the opportunity to write this eyes. As it unfolded, we were just front page, ordeal for Juliet O'Neill and she says it will be a book is more than just a means of expressing front page, front page … It was the peak of my long while before she is able to feel private her experience; it's also a chance to live out a career." again.But in the meantime,she says,writing out childhood dream. O'Neill later worked as a correspondent in her story has been a very effective therapy. She takes a sip of her coffee and smiles as she London, England, where she covered the "I know I haven't even gone through it all remembers growing up in Calgary, her nose Northern Ireland peace talks, floods in the yet," she says. "But I figure … it's just a chapter constantly buried in one book or another. "I was Netherlands and the genocide in Rwanda,before in the book." always a voracious reader," she says. returning to Canada in 1995. And it was because she loved reading that she Upon returning, she spent a year studying Daniel Smith is entering the third year of always dreamed of becoming an author herself, diplomacy and foreign affairs at the University Carleton University's journalism program. but her father suggested she should vie for a profession that promised a more steady income, just in case. So that's what she did — O'Neill studied Calling All Journalists... journalism at Carleton University from 1972 until 1975 when, just a few credits short of her degree, she was offered a full-time placement with the Ottawa bureau of the Canadian Press. Do Yourself Justice! She decided to leave school and take the job. "I figured I was going to journalism school to get a journalism job and I got one," O'Neill says, Justicia Awards 2004 "so what was the point in going back?" For eight years she covered Parliament Hill, If your superior reporting on justice issues has where she met and worked with Norma Greenaway, now also a reporter for the Citizen. contributed to public knowledge, understanding or debate The two have remained best friends throughout about Canada’s system of justice, you may be a contender their entire careers. for this year’s prestigious Justicia Awards. O'Neill's desire to travel drove her to apply for and win a CP posting in Washington, D.C., in The Justicia Awards recognize outstanding broadcast and print 1983. One year later, Greenaway joined her there stories that promote better public awareness of any aspect of and together they formed CP's first all-woman Canada’s justice system. Award winners are selected by an bureau. independent panel of judges. "Our bureau chief at the time said 'I'm not going to send two women down to Washington — all they'll do is shop,'" Greenaway remembers. To qualify, stories must be published or broadcast between "Well, we proved him wrong. May 16, 2003 and May 15, 2004. The deadline for this "We were best friends and best colleagues,but year’s entries is June 1, 2004. To check out details we did get some work done," she jokes. During Sponsored by the Canadian Bar or obtain an entry form, visit us online at their time in the Capitol, they covered the free Association, the Law Commission www.cba.org/CBA/Awards/justicia/, or contact Emily trade negotiations between then-prime minister of Canada and the Department Porter, Canadian Bar Association, at 1-800-267-8860, Brian Mulroney and former president Ronald of Justice Canada ext. 155; e-mail [email protected]. Reagan. "It was sometimes very tedious, but we'd have fun," Greenaway laughs. "Sometimes we'd just MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 11 PROFILE BY DOUG ALEXANDER Canadian content at the BBC Three Canadian journalists have made their mark across the pond

here's little doubt the BBC, "Aunty Beeb," its spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the "For me it's humbling," she says. "I find that or just "the Beeb" — whatever you call Kurdish refugee crisis and the election of Ali the longer I work,the more humbled I am at such Tthis long-standing British institution — is Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was Iran's president circumstances around the world." one of the world's top news organizations. from 1989 to 1997. Doucet also works hard to maintain ties with The opportunity to work for the British Today, Doucet's job is to present/anchor the her Canadian journalist colleagues. Anna Maria Broadcasting Corporation is a chance to excel in news in the field and land the "big interviews" Tremonti, the host of CBC Radio's The Current, journalism's major league. So it's only natural with major international newsmakers. She is one of her closest friends. that Canadian journalists would cross the pond admits working for the BBC offers "great "We were Jerusalem correspondents at the to try make their mark with what is, arguably, opportunities" she'd unlikely get elsewhere. same time and we have had an arrangement the world's top news broadcaster. "The BBC is one of the top players, we have a since then that we call each other on Sunday, no Of the dozens of Canadians in the BBC, three global reach…" Doucet says. "It adds a level of matter where we are in the world," Tremonti women have landed their dream jobs and meaning to your work that is very gratifying." says. "So that meant everything from telephone succeeded spectacularly — despite the accent. It also helps to land those key interviews such boxes in Mexico,satellite phones in freezing war- as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, UN chief destroyed rooms in Kabul, and middle-of-the- LYSE DOUCET weapons inspector Hans Blix, Pakistani president night airport lounges." General Pervez Musharraf, and Afghan President Lyse Doucet's distinctive New Brunswick Hamid Karzai. Even the former Canadian prime SIAN GRIFFITHS voice can be heard on BBC radio and TV.She's a minister, Jean Chrétien, couldn't escape her presenter and correspondent for BBC World microphone during his July 2003 visit to London. The desire to travel and work abroad also Television and BBC World Service Radio who is "People you interview know that if they want drove Sian Griffiths to leave Canada after often deployed to anchor special news coverage to talk to the world, they'll talk to the BBC," the graduating in 1989 from Carleton University, from the field. She presented from Amman, 45-year-old says. where she studied international politics. Jordan, and Iraq during the war last year. She's a Doucet's job has also exposed her to "I knew I wanted to be a journalist, but I knew regular presenter for the program Talking Point, unrelenting hardships and poverty around the that journalists need to have things to talk about broadcast in TV,radio and the Internet, and the globe. — so I chose political science," she explains. hard-hitting TV interview program Hardtalk. "The world has become a more dangerous Her British ancestry made her choice to move But Doucet had modest beginnings. Driven by place," she says. Internet, satellite-TV and e-mail overseas obvious: "I had a British passport and the desire to do foreign news, Doucet moved to have made the world smaller, she adds, wanted to travel, go abroad." Africa in 1982 after getting a master's degree in highlighting the gap between rich and poor. She arrived in London in 1990 and did some international relations from the University of "We all know more about each other and our work on the commercial side of the BBC before Toronto. differences," she says,"and the (large) disparities enrolling in a post-graduate diploma in "I knew what I wanted to do, and I did it," she have become that much more huge." broadcast journalism at the University of Central says. "I freelanced for about a year — and it was Her work, however, has given her greater Lancashire in Preston, England, to improve her the right place at the right time." appreciation of being Canadian. chances of landing that dream journalism job. Doucet's work soon caught the attention of the BBC, which hired her in 1983 to cover North and West Africa — a career break that would have been unlikely if she had started from the bottom. "It's hard to climb up the corporate ladder in every organization,especially the BBC," she says. "Starting in Africa allowed me to circumvent the ladder." Doucet quickly became a globetrotting journalist with the BBC. Between 1988 and 1993, she reported from West and South Asia, and in 1988 she reported from Kabul on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan. Doucet was the BBC's correspondent in Pakistan for three years, reporting on political developments as the country emerged from a “I find that the longer I work, the more humbled I Today Sian Griffiths is one of eight producers in long period of military rule.She has also covered am at circumstances around the world.” London for Hardtalk, a hard-hitting news program major events in Iran, such as the 1989 funeral of – Lyse Doucet shown on BBC World and BBC News 24.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 12 PHOTO CREDIT: BBC PHOTO CREDIT: BBC After graduating, and following a stint with GISELLE PORTENIER the BBC travel series Rough Guide to the World in 1993 and 1994, she found herself in BBC's The pull of foreign affairs journalism Manchester newsroom as a researcher. She prompted Giselle Portenier to leave her returned to London after landing a job as a reporter/anchor job at Vancouver's BCTV for researcher with BBC World. London in 1982 — only four years after she Today Griffiths is one of eight producers in graduated from Carleton's journalism program. London for Hardtalk, a news program shown on She joined the BBC Four in 1986, after working BBC World and BBC News 24. Her job involves in London with ABC News and 60 Minutes. research, logistics and convincing international This award-winning investigative journalist news figures to agree to an intense half-hour has since worked for Panorama, the BBC's grilling by host Tim Sebastian — a tough task. flagship current affairs program, as well as "People know the reputation of Hardtalk Newsnight and, for the past decade, as a senior now," she says. "It's not a soft touch." producer on the BBC's top foreign affairs The 36-year-old has had some career highs documentary programs, Assignment and with Hardtalk, notably what she calls her "mini- Correspondent. peace process." Griffiths was one of a small, "It's a fantastic job to travel and see the world tenacious team that brought together senior and to do journalism that has impact," Portenier politicians from Israel and the Palestinian says. Authority for a show in East Jerusalem — Her style is to get ordinary people into her despite curfews. documentaries, to root out the truth and expose "Those were some very beautiful moments for human rights injustices around the world. me," she says. Griffiths also enjoys putting "My goal is to do very strong,powerful newsworthy figures on the hot seat — such as journalism and at the BBC, the opportunity is when her team raised the no-go issue of there," she adds. "It's a dream job in a dream pedophilia by Catholic priests while organization that's committed to foreign affairs interviewing Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, the journalism." head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the The topics she has tackled include: "honour Laity. killings" in Pakistan; an investigative "You're right into the heart of the Vatican," she documentary, Murder in Purdah, which netted recalls. "You could feel the weight of history on several awards; Russia's Mafia; Africa's child your shoulders." slave trade; and Rwandan genocide. She also recounts bumping into Angola's Portenier's latest works include producing the infamous rebel leader Paolo Lukamba — better 2003 TV documentary Israel's Secret Weapon, known as "General Gato" — in the halls of BBC's which probes Israel's nuclear weapons program, London headquarters and getting him on air and Ten Days that Shook the World, a BBC behind the microphone: "He was asked how documentary about people directly affected by many people he's killed," she says. the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York. Griffiths loves her job and credits the BBC for In spite of covering such horrific issues, giving her a "mind-expanding, rewarding Portenier has managed to escape the cynicism experience," although this Nepean, Ontario, that affects many jaded veteran journalists. native does admit to missing Canada and "its "I'm not a total cynic," she says. "I believe great outdoors." journalism has made a huge impact." Her documentary work has made Portenier see the world differently, more as a 'global village' in which we all have something at stake. "It's no longer just enough to care about your own backyard, we have to look at the global village and take responsibility for what's happening in that village," she says. Portenier remains devoutly Canadian — she has fought hard to resist a British accent — and returns often, particularly to British Columbia. "My Canadian connection is huge, I love Canada … I plan to go back to Canada, but it might just have to wait until I retire."

Doug Alexander is an award-winning In spite of covering horrific issues, journalist who recently returned to Canada after Giselle Portenier has managed to escape the working for four years in Britain and the Middle cynicism that affects many jaded journalists. East. His work has appeared in the Globe and “I’m not a total cynic... I believe journalism Mail, Christian Science Monitor,Vancouver Sun, has made a huge impact.” Geographical magazine and Canada in Europe.

