Spring 2004 - Canadian Association of Journalists

Transcription

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
I N S I D E
4
First Word
Read all about it! Media magazine will resume its edition that celebrates the work of the
country’s top investigative journalists.
By David McKie
5
JournalismNet
Toolbars make surfing the Web faster and easier.
By Julian Sher
6
Point of View
Investigative reporter Andrew Mitrovica weighs in with his surprising assessment of the
RCMP raid on the house of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill.
8
Fine Print
The recent victory of the National Post’s Andrew McIntosh to protect his sources from the
RCMP is good news for journalists — despite the government’s decision to appeal the ruling.
By Dean Jobb
10
Profile
When the Mounties searched the home of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill, she was
angry. Now the veteran reporter is channelling that anger into a new book about her
experience.
By Daniel Smith
12
Profile
Three Canadian journalists have made their mark at the BBC.
By Doug Alexander
14
Writer’s Toolbox
It’s time for reporters to lose their fear of numbers.
By Don Gibb
16
Access to Information
Crown corporations are at the heart of the sponsorship scandal, yet they aren’t even covered
by the federal Access-to-Information Act. They should be.
By Anne P. Kothawala
Foreign Affairs
In the face of bombings, censorship and intimidation, a Zimbabwean newspaper continues
in its attempts to expose government waste and corruption. So why did media outlets show
little interest when the Daily News’ publisher and the Sunday editor recently visited Canada to
solicit support for their struggle?
By Carrie Buchanan
20
Diary
32
Computer-assisted reporting An Ontario case involving a collection agency and the province’s keeper of the assessment
When Rym Tina Ghazal entered into a wager about going to Iraq, little did she know what
she was in for. Now the journalism student, who is about to graduate from Carleton
University, looks back on her adventures and marvels at how she avoided disaster.
rolls could have significance for reporters across the country.
By Fred Vallance-Jones
33
34
Ethics
The Last Word
It’s time for journalists to advocate for national security laws that don’t infringe upon their
rights.
By Stephen J.A. Ward
CBC Television reporter Glen Deir recalls the time he went to interview the family of a
Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan earlier this year. It was a day he’ll never forget.
FEATURES
Atlantic Canada’s
Canada
new powerhouse
Montreal-based Transcontinental Inc. is buying up more newspapers in Eastern Canada,
making it the country’s second-largest community newspaper owner, behind Sun Media. But
what are the perils of increased concentration of ownership?
By Kim Kierans
28
Exposing the quacks
Too many media outlets run uncritical stories about miracle cures.
By Paul Benedetti
30
Fighting for freedom of
e
expression
Three of the country’s top investigative journalists have an emotional encounter with
journalism students in Halifax.
By Mike and Linda Whitehouse
25
Editor
David McKie
Books Editor
Gillian Steward
DEPARTMENTS
18
Publisher
Nick Russell
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Linda Goyette,
John Gushue,
Carolyn Ryan,
Rob Cribb
Advertising Sales
John Dickins
Administrative Director
John Dickins
(613)526-8061 Fax: (613)521-3904
E-mail: [email protected]
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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
discuss stories that are appearing in
subsequent pages of Media magazine. While I
intend talk about some of the pieces that you'll be
reading, I want to take a moment to discuss
stories that you haven't seen in this magazine for
a while: Award-winners describing how they put
together their exposés, which for the most part,
can be described as investigative initiatives. In
these accounts, the authors articulated the
challenges they encountered both inside and
outside their respective media organizations, and
offered tips to other reporters who might want to
tackle similar topics but lack the gumption,
know-how or supportive bosses.
Traditionally, we have run these stories in the
edition after the Canadian Association of
Journalists' annual spring convention, an event
that culminates in the naming and celebration of
investigative stories judged to be the best in the
country. We had even added accounts of
Michener award winners to our esteemed list.
Unfortunately, last summer we broke with
tradition for reasons that should come as no
surprise to journalists: lack of money. So last
year's convention came and went, with no record
of tell-tale accounts of how the stories were put
together. Well, this year we want to remedy that
situation. Money is still tight, as it is for all but the
richest of publications. (Vanity Fair, can we
please have some of your ad revenue?) However,
we have come up with one of those proverbial
win-win solutions. We have decided to produce
the post-convention edition of the magazine
exclusively online, thus once again making it
available to everyone.
