' ~FJJA , THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION ' OF JOURNALISTS L'ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES JOURNALISTES VOL 3 • NO.4 WINTER 1997 ~ $3.95 TABLE OF CONTENTS THE FIRST WORD THC CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS t:ASSOCIATION CANADIEt\~E DES JOURNALISTES F1KST WORD ........................................................ 3 1HE LOf OF COWMNISIS WHAT MAKES THEM TICK? NEW ON 1HE NET Arts\ve ting this question could piUvide valuable insight MEDIA LISTEN! G TO THE RADIO WITH THE CLICK into the views they express. The business of journalism VOLUME 3 • ;-.!UMBER 4 • WINTER 1997 OF A MOUSE By Mich:1Cl Cdxlen ......................................................... 18 The lntemet isn't just a repositoty for lots of text and Publisher: Wendy Mcl ellan photographs. Many mdio stations, including public JOBS ON-LINE Editor: David McKie broodcastets sud1 as the CBC and BBC, can be hea~d in jOBS IN Ti lE NEW MEDIA is deaf to pleas for the preservation of a nation­ ers who question his motives and paint him as The Books Editor: Lynne Van Luven real Lin1e on the Net. impcmant thing is that there rue jobs out thete in al culture." the ,~Jiain . He has said that hes buying news­ By julian Sher ............................................................................ 4 new media, and they sotcly need joumalists with new Copy Editor: Laurel Hyau skills. And even funher afield, the Australian papers to save them He has asked his c1itics to "hat a year it was. For many jour­ wait and see what hes able to do with newspa­ Layout and design: Chris Barnett 1HE WRII1NG TOOLBOX By Mindy McAt.iams .......................................................... 19 Bmadcasting Corporation is also facing the Legal Advisor: Peter M. jacobsen, THERE'S NOTlliNG TABOO ABOUT USING nalists, 1996 was a nightmare. For same fate. Phillip Adams, a prominent pers such as the Ottawa Citizen before rushing HOOK CORNER others it was merely a bad dream. to snap judgments. We will be watching him. (Paterson MacDougall) THE FIRST PERSON CORPORATE GREED AND THE BOTTOM LINE W journalist in Australia, says that country's Printer: Bonanza Printing & Print repmters must shed their reluctance to share their After taking in a debate about whether unpopular For a few, it was a year of some optimism. government would love to see the corporation Indeed, it was quite a year. And 1997 First, the nightmare. They knew it was Copying Centre lnc. own obset,'<ltions. Television repotters telling stories live corporate behavior is a result of greed, self-interest or "cmshed like a bug." Commenting on an anicle promises to be eventful as well, as the CBC and from the scene describe what they see, who they talked simply survival, Harvey Sduu:hter decided to read four coming. Still, when the news of layoffs arrived, that he wmte describing public broadcasting as CP still face uncertain, nightmarish futures. to and how those people feel. Sum first-person accounts books that tackle thase issues. 1jranny of Ihe lxxtom many joumalists at the CBC were shocked and being on death row, Adams argued that Change is still in the cards for this business we Editorial Board can be riveting Une: \Vhy CoriXJrations Mahe Gax/ People Do &ld Thing;; saddened. They had either lost their jobs, con­ Communism may have died, but there is call journalism. And change is also the watch­ Chris Cobb By janet Vlieg-PCU:lt1Clte ............................................................ 5 When CorJXJrations Rl!lc the \~.tJrld; CorJXJrale fxealtiollS; soled colleagues who received pink slips, or and Aiming J-Ii?)Jer: 25 Stories of How Con1fXU1ies Prosper another kind of "ism" sweeping the globe: word for Media magazine. Begirming with the Patricia Graham knew of other people in dillerenl pans of the 1HE SAFETY OF JOURNAUSTS by Comhining Samd Managen1ent and SOOal VISion all economic rationalism. next edition, the magazine will spon a new Wendy Mclellan corporation whose positions had been coldly ANOTHER YEAR OF UVlNG DAl GEROUSLY take varying looks at corpomte culture. "And economic rationalists despise public look, a new design. In our bid to become bold­ Sean Moore .................................................................................................... 