PHOTO CREDIT: BBC MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 13 WRITER’S TOOLBOX BY DON GIBB Get over your fear of math We need to recognize that our general lack of numerical skills is a problem. Reporting that doesn’t challenge numbers in the same way we challenge what people say is unacceptable

o let's get this out of the way now. We're 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678 901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 going to talk about math for journalists for 789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234 Sthe next 1,166 words. 567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 If that makes you queasy,sorry.But many of us 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678 suffer from math phobia — a discomfort with 901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 numbers — and like to hide behind the fact that 789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234 567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 we're pretty good with words.When it's relevant 345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 to our reporting, however, Words minus 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678 901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 Numbers = Shoddy Reporting. And that's a big 789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234 problem. 567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 Most journalists openly admit that part of the 345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678 appeal of the craft was the mistaken belief we 901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 would never again have to worry about math ... 789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234 567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 until, of course, the first time we had to cover a 345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 wage settlement, an assessment appeal board or 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678 the unemployment rate. 901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 789012345678901234567890)123456789012345678901234 Few stories or beats can escape a steady 567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 parade of numbers. The entertainment reporter 345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678 may have to dig deeper into the symphony 901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 orchestra's budget. The sports reporter swims in 789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234Kevin Crowley (pictured on the right) was one of the journalists whose work on a dubious 567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 numbers. And then there's city hall (budgets), 345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890financing scheme for a city sports complex earned The Record, which covers Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo medical/science (risk of disease),politics (polls) 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678region, the 2002 Michener award. Crowley recalls leaving one of his first interviews with John Ford and police (statistics). There is simply no 901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456(pictured on the left, the former city of Waterloo treasurer who helped finance the deal) “with the uneasy 78901234567890 escaping them. And when we try to, we let feeling that city officials had committed generations of taxpayers to a deal they didn’t understand.” readers down and we erode our credibility. Reporters and editors must challenge Journalists need to first set aside the excuse work, so he went in search of expert help — a themselves to become more comfortable that we only work with words. Then we need couple of business professors from area working with numbers. The intent is not to turn to develop a basic (key word: basic) universities. They did the math and the results journalists into mathematicians (an impossible understanding of numbers. Sources are often as showed a huge gap between the stated and task, frankly), but we need to develop an bad at numbers as we are or,depending on their actual long-term interest costs. The stories intuition around numbers that rivals our message, they have their own reasons to earned the newspaper a well-deserved analysis of words. Those we interview can spin interpret them in a more positive or negative Michener award for meritorious reporting. numbers to deceive readers, viewers and way. The message here is to employ the same listeners just as they use jargon and bafflegab to When we regurgitate those numbers without skepticism and intuition with numbers as we blur the message.Journalists take pride in trying questioning them, we do a disservice to our do with words. Be not afraid to ask obvious to break through such language barriers, but we readers. Journalists need to learn when to questions or call an expert. fail to put the same effort into translating and question numbers and, when necessary, go in Understanding how to analyze numbers is an challenging numbers. search of help to interpret them. important journalistic skill, but knowing when We tend to accept numbers as pure, hard facts When The Record in the Kitchener-Waterloo the numbers are the story is an essential first beyond dispute and often: 1) Choose to omit region broke the story on a leasing firm's step. If we know they are important, the next numbers because we don't understand them; 2) complicated and questionable financing of a step is to seek help in translating them — from Throw them all in, hoping no one will question sports complex in the city of Waterloo (please the finance department at our newspaper, radio what they mean; 3) Bury them in quotes, see Media magazine, vol. 9, no. 1), it all began or television station, from a math or business rationalizing that having a person say them gets with good, old-fashioned skepticism by a sharp professor, from an accountant, a newsroom us off the hook; 4) Put them in sidebars and editor. The numbers, she said, looked too good math whiz, a spouse, a neighbour. And then, as charts with the unwritten message, "Hey, you to be true.And even when a reporter figured out with other assignments, check it out with a figure it out." the numbers correctly, he didn't trust his own second source just as The Record did.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 14 PHOTO CREDIT: Mirko Petricevic, Record staff Here's a starting point (some of these items add a math book to our reading list. In A are part of a competency list created by the Mathematician Reads the Newspaper,John Try this quiz Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Allen Paulos says that along with the 5Ws and Petersburg, Florida): H, reporters need to ask: How many? How Here are a few simple number problems likely? What percentage? How does this that made it into print: We need a basic understanding of arithmetic. quantity compare with other quantities? What We need to add,subtract,divide and multiply. rate (in medical, crime or accident stories, we 1) "If the real cost of electricity is roughly Never ask the reader to do the math. often use a rate such as a certain disease or four cents a kilowatt hour, then why are We need to know how to work with illness affecting one in 100,000)? so many signing contracts to buy it at percentages — if only to eliminate our A journalist who was part of a numeracy roughly six cents a kilowatt hour? Why guesswork when we incorrectly resort to skills study at one U.S. newspaper says: "If you are people paying one-third more than loaded words such as "slight" or "huge" can't speak math, you have no business being the actual cost of electricity today?" increase. in journalism because that is much of the ball We need to know the difference between game." A couple of guys called Woodward and 2) The amount of nandrolone found in Bernstein would probably agree after being median (the value in the middle) and mean (Kelly) Guest's system was 3.06 told by Deep Throat to "follow the money." (average) and know when it is better to use nanograms per millilitre, barely over the limit of two. one over the other. In the baseball strike of 1994-95, it was to the owners' advantage to Sources are often 3) The risk of chromosomal abnormality use mean because the number of million- increases as a woman ages, from about dollar-plus contracts translated into a higher as bad at numbers one in 50 at the age of 20 to one in 60 at salary figure. It was to the players' advantage the age of 40. to use median because it showed how many as we are or, players earned well below those million- depending on 4) Canadians now have 33 billion debit dollar salaries. cards, which they used 1.3 billion times We need to analyze and translate numbers for their message, they last year to make $58.5 billion worth of our audience. By themselves, raw numbers purchases. serve little or no purpose.What's the point of have their own saying something has increased by 25 per reasons to interpret Answers: cent if we don't provide people with the relevant figures? EXAMPLE: Fear of the West them in a more 1) This quote was attributed to Ontario Nile virus has led to a 25 per cent increase in Premier Dalton McGuinty when he was the sale of mosquito repellents. This year, the positive or Opposition leader.We can only hope his store has sold 10,000 cans compared to 8,000 negative way. math skills are much improved during at the same time last year. the budget process. To figure out a percentage increase, we need to put the We need to be more diligent in reporting and It is no longer a badge of honour — if it difference (six cents - four cents = two understanding the margin of error in polls ever was one — to say, "I don't do math, I do cents) over the original number (four rather than reporting them as fact. words." cents). Two over four equals a 50 per We need to search for editors and reporters cent increase — not 33.3 per cent (or who are competent in math just as we Don Gibb teaches reporting at Ryerson one-third). embrace those who can untangle a dangling University's School of Journalism. participle or those who speak more than one Occasionally, he wades into the world of 2) Beware of reporters using the words language. numbers, but he's still overcoming his "slightly" or "barely." The words are We need to offer basic training in math just as nervousness around them. often used incorrectly. The amount of we offer workshops on how to write a great nandrolone in triathlete Kelly Guest's lead or how to develop better interviewing system is more than 50 per cent higher skills. Editor's note: Seven valuable books for than the limit — far from "barely" over We need to develop a list of resource people helping journalists overcome mathphobia the limit. are: Numbers in the Newsroom by Sarah on whom we can call for help — just as we Cohen, for Investigative Reporters and would consult our lawyer on libel issues. Find 3) The opposite is true. The risk of Editors, Inc; Precision Journalism: A someone without a vested interest — a chromosomal abnormality decreases as Reporter's Introduction to Social Science a woman ages. No doubt 60 being retired math teacher, professor or accountant th Methods,4 edition, by Philip Meyer; A higher than 50 threw off the reporter. who is on call to translate numbers. Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, We need to recognize that our general lack of by John Allen Paulos (already mentioned in 4) Here's where intuition comes into play. numerical skills is a problem. Reporting that the column); Math Tools for Journalists, by It just doesn't look right, so don't let it doesn't challenge numbers in the same way Kathleen Woodruff Wickham; 200% of go by unchallenged. If the 33-billion we challenge what people say is unacceptable. Nothing, by A.K Dewdney (a Canadian author figure is correct, then every man, and book, no less); News and Numbers, by woman and child in Canada possesses For some reporters and editors, Strunk and Victor Cohn; Overcoming Math Anxiety, by more than 1,000 debit cards. The White offers a once-a-year refresher in the Sheila Tobias; and finally the Web site of correct figure is 33 million. proper use of language. Perhaps it's time to Robert Niles.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 15 ACCESS TO INFORMATION BY ANNE P. K OTHAWALA Your right to know, their duty to tell Access-to-information legislation is hardly a sexy topic. Wait a minute, you’re all journalists, of course it is!

hile it is heartening to see that Prime ground in Canada. Transparency in government requests about Groupaction contracts, going back Minister Paul Martin has talked about a decision-making is a potent weapon against at least four years. W"culture shift" in Ottawa, only his perceived corruption and an important vehicle for Unfortunately,the ATIA is no longer an effective actions will determine whether the culture of government accountability. In a smoothly tool for holding government accountable.Since the secrecy will shift as well. The sponsorship scandal functioning democracy, citizens often delegate at election of the Chrétien government in 1993, the highlights how access to information is the least some of the responsibility for holding Liberals have been systematically chopping away Achilles heel of the prime minister's plan for governments accountable to journalists. This is at the act. It is at the very heart of a culture of democratic renewal. Without substantive certainly true in Canada. Which brings us back to secrecy in Ottawa that has grown out of control. legislative change,the Martin government will not the sponsorship scandal dominating the Central to the principle of transparency in be able to claim victory in its bid to slay the headlines. government is a comprehensive and responsive democratic deficit. The government's response to the growing access-to-information regime. For the access-to- Hailed as progressive and enlightened when controversy has been to call a public inquiry. But information system to be, and be seen as introduced over 20 years ago, Canadian access-to- here's the irony: the public and journalists have promoting transparency, it must be accessible, information (ATI) legislation has not aged well. actually been attempting to make inquiries about easy to navigate and provide timely responses. In Once seen as leading edge,our current "freedom of the sponsorship scandal for several years. How? other words, information delayed or information information" (FOI) laws are outdated, no longer By using the Access to Information Act, a federal obscured is tantamount to information denied. meeting the needs of society in 2004. It's worth law that is supposed to guarantee access to Many government departments now have revisiting those societal needs as we consider long documents held by government agencies. A search sophisticated procedures designed to control overdue reform of our ATI. of the ATIA database maintained by professor requests for information about sensitive topics Transparency in government decision-making, Alasdair Roberts at www.foi.net lists many ATIA such as the sponsorship scandal. Interference particularly in that growing zone where the public from ministerial staff and communications and private sectors overlap, is an important advisors often results in delay and limited measure of our democratic values. Beyond the disclosure. notable exception of the secret ballot,the powerful As well, costs should not be a barrier to public symbol that creates and defeats governments, use of our access-to-information laws. If only secrecy and democracy should not coexist seasoned journalists working for large media comfortably. It is through transparent government outlets can secure information from the decision-making that we limit the lurking shadow government, our FOI laws have failed us. Some in of corruption that has so threatened the legitimacy government have suggested that a truly accessible of ostensibly democratically-elected governments and affordable FOI system would simply cost too around the world. In short, effective access-to- much. That's like saying we should stop holding information laws are critical in holding our elections because they're too costly. While we do governments accountable for their actions, and in expect governments to operate within the bounds some cases, their inaction. of fiscal prudence, operating an accessible and Every year, a respected organization known affordable FOI system is simply one of the non- as Transparency International releases its negotiable costs of democracy. "Corruption Perceptions Index," a global ranking The problems are compounded by the limited of national governments based on how corrupt scope of our FOI laws. For instance, Crown they are perceived to be. Historically, Canada has corporations are at the heart of the sponsorship enjoyed a rather lofty ranking, but a troubling Hailed as progressive scandal, but they aren't even covered by the act. trend has recently emerged. In 2000, Canada What we have is an outdated law that has long ranked fifth in the world behind Finland, and enlightened when since outlived its useful purpose. The Canadian Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden. In 2001 and Newspaper Association has been calling for 2002, Canada had fallen two positions to seventh. introduced over 20 reform since 1998 and commissioned two reports This past year, the 2003 Corruption Perceptions years ago, Canadian pointing out serious inadequacies in the Index revealed that Canada had dropped to 11th legislation. position. To be fair, Canada still ranks very high access-to-information Because of such reports, Ottawa launched a among the 133 nations in the survey, but the review of the ATIA.It established a task force in steady decline in recent years is cause for concern, legislation has not August 2000 and in June 2002, the group reflection and action. delivered its report. The report has since It seems that in the last three years, at least the aged well. gathered dust. (http://www.atirtf-geai.gc.ca/report/ perception of government corruption has gained report1-e.html)