With this initiative, we have re-established an
important, albeit minor, support structure for
investigative journalism, whose popularity has
ebbed and flowed over the years in Canada and
the United States.
The popularity and the mythology of
investigative journalism were ushered in by the
Watergate scandal that brought down an
American president and turned to two littleknown reporters for the Washington Post into
media superstars and role models for countless
numbers of journalists, young and old. The
rigour and tenacity of Robert Upshur Woodward
and Carl Bernstein were enduring qualities that
many journalists wanted to emulate as they, too,
envisioned leaving a number of deposed
I
MEDIA, SPRING 2004 PAGE 4
bureaucrats and politicians in their wake, and a
public yearning for more revealing exposés.
Media organizations created investigative
teams, and gave them the time and money to go
for it. But this support structure for investigative
journalists has wobbled at times, with media
outlets ostensibly cutting back to save money.
This country saw a re-awakening of sorts when
Conrad Black's National Post burst onto the
scene, forcing competitors such as the Globe and
Mail to beef up their commitment to digging
beneath the surface. This practice of exposing
liars, cheaters, corrupt practices and shortfalls in
public policy has also been inelegantly referred to
in another era as muckraking.
In his book Discovering the News, American
media historian Michael Schudson points out
that unlike columnists, who have become wellpaid and celebrated fixtures in newspapers,
investigative journalists haven't always enjoyed
the same kind of consistent recognition. Unlike
the Christie Blatchfords of the world, whose
pictures appear above their columns, they have
not developed a cult following. Instead,
investigative journalists tend to toil in relative
obscurity, with their best efforts frequently forced
to play second fiddle to more mundane offerings
that dominate the headlines all too frequently.
To be sure, organizations, such as the
Missouri-based Investigative Reporters and
Editors organization and the Canadian
Association of Journalists, have done their best to
support the craft by handing out awards and
speaking up to support the right of these
journalists to do their work free from
interference. And the advent of computerassisted reporting has also helped to give
investigative journalism a boost in both
countries. CAR stories in Canada and the United
States have earned the Michener and the Pulitzer
awards, respectively.
So now I return to our modest effort to support
investigative journalism. Thumbing through past
editions and reading the accounts of journalists,
who to this day are at the top of their craft, is truly
inspiring. So once we have the edition online,
we'll be sure to spread the word.
Now moving on to what you'll be reading in
this edition of Media magazine. Investigative
journalism has been a subtext in a number of
cases in Canada that have led to angst-ridden
discussions, legal arguments and fears that our
peaceful nation is turning into a police state.
There are three reporters at the centre of the
storm, who also happen to be top-notch
investigative journalists: Andrew McIntosh from
the National Post; Juliet O'Neill from the Ottawa
Citizen; and author and freelance journalist,
Stevie Cameron. Their stories are covered from a
number of different angles in this publication
because in one way or another, the stories raise
important questions that cut to the essence of
investigative journalism in this country. Should
reporters share information with police? Should
police have the right to demand that reporters
hand over information that could lead to the
identification of sources? And how far should
reporters go to protect those sources? What
personal price do journalists pay for the dogged
pursuit of that elusive truth? These questions and
many more receive much attention this edition.
If recent incidents, such as Ottawa's neverending sponsorship scandal, have taught us
anything, it is that investigative journalism does
have an impact. In this case, the Globe and Mail,
which won a CAJ award last year for its coverage
of the scandal, rightly takes credit for exposing
many of the messy details that have turned the
notion of ministerial and bureaucratic
accountability on its head. If investigative
journalism isn't given the proper support
structure, which includes favorable court rulings
that allow reporters to protect sources, and the
courage of media outlets to stray from the pack
and pursue topics of public interest, then
institutions such as governments will continue to
be unaccountable to the people they're supposed
to serve. Whether the sponsorship scandal
becomes Canada's Watergate is beside the point.
What matters is that journalists recognize and
support the work of those who comb through
documents, nurture sources, battle with
impatient editors and producers more concerned
about daily events than long-term projects, and
trust their own intuition to follow the money,
which in many cases is taxpayers' hard-earned
cash.