21 declared "redundant." Indeed, institutions, In Canada, journalists are free to write critical stories. expenditure on anything. They are quite happy er, and better looking, we hope our re-designed When jolll11aiists in COLmtries sum as Cameroon, especially paid for by tax dollars, are under Bob Roth MARSHALL MCLUHAN REVlSITED pages will help bting future stmies about the Algetia, and Chechn}'<l auemptto do the 5anle, they are siege, as politicians are determined to cut. And to spend money on armies, but things like pub­ Diane Sims A new book gives some of the V.est:em wodd's top media to life. With so much happening in this jailed, simply disappea~· or suffer the ultinlate fate their although the Chretien govemmem can claim it lic broadcasters or the film indusuies or even, it Catherine Ford media theotists a d1anoe to tefiea on the man who industry, its important to have a magazine that opponents feel they desetve-death. coined the timeless phrase "the medium is the mes'XIge." wasn't responsible for laying o[jo umalists, Paul would seem, universities, are held to be Roger Bird Shar~ helps make sense of the changes by charting By Wayne ................................................................... 6 Re\~ewed by Olris Taylor Mattins cuts left the corporation little choice anachronistic. ].I. Grossmith ........................................ 22 "So as we privatize the planet and tum them and putting them into context. COVER. STORY but to wield a sharp knife with less than surgi­ cal precision. As Chris Cobb observes in his evetything into the business sector, the public For all of us at Media magazine, I'd like to Advertising director IT WAS QUITE A YEAR FORJOURl\IALISM PREVENTI NG WRITERS FROM GETTING As we usher in a new year, it is customary to look ixlck SCREWED cover story on the year that was in journalism: hro::~rl rast f' r is Sf'Pn ::~s an idea that ha~ run out thank you for your support. Please, keep the e­ Nick Van der Graaf and examine what we left behind. Sadly, many In TI1e \Miter Got Screwed (But Didn't Have To), author 'The saddest story of the year is the CBC, which of relevance, mn out of time. " mail and story ideas corning. Remember, this is journalists may not v\'<lllt to peer over their shoulders, Brooke A Whanon advises would-be vvtiters on ways is the victim of a broken political promise and a Relevance is surely a term that applies to yow· magazine. Administrative director prefening to forget a year full of ]En, loss, uncettainty to avoid the potholes that can make the road to success the future of Canadian l?ress. It is unsure how All the best. Bye for now. Em hazatdous. Reviel ved by ]dm Guslllle ministerial boss, Sheila Copps, who blames Rob Henderson and only a hint of optimism. everyone around the cabinet table but herself." relevant it will be to its customers. CP was con­ Editor, By Olris CdV ............................................................................ 8 .................................................................................................... 23 (613) 526-8061 FAX (613) 521-3904 But the CBC isn't alone. Lionel Lumb signed to death row, only to be given a second e-mail: [email protected] THE LIFE OF AN INVESTIGATIVEJOURNAUST makes that point in his opinion piece about the life by Conrad Black, who said he didn't want to OI'INION UNCOVERED CBC kill the news service after all. Black has taken 0. riJcL-- WHITHER THE Victor Malatek has established hinlSelf as one of the CBC. He writes: 'The BBC, too, has to deal with MED IA is published four times a year by Still feeling the sting of its mail reoent and de\'<lstating counuy's top joLUnalists. In Gut Instinct TI1e Mahing ofan a deficit-obsessed govemment, but not one that umbrage with all the naysayers and doomsday- David McKie the Canadian Association of journalists. IUund of cuts, and bracing for e\>en mote job I~ and Investigative jOllmalist, he tries to explain why he's so pmgram slashing, what kind of a futute will Canada's angty Reviewed by Allison Markin The address is: publlc broadcaster really have? .................................................................................................... 23 do The Canadian Association of joumalists By Lionel Lumb .............................................................. ........ 10 St. Patrick's Building- 316B THE HISTORY OF COWGIRLS In CoHgiris, author Candace Sa\'<lge recounts that as Carleton University TAKING ON CONRAD BLACK NEW KID ON THE BLOCK Hollywood was tuming women of the frontier into 11 25 Colonel By Drive A newspaper in Saskatmewan is gi\~ng the dailies movie heroines, in real life they wete being pushed out of the rough-stock rodeo events and tdegated to rodeo­ j Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, KlS 5B6 something they haven't had in over 65 yea~s: queen contests and banel-racing. Reviewed by Karen competition. Unland NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF FORD Reproduction without the written By Nick Russell ....................................................................... 12 .................................................................................................... 24 permission of the publisher is strictly NEWSPAPER WARS IN BRIINI a>UJMBIA WHERE DID ICE HOCKEY ORIGINATE, ANYWM? We're available when you want facts, photos forbidden. THE OTHER GUY NAMED BLACK Author Garth Vaughan persuasively