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 16 Crown corporations are at the heart of the sponsorship scandal, Sources_AD but they aren’t even covered by the act... Just that one change could have given journalists a tool to explore the connections between the sponsorship scandal and public A DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT, INDEED: institutions such Shortly before the news of the sponsorship scandal broke, Paul Martin introduced his Action Plan for as the RCMP, Democratic Reform. There was no reference to reforming ATI legislation. How astonishing to even Canada Post have a conversation about democracy and to forget one of the fundamental pillars that makes it work and Via Rail. — the protection of the public’s right to know. One of the recommendations of the task force journalism, where minor indiscretions are unfairly was to extend the Act to Crown corporations and sensationalized. This phenomenon, if it exists at agencies, despite strong lobbying to the contrary. all,is a small price to pay for a system of checks and Just that one change could have given journalists a balances that makes government decision-making tool to explore the possible connections between accessible and transparent. In many cases, from the sponsorship scandal and public institutions the tainted blood scandal to the Somalia affair, FOI such as the RCMP,Canada Post and Via Rail. laws have been used to protect and promote public Shortly before the news of the sponsorship safety and the public interest. That's why we have scandal broke, Paul Martin introduced his Action FOI. Plan for Democratic Reform. There was no The role played by strong freedom-of- reference to reforming ATI legislation. How information laws in ensuring a well-functioning astonishing to even have a conversation about democracy is clear. They are one of the key tools democracy and to forget one of the fundamental journalists, opposition parties and others use to pillars that makes it work — the protection of the hold government accountable. public's right to know. Martin has an opportunity to address the root of More amazing is that hardly anybody noticed. the problem.He should immediately introduce new With no mention of modernizing ATIA legislation, FOI legislation that rewards openness and the prime minister's democratic reform plan is like penalizes secrecy. Transparency must be, and be an automobile safety program that doesn't seen to be, a cornerstone of democracy. Otherwise mention seatbelts. the endemic tight-lipped culture will prevail. So far, the scandal has focused on who got paid This government owes it to Canadians to what and who in government knew about it. demonstrate with action that it has nothing to hide. Instead, the fundamental question should be, This is even more important as election season 'how could something like this happen in a free and approaches. The Canadian Newspaper Association democratic country like Canada?' A big part of the is strongly urging the major political parties to answer lies in the weaknesses of our current address FOI reform in the upcoming campaign. Freedom of Information legislation. In the absence Freedom-of-information reform may not sound of FOI, scandals like the sponsorship program will like an exciting election issue, but it is a barometer never be uncovered and our notionally free press of the state of our democracy. As journalists, we will be reduced to retyping government press owe it to Canadians to hold the government to its releases. promise to end the culture of secrecy. There are those who argue that FOI laws are simply used by the media to practice and perfect Anne P. Kothawala is president and CEO of the what has come to be known as "gotcha" Canadian Newspaper Association.

PHOTO CREDIT: CP/Tom Hanson MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 17 FOREIGN AFFAIRS BY CARRIE BUCHANAN The “great experiment” In the face of imprisonment, censorship, bombings and general intimidation, Zimbabwe’s only independent daily newspaper remains committed to its job: exposing waste and corruption

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, advertising, said Nkomo, whose official title is Canada, and Foreign Affairs provided a warm and to argue freely according to CEO of the Associated Newspapers of welcome at this end.The day after their Carleton conscience, above all liberties Zimbabwe, which owns the Daily News. speech, the team met with Foreign Affairs -John Milton, Areopagitica, 1644 "In the four months we have not been Minister Bill Graham and senior officials in his publishing, the aim of Jonathan Moy department. The week before, they had met (Zimbabwe's Minister of Information) and the officials in U.S. State Department and media anadian journalists were incensed when government was to cripple us financially. And monitoring groups, such as the Committee to police raided the home and offices of they did," Nkomo told his Carleton audience. Protect Journalists. In Toronto, they also met COttawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill on The Daily News,in short,was in desperate with Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Jan. 21, judging the incident as a threat to every need of international support. Yet not one and journalists at the Globe and Mail. one of us, as well as our democratic system. Supporters exist in other countries as well, Stirring defences of free expression rang from particularly in Britain and the Netherlands, said Canadian media outlets. Bill Saidi. "We were invited to the U.S. and Across the world that same day in Zimbabwe, Canada by the governments there — to explain journalists were experiencing another battle for what it was that had caused our problems with press freedom. The country's only independent the government," he explained."Earlier, we were daily newspaper, and the largest in circulation, invited on a similar mission to the U.K. by the had been shut down the previous September by British government. Before that an NGO in the the government of Robert Mugabe, ostensibly Netherlands had invited me to Holland to for operating without the required government- explain the situation to their government and to issued license. The publisher was thrown in jail the press there. Again, there was massive overnight — a not uncommon occurrence for support for the company (Associated Daily News journalists, as media monitoring Newspapers of Zimbabwe) and its newspapers. organizations such as Reporters Without "The promises we have received are for a Borders and the Committee to Protect stepping up of protests and help with training of Journalists have reported in regular bulletins. our journalists. Some offered equipment — Despite all this, Jan. 21 was a day for laptops, tape recorders and things like that. In jubilation at the Daily News. For the first time in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Netherlands, four months, it rolled off the presses in Harare, we spoke to as many newspapers and radio and its press run of 100,000 snapped up eagerly on TV people as we could, spreading the story of Jan. 22. Three weeks later, the Daily News was our struggle against the government. We think still publishing — a miracle of sorts, given its we succeeded in telling it like it is." recent history — when its publisher Samuel As well as Carleton University — where their "… the aim of … the government was to Sipepa Nkomo, along with Sunday editor and public talk was sponsored by the School of cripple us financially. And they did." columnist Bill Saidi, visited Canada and the Journalism and Communication, the Norman — Samuel Sipepa Nkomo United States. Paterson School of International Affairs and the "If we are able to publish for one month," a African Studies Committee — Nkomo and Saidi hopeful Nkomo told a gathering of about 50 member of the Canadian daily media turned up visited York University, where they met with people at the Carleton School of Journalism and to cover the visiting journalists' single public political science professor Richard Saunders, Communication on Feb. 2, "I think we will be appearance in Canada. Threats to press who has studied Zimbabwe's media extensively. able to keep going forever." freedom,it seems,are only news in Ottawa if the "The Daily News is famous across southern That was early February, and within days, a journalists are Canadian. Or perhaps the Africa, and these people have been at it court ruling threatened staff with imprisonment journalists have to be white. (practicing journalism) a long time," said for operating without the required government Nevertheless, the Zimbabwean freedom Saunders in a telephone interview. "The Daily license, and the paper was forced to close again. fighters did receive some significant support News is the great experiment and they made it The Daily News' financial resources were also from Canadians, including Canada's work." being exhausted by round after round of court ambassador in Harare, John Schram. The High The most successful of Zimbabwe's handful of cases without regular revenue from sales and Commission there helped finance the trip to independent newspapers, and the only daily

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 18 among them, the Daily News was founded in police, staff at the Daily News continued to department recommends the independent 1999, and within two years had a healthy gather in the office each morning. When they Zimbabwe news website ZWNEWS.com — circulation of 120,000 — surpassing its chief couldn't work,said Nkomo,they simply prayed. which reprints articles from a variety of more rival, the government-owned Herald, to become On Feb. 24, however, the paper announced or less credible publications — for updates. the country's largest-circulation newspaper. Its that it could no longer keep most of its staff on There is always the possibility that a license reported "pass-around" circulation is 800,000. the payroll: 250 out of 300 were reluctantly laid will be granted and the paper will rise again It's a feisty paper that has dared to criticize the off. from its deathbed. government, pointing out instances of The Daily News was, until recently, But the decision lies with Jonathan Moy, the "corruption and graft and excess, which had Zimbabwe's leading newspaper, admired by Mugabe government's Minister of Information. reduced ordinary Zimbabweans to destitutes," many at home and abroad, says Saunders, who He's the one responsible for most of the Daily said Nkomo, his voice rising in the cadences of a encountered Saidi and Nkomo several years News' current troubles,says Saunders."He's the natural preacher. ago, when he worked as a journalist there and key strategist. He's calling the shots." And he's Four days after their brave words of hope in co-produced a documentary film on using the licensing requirement as a tactic for Ottawa, however, the great experiment stopped Zimbabwe's media. suppressing dissent, adds Saunders. working. A court decision on Feb. 5, this time Even in its current sorry state, Saunders Another Moy strategy has been to bar favouring the Mugabe government and its law said, the Daily News is still a beacon of hope in foreign journalists from practising in requiring annual licensing of all media and Zimbabwe's time of darkness, as Mugabe turns Zimbabwe, unless they get a special visa from individual journalists, upheld the right of the 80 with his grip still fiercely on the presidency the Zimbabwean embassy in their own country. government to refuse the Daily News a license, and the country tumbling into economic and These are rarely issued. However, if a Canadian despite a court order in October ordering one social chaos. At the paper's most recent court delegation of journalists were to request to be issued. This ruling came despite a appearance, on March 3, its lawyers again permission to go to Zimbabwe on a fact- constitutional guarantee of free expression. finding mission, the government might not The Committee to Protect Journalists, in a want to risk the international shame of saying press release on the day's events, said the no, says Saunders. legislation "allows the government to decide The Daily News' Bill Saidi hopes foreign who can be a journalist and criminalizes the media will continue to cover their struggle for practice of the profession by those who are not freedom of speech. He said foreign attention approved by the government." will help to put pressure on Zimbabwe's Licensing has long been known as an affront government and its courts to uphold the to free expression. Indeed, the most eloquent constitutional guarantee of freedom of defence of free expression in the English expression, said Saidi in a recent e-mail. language — John Milton's Areopagitica — was "We think as long as the story of the Daily penned in opposition to exactly such a News,the Daily News on Sunday and ANZ is on licensing scheme enacted in England by the the front pages or even the inside pages of the Long Parliament of 1643. major newspapers in the world, there is a "Though all the winds of doctrine were let chance of us returning to the streets." loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the Meanwhile, on the Daily News' South field, we do injuriously by licensing and African-based Web site, the same unchanging prohibiting to misdoubt her strength," Milton stories published in its last edition on Feb. 5 wrote in that famous essay. "Let her and stand as mute testimony to the situation. Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to Though the date on the page changes the worse in a free and fair encounter?" automatically, so it appears to have been In our own history, Canadians revere rebel updated, click on any of the stories to see the journalists such as William Lyon Mackenzie date it was posted. As of this writing, all were and Joseph Howe, whose reform-minded dated Feb. 5 or earlier. I for one will be making newspapers met with similar state opposition a periodic checks at www.dailynews.co.za for in the tempestuous 1820s and 1830s. “In the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the signs of renewed life. Harassment and intimidation have been Netherlands, we spoke to as many newspapers ongoing facts of life for Daily News journalists. and radio and TV people as we could, spreading Carrie Buchanan is a doctoral student and "Our offices have been bombed to the story of our struggle against the government. sessional lecturer at Carleton University's School smithereens," said Saidi. The Committee to We think we succeeded in telling it like it is.” of Journalism and Communication. She worked Protect Journalists reports three bombings at — Bill Saidi for many years as a journalist, primarily at the the Daily News since 2001, when first the Ottawa Citizen. presses and later the offices were attacked. presented arguments that the licensing law Fortunately, no staff members were killed. But violated constitutional guarantees of free Editor's note: For those interested in a long list of staffers, from the publisher and expression. But this time, the rebel newspaper finding out more about the situation at the editor-in-chief to novice reporters on had submitted an official request for a license, Daily News, you can contact Nkomo and Saidi assignment,have been jailed,detained, which was not granted. The Daily News had by e-mail. A few words of support from people harassed and in one instance tortured for previously refused to do this, deeming the overseas mean a great deal, said Nkomo, whose exercising their constitutional right to free whole exercise unconstitutional,but February's addresses are [email protected] and expression. court decision nixed that argument. [email protected] while Saidi's is For most of the past several months, with At press time, no ruling on the March appeal [email protected]. The newspaper's Web their presses shut down and guarded by armed had been issued. Canada's Foreign Affairs site is: www.dailynews.co.za

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 19 DIARY Road pirates, strange men, Iraqi tea and winning a bet Rym Tina Ghazal's four-week trip to Iraq began as a response to a dare over MSN Messenger. "I wanted to prove to myself that I had it in me to take on Iraq," she recalls. "Many talk about being foreign correspondents, but do we all have it within us?" Now looking back from the safer confines of Ottawa, she attempts to figure out if she had what it took