So let's recognize the work that exposes
corruption. We at Media magazine will resume
doing our small part with an online edition that
will hopefully inform and inspire you to become
investigative journalists, determined to write and
broadcast stories that make a difference in big
and small ways.
JOURNALISMNET
BY JULIAN SHER
Handy toolbars
They make surfing the Web faster and easier
hen you're surfing the Web, the
toolbar is that top row of buttons
always on display in your browser
that allows you to click on "Home," "Back,"
"Forward" or type in an address. But you can
customize your Web surfing by adding other
toolbars. These are all free downloads that
become a permanent part of your Web work.
They can save you time by giving you instant
access to information you frequently require.
Choose the one or two that conform to your
needs and tastes.
W
to-use, common language search tool called Ask
Jeeves. But you can also hunt for material in news,
the stock market, weather, maps and the Ask Jeeves
Kids Web sites.
Teoma: One of the newer search engines,Teoma's
Search Bar at http://sp.ask.com/docs/teoma/toolbar/
gives you some of the special features of this brilliant
new tool and provides the ability to e-mail any Web
page you view.
SINGLE SEARCH ENGINES
Most of the basic search engines now offer
toolbars. What's neat is that each of them usually
also provides bonus features that can come in very
handy.
Google: In previous columns, we have seen
the advantages of the Google Toolbar at
http://toolbar.google.com. It gives you instant access
not only to Google search,but also Advanced Google,
Google News and Google Groups.It even blocks popup ads! (Google offers only a version for Internet
Explorer, but you can get a volunteer-created Google
bar for Netscape at http://googlebar.mozdev.org/).
Ya h o o : T h e Ya h o o C o m p a n i o n a t
http://companion.yahoo.com/ allows you to search
using Yahoo, but also gives you access to your Yahoo
Mail, plus you can save your favourite bookmarks
and access them from any computer.
HotBot: This veteran engine has a Quick-Search
Deskbar at http://www.hotbot.com/tools/.Of course, it
gives you handy access to its own decent search
engine,but you also can send e-mail,check maps and
even install an alarm.
Ask Jeeves: This toolbar at
http://sp.ask.com/docs/toolbar gives you the simple-
MULTIPLE SEARCH TOOLS
If you like using more than one search
engine at a time, there are also toolbars for you.
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.
SPECIAL TOOLS
Finally, there are some specialized tools that
do more than search.
Alexa at http://download.alexa.com gives
you access to Google search results — but also
all the special functions of the Alexa Web page.
Alexa tells you about the Web page you are
visiting — who is behind it, how popular it is,
what are similar sites. A great tool to have for
the Internet detective!
Dave's Quick Search Taskbar: This is
the king of the specialized tools at
http://www.dqsd.net/. Unlike all the other tools,
this toolbar installs itself on your taskbar —
that bottom strip of icons on your desktop.
Type in any word and it searches Google.
Simply add an exclamation point to the word
(for example, fbi!) and you get Google's "I'm
Felling Lucky" function, which automatically
transports you to the first result. Type in any
city, followed by an asterisk (Paris*) and you
get the weather. Put a colon at the end of a word
(larceny:) and you get a dictionary definition.
There are tons of other shortcuts to learn.
So as you can see, there is a lot to choose
from. My personal favourites are the Google
Toolbar and Dave's Taskbar. Experiment with a
few of them to see what is the best fit for you
— and happy, speedier surfing.
The Groowe Toolbar at http://www.groowe.com
gives you Google, but also Yahoo, Teoma,
AllTheWeb,AltaVista and many more.You can also
do specialized searches — for example, find
pictures from AllTheWeb, news from AltaVista.
Julian Sher, the creator and Web master
of JournalismNet (www.journalismnet.com),
does Internet training in newsrooms around the
world. He can be reached by e-mail at
[email protected]. This article and many
other columns from Media magazine are available
online with hot links on the JournalismNet Tips
page at www.journalismnet.com/tips
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
morning 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, awardwinning 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 Mounties. Damn it! The lost opportunity, as I
said, was nearly enough to make any first-time
author sick.