DEC. 16, 2003: OTTAWA AND MSN

ored. I am sitting at my computer reading some online papers pertaining to my Bmaster's project on dual citizenship in Canada. I have just 10 pages worth of research done on a project that has to be finished in order to complete my masters degree at Carleton University's School of Journalism. CBC-TV's The National is playing in the background. Half listening to reports on Iraq as I type away on my computer, I can't help but think: "I want to go there and see for myself what it is like in Iraq." I still remember my days as a child in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War and watching the news and feeling half satisfied with the reports. "How come they don't talk to the kids?" I used to complain. For instance, schools were shut down for a long period and so our school curriculum was cut in half. I recall losing a whole chapter on trigonometry and feeling annoyed as our teacher instructed us to put a big X across that chapter in our books. I get distracted by the snow piling up against my balcony's window. Beep. I get an MSN message from a colleague currently in Iraq working for CNN. "How are you?" he asks. WHAT AM I DOING HERE? “Don’t worry, I transport all kinds of people from Amman to "I am bored. You are so lucky to be in Iraq," I Baghdad and back,”Hatem (pictured above) tells me in Arabic... The only thing we need to worry reply. about are road pirates, but I am ready for them,”he says as he shows me his gun. "Then why don't you just come here? Get off your lazy ass and come.You know this region and I have experienced crazy "adventures" before, I knew some Iraqis in Ottawa who had families the language. What is stopping you?" he writes, such as going across Canada and driving through in Baghdad. They wouldn't mind my staying with ending his message with a smiling emoticon. the desert in Arabia equipped only with my them if anything should go wrong. I think for a moment. camera and curiosity.It is also my hope to become I also plan to stay a couple of days at the "Well, can just anyone go there? Isn't it a foreign correspondent one day, so getting to infamous Palestine Hotel, as most of the western dangerous?" I ask. know Iraq is critical. media reside there. The next day, I call my "The borders are open and you don't need a "OK, I am coming." supervisor, Allan Thompson, a former visa. It is dangerous but that shouldn't be And that was it. Parliamentary correspondent for the Toronto Star anything new to you.You can help out with some My colleague would arrange someone to take who now teaches journalism at Carleton of the stories here and get paid for it." me from Amman,Jordan,to Baghdad,and the rest University. I tell him I changed my master’s is up to me. research paper.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 20 PHOTO CREDITS: Rym Tina Ghazal "It will be on Iraq, particularly the local Iraqi media and how they are being reborn." Thompson tells me to "go for it," and wishes me luck.

DEC. 24, 2003: AT THE BORDER

n Christmas Eve, I am on the plane to Amman, Jordan, leaving behind angry Ophone calls from my father and mother who are against this "dangerous and stupid" trip to Baghdad. "Why?" My dad kept asking me. "Dad, this is what I like to do. I want to look for the neglected stories. I want to grow as a journalist." "You can't grow if you get killed," were my dad's last words; they haunt me as I arrive in Amman. A friend meets me at the airport and gives me a quick tour of Amman. My colleague has arranged a "driver" to Baghdad by the name of Hatem, whom I am to meet by 2 a.m. He arrives with Saber, the man driving the white GMC. Curtains cover the car's back windows. The men are wearing head cloths around their necks with the traditional Jordanian red-and-white colours.I head towards the vehicle. My friend worries as I climb into the strange men’s car, asking me if I should be doing this. After all, "who are they?" "I have no idea," I reply.But I am sure my friend in Iraq who works for CNN and who dared me to visit, wouldn't send bad men. Right? I keep my knapsack near me,as my whole life is in it, including video camera, minidisc player, microphone, camera, Walkman, passports, a prayer book, teddy bear, four pens and a notebook, a change of underwear and clothing (just in case mine get dirty or I get stranded somewhere). Awkward silence in the car looms as the hours BORDER PATROL: At the border, without exaggeration, there are so many cars pass and the scenery remains the same — dark they resemble a giant beehive. Some have no license plates. nothingness. It would be eight hours to Baghdad. I try to break the ice: "So how is the weather in name it, everything and anyone can go now to "What is this? How come I never heard about Baghdad?" Iraq," he says. this place?" I ask. Hatem and the driver laugh. Ice broken. "If people want peace in Iraq, you would think "Journalists are not allowed here, and they "Don't worry, I transport all kinds of people they would start controlling the borders," I don't seem interested anyway," Hatem answers from Amman to Baghdad and back," Hatem tells respond with some frustration. dismissively. He warns me against taking a photo me in Arabic. Hatem seems to be a man of many or taping,as they will be taken away.I get annoyed I sit in the back holding on to the front seat connections, for somehow he's able to bypass and make a promise to myself that one day I will trying to balance myself against the bumpy roads. hundreds of cars and get me through to the other be back with the support of some major news "Only thing we need to worry about are road side in an hour. network to tell the refugees' stories. pirates, but I am ready for them," he says as he I notice a vandalized picture of Saddam As we drive on,I see power stations down.They shows me his gun. Hussein on the gateway to Iraq, standing in great look like broken branches. And there are miles What am I doing here?, I think to myself. I have contrast to the glorified and well-maintained and miles of desert. But unlike the one in Saudi doubts about my decision. pictures of former and current King of Jordan on Arabia, this one seems to have a mood. It looks It is daylight as we arrive at the border between the Jordanian gateway. History is captured in filthy and feels uneasy. Jordan and Iraq. At the border, without these three larger-than-life-size murals of the "Welcome to Iraq," laughs Hatem. exaggeration, there are so many cars they Arab leaders. I remain quiet, looking ahead as I start video resemble a giant beehive. Some have no license We pass through what Hatem calls "no man's taping. I had promised Iraqis back in Canada to plates. land," tents set up with refugees who are document my trip for them. "Black market," says Hatem as he watches me "unwelcome" in Iraq and Jordan. Among the blue take photos of the cars. "Smugglers, psychos, you tents, children in rags kick a soccer ball. Continued on Page 22

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 21 Continued from Pg. 21 Hatem accompanies me to the restaurant near that is about to get devoured. Road pirates, strange men, Iraqi tea... the gas station for my safety because I stand out, "Who are you?" asks one man in broken being the only female on the road. He waits English. And, oh yeah, "Merry Christmas," I announce, outside the restaurant as I enter the "traditional" I ignore him. Others laugh and mumble to no one in particular. washroom, which consists of a hole in the floor. shameful things I won't repeat out of respect for Men are so lucky; it is always so easy for them. myself. A gunshot goes off, the men scatter like I go about my business and get out of the flies. Hatem is pointing his gun to the sky. DEC. 25, 2003: I BECAME restaurant. There is no trace of Hatem or Saber, "Let’s go," he tells me.We quickly climb into the CHRISTMAS DINNER our driver. I notice a crowd of men who follow me car. "It is not safe for women here," warns Hatem. as I walk back to the car.I stand by it, waiting for "A lot get kidnapped." n the way to Baghdad, we stop at a gas Hatem or Saber. "Why did you leave me?" I ask. station packed with lines of cars. I have to Where are they? He doesn't answer. Ogo to the bathroom. The men come closer. I'm surrounded. Some of "There is no Benzeen in Iraq," says Hatem. the men are wearing traditional clothing with No gas in Iraq? their faces covered. I feel like a piece of fresh meat THE KID AND ME

oldiers are everywhere, navigating the congested streets of Baghdad in tanks and Strucks protected with heavy weaponry. Americans know how to clear a crowd. A clear signal that an American military car, tank or anything American is close by is the reaction of other cars: they lag way behind.American soldiers are targets. So no one takes chances. I chat with many soldiers, mostly men, from the United States and Poland, my mother's country of birth. Generally, they are friendly and helpful. I become lost in the so-called Green Zone. It is a bit complicated to explain, but the Green Zone is basically the coalition force's main base. It is where Saddam's castle is, as well as other important sites. The most important area is where government officials meet, and it is well guarded. A few American soldiers laugh and jog back with me from the Green Zone to the right location, singing Broadway songs along the way. But the soldiers do treat the locals differently, with more authority and roughness.Hundreds of people line up every morning from dawn till dusk at the front gate of the Green Zone, waiting to be heard by the so-called coalition forces. The people in those lines recount stories of suffering, pain and anger. I meet a woman who took in five orphans from the streets. She shows me pictures of skeletal children. I also meet a badly scarred Iraqi ex-soldier, a blind boy and a one-armed young woman. They all claim to have been injured by the coalition forces as innocent bystanders. Journalists are not allowed to report from the Green Zone. So I can't tape or record any of the stories. Instead, I just stand and listen. But these are the obvious stories; there are also others that aren't so obvious. There's a soldier stationed near the Palestine hotel, whom I fondly called "the kid." I will always remember him. He was young and sweet and in the most dangerous location. One day I chat with him. He tells me he likes THE KID AND ME: I will always remember him. He was young and sweet and in the most video games.The kid reminds me of my 14-year- dangerous location. One day I chat with him. He tells me he likes video games... I wonder how old brother. He, too, likes video games and is he is doing now, the “kid” who is stuck doing, well, a man’s job? safely home in Canada.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 22 BEING A GIRL: Being a girl in Iraq got me into many places I knew others had difficulty getting into….Being a girl also had its disadvantages. I even got locked in once by a shop owner who pretended he heard something outside and "wanted me to be safe." I picked up the most expensive thing I could see in the shop and threatened to break it against the THE RISKY BUSINESS OF NEWSPAPERING IN IRAQ: There was one day I was heading towards the window. It worked. The shop owner quickly Al-Sabah newspaper... Just minutes before I arrived, someone in a passing car fired shots at its office, killing a unlocked the door. security guard and injuring innocent bystanders.

Snap. I take a photo with him. I wonder how I can't believe I did something like that,but then Now I understand why newspapers here have he is doing now, the "kid" who is stuck doing, again, what else could I do? security guards with guns. well, a man's job? I felt that I was viewed as either a delicate flower Another time I ended up at some Iraqi Mafia that needed protection or a sex-object in need of a leader's house — by mistake — thinking his different kind of attention. house was that of a renowned retired journalist. BEING A GIRL! As if it wasn't enough that I couldn't sleep Here's the short version of the story: properly due to surprise visits from American I was set free — after being locked up in a eing a girl in Iraq got me into many places helicopters and subsequent shaking walls or luxurious living room for two hours — as I "was I knew others had difficulty getting into. bomb explosions. cute," according to the self-proclaimed Godfather. BFor example, I had no trouble going in and He made one of his thugs escort me out to the out of the Green Zone while other journalists right address, but only after I had tea with the called ahead and stood in lines. I respected the RISKY MOMENTS: NEWSPAPERS Godfather. soldiers and they seemed to have respected and AND MAFIA LEADERS The journalist lived a block down and had a trusted me. Or was it the fact I was single and blast laughing at my good, or bad fortune. It from Montreal? n this day I head towards the Al-Sabah depends on how you look at it. I was told the Being a girl also had its disadvantages. I newspaper. The United States used to give Godfather — whom I literally walked into — was remember the dirty and degrading comments Othe publication money. Now it's very dangerous. from passers-by, such as "Can I frisk you?" for independent, and still struggling to gain The journalist said that I must have had "a security reasons. I even got locked in once by a credibility among the locals. guardian angel" for no one "just walks out of that shop owner who pretended he heard something Just minutes before I arrive, someone in a place." Or it could have been the chain of prayer outside and "wanted me to be safe." I picked up passing car fired shots at its office, killing a beads that I bought from a local store that the most expensive thing I could see in the shop security guard and injuring innocent bystanders. protected me that day.Who knows? and threatened to break it against the window. It I remember looking at the bullet holes in the worked. The shop owner quickly unlocked the walls and getting an eerie feeling the longer I door. stood there. Continued on Page 24 MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 23 Continued from Pg. 23 Road pirates, strange men, Iraqi tea...

STREETS: THE SMELL OF BAGHDAD AND NEGLECTED RIVERS OF BLOOD

can never forget the smell of Baghdad. It's just like smelling an old book saturated Iwith stains from the past. The city's smells carry with them the stories of numerous rivers of blood from the streets, which have become such a common feature that people walk by nonchalantly. Snap, I take a photo of such a river. The WHAT YOU DON'T SEE IN THIS PICTURE: I take this photo in front of the hall where hospitals have their own smell of rot and death. a major New Year’s Eve party is being held, mainly attended by Western media and staff…. It's midnight. People dance and drink… I see two Iraqi girls belly dancing in the middle of the room. They are full of agonizing children, unclaimed They're wearing almost see-through nightgowns. They look so young. I ask one of them her age. and struggling with gunshot wounds. The "Fifteen," she whispers to me… I'm about to snap a photograph of this scene when the older man media aren't allowed in the hospitals, and there approaches me surreptitiously and tells me firmly, no photos! is a good reason for it. They might just discover that the hospital is really butchery in disguise. shaking her somewhat flat chest in rhythmic and still made it back home without a scratch. synchrony to the blaring music. My dad is pleased. I notice an older man observing my every move. "No more dangerous adventures like these, OK?" he NEW YEAR'S EVE: WESTERN He looks like a pimp out of a movie with his over- tells me over the phone. MEDIA, HOTELS AND A DIFFERENT dressed navy suit and beige leather shoes. I'm about We shall see. KIND OF BOMB to snap a photograph of this scene when the older man I now trust my instincts more and make the most of approaches me surreptitiously and tells me firmly, no unplanned circumstances. I also never knew how nap.I take this photo in front of the hall where photos! impulsive my curiosity was before my trip to Iraq. I a major New Year’s party is being held, mainly "Why not?" I ask. would catch myself observing and listening carefully a Sattended by Western media and staff. I have a "You have to pay me," he responds, smiling. lot more than usual, even when I thought I had an hard time smiling, but I take this photo as a "Are they prostitutes?" I ask bluntly, feeling shock at answer to my question. reminder of what I witness in the room right across my own question. My advice to anyone going to Iraq: be patient,have a from where I am standing. "They can be whatever you want, depends on how sense of humour and expect the unexpected. The New Year's Eve party is being held in a much you pay," he tells me before leaving casually. I think now I feel more confident asking hard magnificent hall, carefully decorated with balloons. questions, not only of the people I meet, but also of A DJ plays songs by the Bee Gees, Britney Spears myself.I know what I can and cannot do as a journalist and some popular Arabic groups. Alcoholic CONCLUSION: THERE ISN'T A and more importantly as a human being. I realize I beverages from champagne to beer served by local CONCLUSION can't change the world and make it a better place as I waiters fill a row of tables. have vowed to do many times as a journalist, but I can want to go back to Baghdad.There are many streets at least try and keep trying. It's midnight. People dance and drink. I stand I didn't visit and others I just passed by where I am I owe a lot of thanks to all the people I met on the and watch while I drink straight from a bottle of sure many stories reside untold. I want to visit the way to Iraq and on the way back. I can't believe I had water. The room shakes with music. I see two Iraqi I rest of Iraq, too, and learn more about the country's the great fortune and honour of being trusted with girls belly dancing in the middle of the room. people and their lives. their tales, lives and secrets. It is funny, in the end, They're wearing almost see-through nightgowns. I have learned a lot about myself. I look back and names didn't matter, for most of them just called me They look so young. I ask one of them her age. laugh at how I ate fly-infested falafels, befriended the Canadian, or "Al-Kanadeya" as I carried a handbag "Fifteen," she whispers to me as she dances important politicians like Adnan Pachachi and dodged with "Canada" printed on it. It became my good luck provocatively closer to me, twisting her waist and stray bullets from kids playing with guns in the streets charm and my second ID in Iraq, after my passport, of course. MOUNT ROYAL COLLEGE’S CENTRE FOR COMMUNICATION STUDIES After a while, security guards and other officials stopped asking me for my passport, they just looked at Excellence in Journalism my bag and waved me in. That was a nice feeling. I felt education for over 30 years. respected, at least by the soldiers and officials. I also think I won the dare with my friend from For information on the program, CNN. visit: www.mtroyal.ca/communicationstudies For information on hiring students and graduates, Rym Tina Ghazal is completing her master’s of visit: www.mtroyal.ca/careerservices journalism degree at Carleton University and hopes to become a foreign correspondent. She speaks English, Arabic, Polish and French. Ghazal is also brushing up on Mount Royal College 4825 Richard Road SW her German and is learning Spanish. She has an Calgary, AB T3E 6K6 undergraduate degree in psychology and economics.

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 24 FEATURE BY KIM KIERANS A new and powerful kid on the block In less than a year and a half, Transcontinental has gone from having no presence in Atlantic Canada to being omnipresent

ere we grow," boasted the front-page headline in the Halifax Daily News in “HNovember 2003. Its parent company, Montreal-based Transcontinental Inc., was Here in Canada, moving into Atlantic Canada in a big way. It was shedding another layer from its image of "the Transcontinental is most illustrious unknown" with its offer to buy now the second-largest Optipress, a chain of 25 weekly newspapers with assorted trade magazines and nine printing community newspaper plants in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. This $56 million purchase makes owner, behind Sun Transcontinental the largest printer and community newspaper publisher in the Atlantic Media, with more than provinces — not bad for a newcomer. Transcontinental made its debut in the region in 135 local and regional August 2002 when it picked up 10 daily newspapers in every newspapers, two weeklies, 32 related publications and printing plants in the four Atlantic provinces province except Alberta and Saskatchewan from CanWest for $255 million.That was just the beginning of the buying and B.C. spree in Atlantic Canada. At 63, Rémi Marcoux, a chartered accountant, retired Last spring Transcontinental snapped up the as the chief executive of G.T.C. Transcontinental Group. Amherst Daily News and its two sister weeklies. This fall it added the Optipress chain. The results Marcoux. Préfontaine calls his boss a visionary printer of newspapers, advertising flyers, books are astounding. In less than a year and a half, with a knack for transforming bad situations into and direct marketing mail in Canada. It delivers Transcontinental has gone from having no good.Préfontaine points to the Quebec newspaper some 60 million advertising flyers for grocery presence in Atlantic Canada to being strike of 1978. Marcoux was printing advertising stores and retail outlets into homes coast to coast. omnipresent. It owns both dailies and almost all flyers for the broadsheets until the strike."It was a It prints some regional editions of the National the weekly newspapers in Newfoundland. It has life-threatening situation for the business," says Post and Globe and Mail and books, such as the the two dailies in P.E.I. In Nova Scotia it owns 10 Préfontaine. "Rémi turned it around. He set up an North American edition of Harry Potter.It also weeklies and five dailies, leaving the Halifax alternative flyer distribution network from owns and publishes more than 40 trade and other Chronicle Herald as the last surviving scratch. As a result, Transcontinental has 85 per magazines in French and English, including The independent daily in Canada. The print scene in cent of the flyer market share in Quebec." Hockey News, TV Guide, Canadian Living and New Brunswick remains firmly under Irving Marcoux's action during the newspaper strike Coup du Pouce. control, with Transcontinental owning just one did not win him any friends within the labour Financially, Marcoux weathered the economic weekly newspaper. movement, but the episode did not stunt storms of the past 25 years by holding a steady This growing media corporation is the creation Transcontinental's growth."He sees things other course. He didn't expand too quickly or of Rémi Marcoux,a self-made man from the Beauce people don't see," says Préfontaine, and points to accumulate high debt. Shareholders are reaping region of Quebec. At 63, Marcoux, a chartered Transcontinental's printing presence in Mexico. the benefits. In 2002 Transcontinental accountant,retired as the chief executive of G.T.C. Préfontaine says Marcoux recognized the country outperformed the industry. It reported a profit of Transcontinental Group. He's the executive was like Canada some 40 or 50 years ago with a $143 million (a 15 per cent increase over the chairman and retains his controlling interest in middle class starting to take root. Now previous year) on revenue of $1.9 billion (a seven- the corporation. Marcoux started in 1976 with a Transcontinental is the largest printer in Mexico per cent increase over the previous year).With the small bankrupt printing plant and 30 employees with three presses. purchases of CanWest papers, the Optipress chain in St. Laurent, a suburb of Montreal. He grew his Here in Canada, Transcontinental is now the and CC3, a direct marketing company in the U.S., company into an international empire,with about second-largest community newspaper owner, Marcoux predicts Transcontinental revenues will 13,000 employees in Canada, the United States behind Sun Media, with more than 135 local and hit a record $2.2 billion this year. and Mexico. About 70 per cent of the company's regional newspapers in every province except Marcoux says the values his father, a merchant media revenues now come from outside Quebec. Alberta and B.C. who died young, instilled in him are at the root Trancontinental's president of media, André Transcontinental owns not only the papers, but Préfontaine, doesn't hide his admiration for the presses too. It's now the largest commercial Continued on Page 26