Sadly, I knew that a posse of Mounties would
never come knocking on my front door
brandishing a search warrant, giving them the
right to rifle through my underwear or my fouryear-old daughter's Barbie collection, searching
in vein for a morsel of information about my
carefully concealed sources. This, even though
my best-selling book was overflowing with
"state" secrets — most of them shedding a highbeam light on the epidemic of incompetence,
graft and corruption at CSIS. The raid never
occurred because the last thing the apparatchiks
L
THE CONDEMNED MAN: Amid all the front-page reporting alleging ominous but utterly unsubstantiated
links between Mr. Arar and al-Qaeda, The Citizen did find time to pen a tiny editorial mildly suggesting that
Ottawa call a public inquiry to shed a “little light” on the “murky” world of intelligence. How nice .
running CSIS wanted to do, of course, was to
draw attention to my exposé.
To whit, the decision to raid Ms. O'Neill's home
and office had precious little to do with the law or
protecting national security. Rather, it had
everything to do with protecting the jobs of
career spooks like CSIS Director Ward Elcock,
and career cops like RCMP Commissioner
Giuliano Zaccardelli.
Both mandarins have lived and worked in
Ottawa for a very long time and their political
antennas are undoubtedly finely tuned
PHOTO CREDIT: CP/Jonathan Hayward
instruments. So, when Canada's newly minted
Prime Minister loudly and publicly blasts your
institution's carefully orchestrated leaks tarring
the reputation of Canadian torture victim, Maher
Arar, as unconscionable, well, sir you better hop
to it and start putting on a very public show
designed to convince the political powers-thatbe that you're doing something to plug the
'unfortunate' leaks or you just might kiss your
healthy paycheque goodbye.
Whatever its motivation, the decision to raid
Ms. O'Neill's home and office backfired terribly
or wonderfully, based on your point of view. The
Mounties and collaterally, CSIS, have been buried
in an avalanche of predictable and not entirely
misplaced criticism. (More on that later.)
Just as the first wave of nausea passed, another
was building behind it when I read that Ms.
O'Neill had cast herself as the innocent victim of
what amounted to an act of police brutality. I
remembered the piece Ms. O'Neill penned about
Mr. Arar in early November 2003. In her 1,500word story, she relied on conveniently
anonymous intelligence sources and a
mysterious document to, in effect, condemn Mr.
Arar as a terrorist, who had received training in a
notorious camp for terrorists in Afghanistan.
Ms. O'Neill went on to list the reasons that her
publicity-shy "security source" had offered for
why the new government was so dead set against
a public inquiry into Mr. Arar's disturbing case
— principally, that it could undermine ongoing
probes into "terror plots" in Ottawa. The piece of
"investigative journalism" could just as well been
written by CSIS or the RCMP.
Editors at The Citizen decided literally to top
off the front-page story by affixing a sensational
headline to Ms. O'Neill's story. "Canada's Dossier
on Maher Arar," the Citizen proclaimed. Doesn't
the word "dossier" sound so official, so vitally
important, and so credible? How could any rightthinking reader possibly question its veracity or
even existence?
And yet, despite effectively having stamped
the word terrorist on Mr. Arar's forehead — a
stain that is not easily removed — Ms. O'Neill
and her many supporters in the media
vehemently insisted that she was the victim.
That's when the urge to vomit welled up in me
again.
Then I recalled that Ms. O'Neill's piece wasn't
the first story by a veteran CanWest reporter
given prominent play throughout the newspaper
chain to cast serious doubt on Mr. Arar's
consistent and powerful protestations of
innocence.
On December 30, 2003, the National Post's
Ottawa bureau chief, Robert Fife, wrote a line
story claiming the "Canadian and U.S.
intelligence officials are '100-per-cent sure'" that
Mr.Arar had indeed trained at an al-Qaeda camp
in Afghanistan.
Two "exclusive" stories relying on anonymous
and unaccountable "sources," separated by only
few weeks, had suggested that Mr. Arar was a
terrorist and a liar.
Call me a conspiracy theorist if you must, but
I wondered whether CanWest's little campaign to
"out" Mr. Arar had anything remotely to do with
the fact that its chief rival, the Globe and Mail,
had taken a sympathetic view towards Mr. Arar
and his determined bid to have a public inquiry
into the possible complicity of Canadian police
and security services in his abduction,
deportation and torture.