PHOTO CREDIT: Transcontinental MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 25 Continued from Pg. 25 parliamentary correspondent up through the papers up with centralized stories that come from A new and powerful kid on the block ranks to vice-president of marketing in Toronto. elsewhere, would break the bond of trust between The challenge of rescuing Le Droit,a nearly the paper and the community," says Préfontaine. bankrupt French-language newspaper in Ottawa, Transcontinental doesn't have a record of of all his success. Those values drive lured Préfontaine back into print. From that interfering with local editorial decisions and it Transcontinental's corporate culture. "They success he gained the reputation of helping papers appears to take constructive criticism much include openness and simplicity in dealing with in trouble. In 1990, he moved to the Southam better than some other newspaper publishers. My others, solidarity with our partners and the chain where he was operations manager at The colleague Stephen Kimber has already tested the communities in which we operate, customer Whig-Standard in Kingston and then president waters. In a column in The Daily News,Kimber satisfaction and the importance of and publisher of The Windsor Star.He joined criticized the Halifax paper for its congratulatory communication," Marcoux told business leaders Quebecor in 1994 to be vice-president of its daily front-page story about Transcontinental's in the Beauce. newspapers. In 1996, he left to become president acquisition of the Optipress chain. He asked why Marcoux's other inspiration comes from his the story didn't address legitimate questions former boss at Quebecor, Pierre Peladeau, who about media concentration in the region and he showed him "that it was possible for French urged The Daily News to be forthcoming about speakers to build large companies." Marcoux All across the country such questions. What a difference the change of worked for Quebecor for seven years, rising to we see media owner makes. In January 2002, Kimber vice-president of operations, before leaving in questioned editorial policies of the Aspers, the 1975 to start his own business. conglomerates that then-owners of The Daily News.His column was Marcoux has run Transcontinental spiked and he quit writing for CanWest conservatively, expanding in clusters and always have monopolies on newspapers. This time around, The Daily News in printing,publishing and distribution,its area of published Kimber's column, a sign that the editor expertise — the CanWest newspapers and information and ideas has the freedom to include diverse opinions. Optipress chain are just two examples. Company in a community, region There is, however, a limit to that freedom in officials were quick to quash rumors circulating each newspaper as Bretton Loney,former editor of earlier this year that Transcontinental was eyeing and even province. In The Daily News, found out. Last fall the company the Globe and Mail. They said it just didn't fit stepped in and replaced Loney with Jane Purves with the company's other publishing holdings. the print world we have — a smart and feisty former managing editor of Nor do radio or television stations or the rival Halifax Chronicle Herald and defeated telecommunications companies.Transcontinental the Irvings in New Tory MLA and former cabinet minister. Loney is was one of the few media companies that refused Brunswick. Now still at the paper as a columnist. to hop on the convergence bandwagon. The Préfontaine insists the editorial change had company grew not in print isolation, but by Transcontinental owns nothing to do with circulation or revenues. "We forming partnerships with broadcast media and were not dissatisfied with what was going on," he Internet providers. That way, Transcontinental both dailies and all says. "We are just fixated on our goal. We are could cross-promote its products without having committed to making this paper No1 in HRM and to "own the pipes" or buy the station. but a few weeklies in we will do what it takes to achieve that goal. For Marcoux, "the next battle won't be that of "We felt that Jane would bring us farther along the Net versus traditional media, but rather the Newfoundland and faster to where we want to be in our long-term battle to keep customers loyal." Transcontinental Labrador. That strategy for the Daily News." believes it's well-equipped to win that battle on all Transcontinental sells itself as a good corporate fronts: customers, shareholders, employees and concentration of citizen, providing communities with local news communities. coverage free of editorial interference from head His general leading that battle is Préfontaine. ownership limits the office in Montreal and that's a fine thing.Big is not As president of Transcontinental Media, necessarily bad. What is bad is when media Préfontaine has been at the helm of the company's number of points of concentration dries up choices at the local biggest acquisitions. "We were looking at ways to view readers get at newsstand. This concentration means a company become a national publishing group," he says.The has a monopoly on information and ideas without big break was in 2000, with the $125-million the newsstand. competition from another newspaper in town. purchase of the Telemedia group of consumer The other side of media concentration is an magazines which, "propelled us to the national economic monopoly where one company owns scene." The purchase of the CanWest newspapers of Transcontinental's publishing division and the printing presses. and the Optipress chain followed. moved to Transcontinental Media in 2000. All across the country we see media Préfontaine is an almost ecclesiastical figure, At every acquisition, Préfontaine has promised conglomerates that have monopolies on tall, slim with silver hair and enormously self- that Transcontinental will follow a policy of "strict information and ideas in a community, region assured. He travels across the country from non-interference in the editorial operations of its and even province. In the print world we have the acquisition to acquisition like a papal emissary papers." This is a relief to reporters and editors at Irvings in New Brunswick. Now Transcontinental overseeing Rémi Marcoux's grand design in former CanWest newspapers. You won't find owns both dailies and all but a few weeklies in publishing. Préfontaine brings a 32-year career national editorials or edicts from head office in Newfoundland and Labrador. That concentration that spans all sides of the business. Montreal. Transcontinental is big on local and of ownership limits the number of points of view He started as a reporter with La Tribune in community.One per cent of the company's profits readers get at the newsstand. Transcontinental Sherbrooke, Quebec. After five years, he joined goes to community events and causes. After may produce a solid newspaper (and, in many Presse Canadienne, the French version of Hurricane Juan, $40,000 in profits from a communities, it does), but when it's the only one Canadian Press, where he moved from magazine went into relief effort. "To try to fill the for sale,that' a problem.It limits people's access to MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 26 Standing Senate Committee on Transport promises "more work than before" as and Communications into media interests regional plants begin printing national last October. flyers. Fewer people own the papers. Fewer This is all fodder for the Senate committee people also have control over the printing on the media when it comes to Atlantic presses. In the past, people who didn't like Canada sometime this year. Unfortunately, what they were reading started their own there's not much the esteemed senators can paper. But these days that's difficult, if not say or do about the Transcontinental deal. impossible, especially when the competition It's done, and most of the changes will be in owns the presses and has the so-called place. "We do it in increments, we digest what "synergies" when it comes to advertising we have done, we integrate it, and then we rates. Where can a dissenting voice find move on," Préfontaine explains. The next another press? How can it offer advertisers horizon? He says Transcontinental has room competitive rates? Even advertisers may find to grow, especially out west. themselves hostage to rising rates in a one- paper town. Transcontinental has promised Kim Kierans is the director of the School of As president of Transcontinental Media, that it will not be increasing rates in Atlantic Journalism at the University of King's College André Préfontaine has been at the helm of the Canada. in Halifax. company’s biggest acquisitions.“We were looking Transcontinental expects to save as much at ways to become a national publishing group,” as $4 million after it harmonizes operations Editor's note: On Thursday, March 25, he says. in Atlantic Canada. days after Rémi Marcoux stepped down as democratic debate and the choice to read The Optipress papers are moneymakers, the company's chief executive, Trans- different points of view. so it's unclear how and if Transcontinental continental Media announced it was closing Predictably, Transcontinental doesn't share will fiddle with them. On the printing side, two printing plants in Yarmouth and New that view. "In our opinion, having diverse and Prefontaine says, "there's some substance to Minas, Nova Scotia. Ninety-three people will multiple sources of information in the era of being concerned" about what will happen. lose their jobs — 70 in Yarmouth and 13 in the Internet and the proliferation of specialty Transcontinental will integrate the money- New Minas. The company will offer jobs to 50 TV channels is one of the best ways to losing Optipress printing operations into its employees at its new plant near Halifax guarantee the public's right to free and two existing plants in the region. Prefontaine where it prints the Globe and Mail and quality information," Préfontaine told the says some equipment will move, but he Halifax Daily News.

OPSEU Ad repeated

PHOTO CREDIT: Transcontinental MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 27 FEATURE BY PAUL BENEDETTI Exposing quacks Media outlets run too many uncritical stories about miracle cures

n the last few months I've clipped stories out toxic waste and need periodic "purification" is BUT THEY LIKE IT of some of Canada's largest newspapers and an idea that was discarded by scientific Editors know that Canadians are interested Imagazines on unproven, disproven and just medicine about a century ago. All of this (in no small part, because they hear about it in plain silly therapies and products. They include information — including full-text studies — is the media) in alternative medicine and fringe articles on: Essiac, the anti-cancer herbal drink available online, only a Google search and a few science topics such as UFO, parapsychology and invented by a Canadian nurse; the benefits of keystrokes away. paranormal phenomena. Canadians spend craniosacral therapy — a technique where the The problem is not information, but rather approximately $3.8 billion on alternative health fused plates in your skull are supposedly moved attitude and approach. I would suggest there are care a year. Media outlets must cater to their around to help "balance" the rhythm of your a number of reasons why uncritical and audiences, and taking a nonjudgmental cerebrospinal fluid; the wonders of acupuncture approach seems a safe bet. Telling people facelifts; and the benefits of a thorough bowel regularly that they have stupid ideas and are cleansing to remove the toxins from your body. wasting their money is probably not good for The stories were, without exception, largely One of the jobs of a business. At smaller papers or in specialty uncritical. Some did not contain a single magazines, there may also be some fear of criticism or challenge to the ideas promoted by journalist is to inform offending advertisers. the alternative medicine practitioners, and others included a halfhearted sentence or two to the public, to provide WHO KNOWS FROM SCIENCE? the effect that the therapy is not acknowledged information to people Many reporters (myself included) ran or accepted by the mainstream medical or screaming from high school algebra and scientific community. so that they can make calculus classes and considered chemistry and Readers, viewers, listeners and reporters physics courses only slightly less enjoyable than might well ask: What's going on here? As informed decisions as the stomach flu. Though some journalism journalists, we pride ourselves on our schools offer a course in science or medical skepticism, our critical thinking skills and our citizens and consumers. reporting, it is seldom, if ever, compulsory. The vigorous pursuit of the truth. We question Pseudoscience and result? A lot of journalists are no more literate in statements by politicians, police, government the sciences than most people. With the officials and corporate spokespersons. We quackery flourish exception of full-time science and medicine double-check claims made by most people we reporters — who seldom write the "soft" stories interview. partly because the media anyway — most reporters have spotty scientific We work hard to get multiple sources on knowledge, and know almost nothing about the stories and we seek out other points of view to convey misinformation scientific method and the nature of evidence. provide balance and fairness in the stories we to people every day. For example, a 1990 poll of managing editors of write.And that's as it should be. American daily newspapers by Professor When people make claims that crime rates Michael Zimmerman of Oberlin College in Ohio are down or that shareholder value is up, we found that about half of the editors were not demand evidence — reports, studies and sure whether dinosaurs and humans lived on statistics — before we run with a story that misleading stories like these are regularly earth at the same time and at least 30 per cent contains controversial information. published or broadcast by the mainstream thought the earth might only be six to 20 So why should it be any different when we media. thousand years old. (It's between four and five tackle stories involving alternative health claims billion years old). If most reporters don't and other science and pseudo-scientific topics? THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE understand the nature of evidence, the Too often, it seems, we toss out the regular rules The stories I've mentioned did not appear in importance of controlled studies and the role of of journalism. And, it's not as if information on the hard-news sections of the paper. They were critical scientific thinking (and neither do most these subjects was not readily available. considered "soft news" and appeared in the editors), then it's unlikely that anyone will raise Craniosacral therapy was the subject of an pages devoted to lifestyle trends, food, health the red flag on a dubious story. extensive report by the British Columbia Office and wellness. Many editors consider these of Technology Assessment, which concluded "light" stories, lively, interesting articles to THE TESTIMONIAL that there was no evidence to support the theory attract readers to the weekend edition of the Journalists love anecdotes.The personal story or the efficacy of the therapy. Essiac has been paper or the features section of the newscast. is the cornerstone of good reporting — putting the subject of several studies and reviews, none But how are readers supposed to know the a human face on a science or medicine article is of which have shown that it is an effective cancer "rules" of hard and soft news? More importantly, the key to good storytelling. Unfortunately, treatment. A little background reading would shouldn't reporters apply the same basic rules to anecdotal evidence and testimonials are almost reveal that the notion that your bowels build up all stories? useless when it comes to figuring out whether a MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 28 remedy works. A person may believe that drinking herbal tea cured his cancer but his sincerity doesn't make it true. People used to believe that evil spirits caused mental illness, that night air produced colds, and that plagues were the wrath of God. If you tell the story of a woman who drank Essiac and cured her cancer, do you tell the hundreds or thousands of stories of those who drank it and died anyway?

BUT IT'S A GOOD STORY Health fraud expert Dr. Stephen Barrett points out that promoters of dubious treatments often portray themselves as underdogs in a battle with the establishment. The "individual- against-the-machine" is a popular story form in journalism and most reporters regard such figures sympathetically. In fact, the Galileo Syndrome, the idea of the alienated genius ignored by the scientific community, is pretty much nonsense today. Science is done in the open.Experiments are replicated and results are shared, published and debated. That's how SOME TIPS THAT MAY HELP REPORTERS science works. There are 50,000 scientific journals in the world. People who say they 1. The burden of proof for any claim rests with the person making the claim.You can ask: cannot get their work published are either liars Where's the evidence? Is it in a peer-reviewed journal? If not, why not? or cranks or both. 2. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. How big is the claim? Reversing I'M JUST REPORTING ON IT diabetes? Meeting alien life forms? How good is the evidence? Testimonials and "That's what they said." This is a common anecdotes don't cut it if you are claiming to cure cancer. refrain among reporters when they're questioned about a story filled with dubious 3. Find out what the critics say.Investigate the claims and check what research has claims. Barrett calls stories in which the already been done. Talk to doctors and scientists from reputable organizations. reporter repeats the proponent's claims,without attempting to show whether they are true or 4. Avoid "bogus balance." Lining up one craniosacral therapist against one mainstream not, "mindless articles." Reporters must neurologist suggests to readers that there's a simple difference of opinion between investigate claims, check credentials, verify credible experts and they can take their pick. It's crucial to provide context. If an facts, and seek supporting or contradictory alternative theory or treatment contradicts most of known science and the vast information. Also, reporters need to make sure they are not just going through the motions majority of experts in that field reject it, make that clear to the reader. To do otherwise when they get a scientist or doctor to say, "It's is misleading. bunk." It's important to explain why the remedy or therapy is dismissed or regarded with 5. Do the basics. Follow up anecdotes. Check credentials. Follow the money.A soft story skepticism by experts. It's a lot of work, but to promoting a quack cure is not nearly as good as an investigative story exposing it. do less is irresponsible. One of the jobs of a journalist is to inform the public, to provide information to people so that they can make informed decisions as citizens and consumers. Pseudoscience and quackery flourish partly because the media convey misinformation to people every day. The uncritical promotion of unproven therapies, useless supplements and bogus cures cost people money, time, dignity and sometimes, their lives. It also erodes the credibility of the media, further damaging the already weak trust that the public has in us.

Paul Benedetti is a reporter and author. He is on faculty in FIMS (Faculty of Information and Media Studies) at the University of Western Ontario where he teaches journalism in the master’s program.

PHOTO CREDITS: Peter Bregg MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 29 FEATURE BY MIKE AND LINDA WHITEHOUSE Fighting for free expression Three of the country’s top investigative journalists have an emotional encounter with journalism students

ndrew McIntosh, Juliet O'Neill and Stevie files in my office, in the drawers, and my virtual case are word for word from the dusty old 1939 Cameron struggle with the same files on my computers at the office and in my Official Secrets Act, which was a law intended to Afundamental questions asked by Joe Howe home, my laptop, are my own," says O'Neill. catch German spies and communist traitors, pre- during his famous trial for freedom of the press in It is now a crime, under the Security of World War II," says O'Neill. 1835 — "What is right? What is just? What is for Information Act, to communicate, receive or No charges have been laid to date,but the the public good?" possess secret information that has been threat of prosecution has not yet been removed. These three investigative reporters have gone entrusted to any person holding office under Her The case is before the courts and the Ottawa from reporting the story to being the story. Majesty. Citizen and its parent company, CanWest Global Two hundred people pack the Alumni Hall for "But I have to underline that Section 4 of the Communications, have vowed to fight "with guns the 25th anniversary symposium of the University Security Act that was cited in the warrants in my blazing." of King's College School of Journalism in Halifax. The Toronto Star,the Globe and Mail, CBC and The theme for the day is "From Joe Howe to "People with power CTV are all intervening in the case, an indication Journalism School: Democracy & Journalism in of how important this case is for the future of the the 21st Century." can do incredibly freedom of the press in Canada. It's a sunny Saturday on the 20th of March, the "It's still unfathomable to me that the everyday first day of spring. powerful things to work of reporting and writing can be deemed a "All three of this afternoon's panellists are make your life crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison," essentially locked in the same battle; it is the battle says O'Neill. of the state versus a free press," says CBC producer miserable." She works hard at controlling her voice, but the Lisa Taylor, who is moderating the discussion. stress and hurt of the past eight weeks still show. Having these three well-known journalists — Andrew McIntosh, Seldom smiling, she wears an air of sadness. together in the same room provides a rare National Post Following O'Neill on the agenda is Andrew opportunity for the journalism students in the McIntosh. A three-time National Newspaper audience to hear directly from professionals who Award winner, McIntosh is a senior writer and have figured prominently in their recent classroom "It's still unfathomable investigative reporter for the National Post. discussions. "I want to tell you about how a brown envelope From the beginning, the atmosphere of the to me that the everyday I received in April 2001 became a nightmare for panel is charged with emotion. Sensing this, the me, for my family, and one that continues more audience grows still with expectation. work of reporting and than three years later," says McIntosh. Juliet O'Neill speaks first. writing can be deemed That plain brown envelope contained a A senior writer with the Ottawa Citizen,O'Neill document that alleged impropriety on the part of is a 30-year veteran reporter, having served as a a crime punishable by former prime minister Jean Chrétien. The right to foreign correspondent in Washington,London and protect the source of that plain brown envelope Moscow. up to 14 years in prison." was upheld by Madam Justice Mary Lou Benotto "The confidence that we can go about our work — Juliet O'Neill, of the Ontario Superior Court on Jan. 21, 2004, as usual has been shattered for me," says O'Neill, coincidentally the same day the RCMP came to her voice quivering."Who would dream,well it was the Ottawa Citizen call on Juliet O'Neill. (Please see Dean Jobb's more of a nightmare, that 20 RCMP officers and column on page eight). investigators would invade your home and office?" "But this symposium is not about the Benotto They searched everything from her floppy disks "My encounter with ruling, but journalism and democracy, and I feel and hard drives to her love letters and lingerie they are symbiotic," says McIntosh. "Good drawers. the RCMP has been a journalism cannot survive without a strong O'Neill refers to the events of Jan. 21, 2004. On democracy and a strong democracy cannot that date,the RCMP were looking for the source of disaster for me and survive without good journalism that shows no information behind O'Neill's Nov.8 article relating I will never talk to the fear and no favour." to Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen deported to It is the job of investigative reporters to help Syria by U.S. authorities. police again." people understand, even as officials and "Also shattered since that day — my private politicians sometimes try to cloud or confuse the life, the sense of my home as a private sanctuary, — Stevie Cameron, issues, McIntosh says. the assumption that my telephone conversations author "People with power can do incredibly powerful and e-mail correspondence are private, that the things to make your life miserable." MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 30 Although he won the lawsuit, the Crown immediately launched an appeal.This guarantees McIntosh will be living with this issue for at least another year. "And I have children, and I can tell you it's not pleasant," he says. "I stand before you still before the courts, and I want to ask why that's happened. Because maybe I got a little too close to the truth.And the truth hurts a lot." McIntosh says he feels angry when people tell him he must be happy because he has been vindicated. "I didn't do this to be vindicated. I did it because I felt it was important that people know this stuff," he says, his voice breaking. "I did it because I care about Canadian democracy and the misuse of power and public money." McIntosh pauses to compose himself. The tears in his eyes flow over into his voice. "I did it because it's what I do and love; I did it because I'm a reporter." He gulps down half a glass of water. A FIGHT AGAINST THE COPS: “All three of this afternoon’s panellists (Stevie Cameron on the left,Andrew O'Neill,sitting on his left,hands him a Kleenex McIntosh in the centre and Juliet O’Neill on the right) are essentially locked in the same battle; it is the battle of and Stevie Cameron, on his right, lays a the state versus a free press,” says CBC producer Lisa Taylor (at the podium), who is moderating the discussion. supportive hand on his back. where they traded any information with the As a result of her experience, Cameron has The National Post has already spent close to police, where they got information, where the some advice for students. half a million dollars on legal costs for the police leaked stuff to them — that material — "Never talk to the police." The audience laughs. McIntosh case. The Globe and Mail, Bell Globe those stories will probably never appear now," "I actually mean that," she says. "My encounter Media and the CBC are also interveners in the she says. "And I think this is going to change with the RCMP has been a disaster for me and I case. investigative work in this country forever." will never talk to the police again." "Media organizations are not letting Cameron says her problem was she didn't Cameron, who has spent the last two years themselves get picked on alone," says Cameron, know about the Supreme Court's Stinchcombe working on a book in British Columbia about author and one of Canada's foremost ruling when she first spoke to the RCMP in 1995. alleged serial killer Robert William Picton, says investigative journalists. She was told the conversation was off-the-record she hasn't spoken to the police once during this "It's good to band together when you're under and that they were talking to all the journalists period of time. She seems jaded and the impact attack." who had worked on the story. She says the of her experience is evident as she tells the Freelance journalists don't have liability information she gave them was already out there audience, "I'll take a serial killer over a politician insurance and they don't have the National Post in the public eye in her book. any day." or other media corporations to back them up. The Stinchcombe ruling requires Crown Three stories — three journalists — the "I pay my own legal bills," says Cameron. "I attorneys and police to disclose all the evidence walking wounded. have been a freelancer, for the most part, for the they have against an accused. Cameron says any A thunderous applause erupts as a burly, past 15 years. I pay for all of this myself. I don't conversation, no matter how casual, a reporter white-haired gentleman, a local artist, says the have banks of newspaper lawyers and other has with police is recorded and kept on file and audience is looking at three candidates for the Joe lawyers to assist me. I have three lawyers that will be disclosed if a case goes to trial. Howe award for courage. have been working with me since November, and "I did it for the same reason that the rest of us "The spirit of Joe Howe is definitely alive here I've covered those costs myself." did it — because I wanted a scoop," says today," he says. Since November,those costs have amounted to Cameron. People are moved by the presentation. More $50,000, she says. She refers to the Eurocopter She has been criticized by many of her peers than one is heard to comment on how open the case, where she is in court because she has been who say it is not the role of a journalist to supply panellists have been. identified as a secret RCMP informant. information to the police because sources will "They were very brave," one lady says. "One of the things I'd like to raise is the effect not talk to reporters if they think the information "It's one of the most powerful presentations of what's happened to me on reporters and the they provide is not confidential. I've ever attended," says a student as he leaves the police," says Cameron. "I think it's a really Since her hearing has been delayed until May, room. important issue. I've been called by eight to 10 Cameron says she can't really discuss specifics. Joseph Howe challenged his jurors "to leave an reporters over the last few weeks to tell me how She does say, however, that she has disclosed unshackled press as a legacy to your children." my case has affected their work." everything that has come out about her case The struggle for the freedom of the press She says one reporter, for example, called her publicly. continues. to say that a series he had worked on for months "It was my decision, when we found out that at and months had been cancelled by his editors one point I had been labelled a confidential Mike and Linda Whitehouse are mature students because he had received information from, and informant, I'm the one who released that in the University of King's College School of swapped information with, the police, and his information," says Cameron. "I talked to my Journalism. Having retired from careers in education editors realized there was no way they could lawyers about it,and we decided that the only way and banking, they will be leaving this summer to afford to have any disclosure. through this was to tell the truth at every point." travel and write aboard their 32' sailboat, Masai. "Reporters are now telling me that stories

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Creagen MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 31 COMPUTER-ASSISTED REPORTING BY FRED VALLANCE-JONES Making a case for assessment records Ontario’s property assessor wants to keep an electronic version of the province’s assessment roll under lock and key

little-noticed court battle in Ontario has allowing the release of a searchable, electronic investigations into the accuracy of the profound implications for anyone doing version would allow criminals to use the data to valuations. Acomputer-assisted reporting in Canada. stalk women or pick out expensive homes for MPAC seeks the absurd outcome that a record On it hangs a basic question that has been customized robberies. completely open at municipal halls should be tossed around for years but never quite resolved: Charles-Dunne appealed MPAC's decision to inaccessible once compiled into one electronic is information about individuals that is by law the provincial information and privacy version. There is a delicious irony in this matter public in paper form, by extension public in commissioner, which ordered the data released. beyond the fact many journalists will end up electronic form? The commissioner's office holds that since the cheering a collection agency. A Toronto collection agency is taking on the Assessment Act requires the information to be While assistant information and privacy province's property assessor in a case that could public at town halls, it is public for the purposes commissioner Tom Mitchinson ruled in decide the issue in Ontario and in other of the FOI legislation. Charles-Dunne's favour this time, it wasn't long provinces with similar legislation. ago that he shared MPAC's view that the release Security Recovery Group made a request of electronic versions of such public data sets a under the Municipal Freedom of Information MPAC maintains the fundamental threat to personal privacy. and Protection of Privacy Act for a copy of the Assessment Act only The argument generally goes like this: the assessment roll for the province. The roll original statutes that made the information contains millions of records detailing the intends for the public never contemplated their being made assessed value of properties, as well as the available in a searchable, electronic format.Such names of the owners, sizes of the lots, whether information to be technology didn't even exist. the taxpayers direct school taxes to public or available for viewing As the logic goes, misuse of the data is Roman Catholic schools and a wealth of other difficult when you have to look at statistics one information. during regular office entry at a time in a paper format at hundreds of The same details have always been available municipal halls. But add in the power of the to view at municipal halls across the province to hours. It contends computer, and the invasion of privacy becomes anyone who asks. But an electronic copy of the allowing the release of a infinitely greater. Paternalistic bureaucrats are entire roll has not been available since the then needed to protect us from our own Municipal Property Assessment Corporation searchable, electronic information. (MPAC) stopped selling it in 2000,citing privacy This argument sounds compelling, until you concerns. version would allow realize that most information is now held in MPAC is jointly owned by Ontario criminals to use the data electronic form. The world has moved on from municipalities and took over the job of property the simpler time contemplated by the original assessment from the Ontario government in the to stalk women or pick statutes, and so must we. Given the fact 1990s. individuals with enough time on their hands The president of Security Recovery Group, out expensive homes for can use a scanner to convert paper records to Royce Charles-Dunne, wants to use the data to customized robberies. electronic form, even the distinction between hunt down judgement debtors (those against paper and electronic records is fast whom a court judgement has been entered) as disappearing. And there is nothing to stop well as to find properties that debtors may be MPAC didn't accept that ruling, and made an criminals from going to the appropriate trying to keep hidden from creditors. His application for judicial review to the Divisional municipal hall and finding out about people's company does not do small consumer Court of Ontario. I won't get into the convoluted properties.That is a small price we pay for living collections, but focuses its attention on large legal details of the case. But at the core of in an open society and not in the old Soviet debtors. MPAC's argument is the alleged threat to Union. Charles-Dunne filed a freedom of personal privacy, as well as lost opportunities The fundamental truth that once something information request and MPAC said no. It felt for the assessor to sell portions of the data for is public in one form, it is public — period — releasing the entire roll would be an profit. The case went before a panel of three was recognized by the same divisional court unreasonable invasion of privacy. It takes this judges on February 10. They will issue a written when it overturned Mitchinson's earlier ruling position even though the information is ruling later. denying Toronto Star reporter Phinjo Gombu currently available, albeit divided up in paper This case is crucial for those of us doing access to an electronic copy of civic election records at hundreds of municipal halls. computer-assisted reporting and seeking access contributions. In that case, the only difference MPAC maintains the Assessment Act only to electronic versions of public registry between the electronic record and the paper intends for the information to be available for databases. The assessment database alone could viewing during regular office hours. It contends be a gold mine of stories, including Continued on Page 35

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 32 ETHICS BY STEPHEN J.A. WARD It’s time for journalists to speak up for their rights No action should be taken against media outlets unless it can be shown that their activities are a clear and present danger to national security

nly a few months ago,Canadians expressed outrage after the RCMP,armed with search Owarrants obtained under the infamous Security of Information Act, raided the home and office of Juliet O'Neill of the Ottawa Citizen. Editors defended the principle behind the outrage: the freedom of journalists to investigate public issues by using anonymous sources and confidential information. At the same time, journalists cheered Justice Mary Lou Benotto of the Ontario Supreme Court for her stout defence of National Post investigations into loans and investments by former prime minister Jean Chrétien. "Without confidential sources," wrote Benotto, "many important stories of considerable public interest would not have been published." The time has come to go beyond the outrage. Journalists need to organize a nation-wide coalition of informed voices that can articulate a well-reasoned critique of Canada's security and A PROMISE WAS A PROMISE: When Jean Chrétien ran for office in 1993, he promised anti-terrorism laws. We need to prepare for a that his Liberal government would introduce whistleblowing legislation. For those who review of this legislation, later this year. have dragged their heels on whistleblower laws in Canada, we can point to the Liberal Our aim should be to develop specific,practical sponsorship scandal, or the removal from office of the federal privacy commissioner. ways to instill the spirit of Benotto's ruling into in the circumstances and was necessary … to open judicial review, in a manner consistent with the security legislation through new language and ordinary news gathering activities." a free press and the public's right to know. If, in procedures. I propose further that journalists insist that a the end, a review of security laws is not To get the conversation rolling, I propose that revised security law recognize the right of news satisfactory, we must consider testing the journalists ask lawmakers to insert into the media to special consideration by the justice constitutional basis of the laws before the security act a section that explicitly protects system. Except in special cases, judges should Supreme Court of Canada. journalistic activity from the law's open-ended allow media lawyers to be present at search Obtaining the required changes to Canada's list of actions deemed "prejudicial" to the national warrant applications against their clients. Media security and terrorism laws will require a interest. The section should say several things. lawyers should be able to quickly appeal coalition of journalists, associations, educators, First, the section should state that the security judgments against their clients — to get a second groups with similar concerns (such as the act does not abridge the constitutional right of a judicial opinion — prior to a police raid. Canadian Bar Association) and members of the free press, nor restrict the press as public The public should be able to learn the judge's public. A committee of the Canadian Association watchdog on those who govern. The section general reasons for granting a search warrant of Journalists,of which I am the chair,has written should also state that the act is not intended to against a journalist,and why he or she thought the ethical guidelines for investigative journalism. target news-gathering activities, or the use of action fell under the act.These special procedures These guidelines could provide the ethical basis confidential sources. are necessary to monitor the use, or misuse, of for a presentation by journalists to reviewers of The idea of a "journalism exception" section is security laws. the security act. not new.Privacy laws in several provinces contain The principle that should guide reform of the Concerted action has changed or defeated laws clauses that permit a violation of privacy if there security laws is this: No action should be taken in the past. About three years ago, reasoned and are reasonable grounds to believe that any matter against news media unless it can be shown, upon persistent opposition from editors and lawyers published was of public interest. proper judicial review, that the activities in helped to kill a badly drafted New Brunswick In Saskatchewan, the privacy act protects news question are a clear and present danger to privacy law that threatened grave restrictions on gatherers. For example, it says an action is not a national security.Only if we move in this direction news gathering. violation of privacy if "such act … was reasonable will security laws be subject to independent and Continued on Page 35 PHOTO CREDIT: Ottawa Citizen/Bruno Schlumberger MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 33 THE LAST WORD The death of a soldier When Canadian corporal Jamie Murphy was killed earlier this year in Afghanistan, Canada Now reporter Glenn Deir went to interview the family. It was a day he'll never forget

hazy. They pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and we started chatting about Jamie. Me, his parents, two sisters, a brother-in-law, nephews and nieces, and neighbours. Out came the photographs, the Christmas postcard and the tears.I found myself holding Mrs.Murphy's hand. I was almost crying myself. They were so proud of him and loved him so much. Their hearts were breaking. And yet they found the strength to let a stranger into their home and treat him with courtesy and politeness. They understood why I was there. A sister said, "We want to honour Jamie." I promised them that I wasn't interested in putting a crying family on television. They had so much to say about Jamie, but they needed time. The older brother would be there in a little while and they wouldn't make any decision without him. So I excused myself and waited in the van.Johnny did show up.I gave them space for a family conference. Eventually, I knocked on the door again. Another welcome inside. The family had agreed to an interview. They sat on the sofa in the living room underneath a photo of Jamie in camouflage fatigues. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy and his sisters Rosemary and Norma. They all had the eyes of people who had cried for hours. They told me about the knock on the door at five o'clock in the morning, with the priest and the chaplain standing outside. They told me about their fears of Jamie going to Afghanistan, of his sense of duty, of the days they were marking off the calendar, of the new house he had just bought with his girlfriend, and of the need to bring Canadian peacekeepers home from a place that doesn't want peace. Mr. Murphy never said a word.At one point he couldn't take it anymore. A casket with the remains of Corporal Jamie Brendan Murphy is repatriated back to Canada He got up from the couch and left the room. by members of The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) during a ceremony in The three women immediately closed ranks. Trenton, Ontario. He was 26 and had he lived, he would be home now. His six-month They sat closer together. Yes, there were tears, rotation was almost up. but not many. The women were thoughtful and articulate. I ended the interview by thanking 've had one of those television moments that drive from St. John's. Just hours after Jamie was them and saying that whatever we put on the captivated a nation. It began with the death of killed, I was knocking on their door. air I hoped I would do it justice. Ia single soldier. On January 27th, 2004, a Mr. Murphy's eyes were wet as he opened the Afterwards I was on the couch,again holding suicide bomber threw himself at a jeep full of door.He invited me in.I was so nervous I forgot to Mrs. Murphy's hand and stroking her back. She Canadian soldiers on patrol in Kabul. There was introduce myself. I just started offering was leaning into her daughter, weeping. We one fatality — Corporal Jamie Murphy.He was 26 condolences and apologizing for intruding on shot a few photographs — the most striking and had he lived, he would be home now. His six- them at a time when they were in so much was a smart portrait of Jamie after he month rotation was almost up. anguish. One of the women said, "Who are you?" I graduated from boot camp. He was so young Jamie Murphy grew up in Conception Harbour, remember sputtering, "I'm Glenn Deir with CBC Newfoundland. His parents’ house is a 45-minute Television in St. John's," and after that it gets a bit Continued on Page 35

MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 34 PHOTO CREDIT: DND/Corporal Gayle Wilson Continued from Pg. 34 "The longest walk a reporter will ever take is to truck to Conception Harbour and I did a live The death of a soldier a house with a grieving family inside." I guess insert into our newscast. As the crew was I struck the right chord with the audience. We breaking down the gear,I went to the church hall. and handsome. I'm sure everything I asked of didn't receive a single complaint. The next Jamie's sister Rosemary was still there. I shook them only increased their sorrow. But they morning at the YMCA, people were stopping her hand and told her again how sad I was for never said no. They were unfailingly generous me to say how much they appreciated the what had happened. She didn't quite recognize and kind. interview and the respect I showed the family. me. "You're the reporter who did the interview As we pulled into the CBC parking lot, the I'm not a religious man, but I think do unto with us." "Yes I am.How was it?" "I didn't see it, resources producer was waiting at the door. others as you would have them do unto you is but I hear it was good." She hugged me. This The whole country wanted the interview. We a good rule to use in these situations. On that woman who bared her soul on television in her were escorted to the feed suite. day it got me through. The family's interview darkest hour at my request hugged me. It meant Within moments of receiving it, Newsworld with me was the only television interview they more to me than all the accolades from my peers. decided to run the entire 10-minute interview, gave. I wondered what they thought of it. That hug is the most decent thing anyone has A week later at Conway's Funeral Home, Mr. ever done for me. Murphy shook my hand. Rod Ryan, Jamie's I've covered many deaths over the years. None brother-in-law, told me the family thought the touched me as much as Jamie Murphy's. How Jamie Murphy was buried interview was fine. Still, I had pangs of anxiety different it would have been had Mr. Murphy because I hadn't spoken to any of the three simply closed the door in my face. with full military honours women. Jamie Murphy was buried with full military Glenn Deir is a reporter for CBC Television's in his hometown… honours in his hometown. We brought a satellite Canada Now. He is based in St. John's. Jamie's sister Rosemary Continued from Pg. 32 Continued from Pg. 33 was still there. I shook her Making a case for assessment records It’s time for journalists to speak up... hand and told her again filings by candidates was the electronic record Ultimately, the issue of security law review contained home phone numbers. The court didn't goes far beyond the O'Neill raid. The issue is part how sad I was for what think that was a significant enough invasion of of a broader struggle to maintain open societies had happened… She privacy to warrant withholding the entire in a climate of uncertainty. Since the late 1990s, database. national security laws have been introduced in hugged me. This woman Mitchinson, who is generally a highly-regarded country after country, weakening freedom-of- and fair adjudicator, was forced to change his tune information laws. Spurious appeals to national who bared her soul on on the issue of bulk electronic records. security have repeatedly prevented the release of Interestingly, the commissioner's office was set politically embarrassing information. television in her darkest to take the Gombu decision to the court of appeal For those who once assured us that new until it suddenly dropped its appeal last year. security laws would never be abused in Canada, hour at my request hugged And while the information commissioner's we can now point to the O'Neill raid. For those me…That hug is the most office is now vigorously making the argument for who have dragged their heels on whistleblower openness in the new judicial review, Charles- laws in Canada, we can point to the Liberal decent thing anyone has Dunne muses whether the office might in fact still sponsorship scandal, or the removal from office hold to its original view and might secretly be of the federal privacy commissioner. ever done for me. hoping to lose the appeal in his case,which has less We need a wide public dialogue over Canada's attractive optics than an appeal by a journalist. laws of national security, so hastily introduced Not surprisingly, the office dismissed that as after Sept. 11th, 2001. This dialogue should be unedited. By the time I got back upstairs to the "wild speculation," but one certainly does have to informed by a vigorous public-policy journalism newsroom, the phone calls and e-mails had marvel at the 180-degree turn in Mitchinson's that investigates the implications of these laws, started. The head of the news desk in Toronto viewpoint. and the agencies that implement them. was on the phone telling me that people in the I guess the proof will be in whether the office Journalists should help citizens oversee their newsroom stopped what they were doing and appeals if it loses. nation's security sector. watched. Jaded journalists were crying. The In any case, once the divisional court rules in Impartial journalists are chary of talk about reaction kept coming all day. I had notes from the new judicial review — and that result may well coalitions and lobbying. Rightfully so. But they close friends; I had notes from people I've be known by the time Media magazine goes to should not shrink from defending the principles never met. All of them offering press — an appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal of their democracy — the very principles that congratulations and commending me for is expected no matter which side wins. A further allow objective reporting and investigative treating the family with dignity. I wondered appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada is also journalism to exist. whether I deserved the kind comments. I had possible. An active, critical stance is necessary if put a distraught family on television in raw This case has the potential to set the law for Canadians want to achieve a better balance pain. It didn't seem very dignified. years to come and I for one am rooting for Royce between the legitimate need for national security That evening on our Canada Now news Charles-Dunne, collection agent or not. and the equally legitimate need for a free press program, we ran the Murphy family interview. and self-governing citizens. We were afraid of viewer backlash and thought Fred Vallance-Jones is a special reports writer at an interview with me would soften any the Hamilton Spectator and teaches CAR and Stephen J.A. Ward is a columnist for Media negative reaction. The anchor asked how the investigative journalism at Toronto's Ryerson magazine. He also teaches at the University of interview came about. I began by telling her, University. British Columbia's School of Journalism. MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 35 #F
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