In any event, whoever was leaking disparaging
information about Mr. Arar had clearly picked his
or her media horse, and that was largely the
CanWest news service. (I am aware that CTV
News reporter Joy Malbon also parroted
anonymous spy sources insisting that Mr. Arar
was, to put it mildly, no saint.)
Amid all the front-page reporting alleging
ominous but utterly unsubstantiated links
between Mr. Arar and al-Qaeda, The Citizen did
find time to pen a tiny editorial mildly suggesting
that Ottawa call a public inquiry to shed a "little
light" on the "murky" world of intelligence. How
nice.
All the huffing and
puffing about a "police
state" and "dark" days
for democracy emanating
from CanWest's offices in
Winnipeg and Ottawa
might be a tad more
plausible and genuine
if the news service's
reporters weren't playing
footsie so blatantly with
cops and/or spies.
By late January, that pathetic, almost invisible
call had turned into a roaring, unrelenting battle
cry. What prompted The Citizen's dramatic and
sudden aggressiveness? It had nothing to do, of
course, with Mr. Arar's often eloquent and
persuasive responses to the terror charges made
by spies or cops hiding in the shadows, ably
shielded by their willing media conduits.
No, it wasn't that at all.
On January 21, 2004, a white female reporter's
home and office were raided by police. That was
the trigger.
"Raids by teams of RCMP on the home and
office of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet
O'Neill…have unleashed a firestorm of criticism
and renewed demands for a public inquiry into
the Maher Arar affair," wrote CanWest's Bruce
Garvey.
The vitriol and hyperbole quickly escalated to
apocalyptic proportions. "It is a black, black day
for freedom in this country," fumed Citizen editorin-chief Scott Anderson. "I am outraged. The
Canadian government has a lot to answer for and
it's intimidation to prevent the search for the
truth."
That's when I reached for the Gravol.
The Citizen's chutzpah is breathtaking.
One might suggest that the Ottawa Citizen and
its sister newspapers have a lot to answer for. Let's
see: using anonymous "intelligence" sources to
repeatedly suggest that a Canadian citizen is an
unrepentant terrorist and a compulsive liar might
be a good place to start. And talk about acts of
intimidation. To my way of thinking, a powerful
media conglomerate crucifying a lone citizen on
its front page ranks in the pantheon of overt acts
of intimidation.
Gordon Fisher, CanWest president of news and
information, then weighed in with this own rather
apoplectic assessment. The raid on O'Neill
"smacks of a police state mentality that one might
equate with the former Soviet Union, rather a
Canadian democracy," Mr. Fisher said.
Oh really?
Mr. Fisher's comments certainly reflected
another apparent editorial change of heart at
CanWest.
Rocco Galati, a diminutive and feisty Toronto
lawyer, represented many Canadians and landed
immigrants accused by Ottawa of being terrorists.
Recently, Mr. Galati felt compelled to abandon the
cases after receiving a death threat. In announcing
his decision, Mr. Galati suggested that laws to
summarily arrest and prosecute suspected
terrorists rendered Canada a "totalitarian" state
where individuals, mostly of Arab or Islamic
descent, disappeared into "gulags."
Later, CanWest's Jonathan Kay assailed Mr.
Galati. In his December 12, 2003, column, Mr. Kay
did what even the most pedestrian propagandists
do when they seek to undermine the messenger
— he raised questions about Mr. Galati's state of
mind. Employing epithets like "meltdown,"
"unhinged," "towering rage," "paranoid attitude,"
and "hysterical outbursts," Mr. Kay more than
implied that Rocco Galati is one sick puppy to
think that we live a totalitarian state reminiscent
of the former Soviet Union.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Kay fell silent when a
senior CanWest news executive began musing
publicly that Canada was also morphing into a
"police state." I suppose Mr. Kay's galling
hypocrisy can be chalked up to his
understandable desire to keep his column.
All the huffing and puffing about a "police
state" and "dark" days for democracy emanating
from CanWest's offices in Winnipeg and Ottawa
might be a tad more plausible and genuine if the
news service's reporters weren't playing footsie so
blatantly with cops and/or spies. Their complicity
in besmirching Maher Arar's name and
reputation came back to bite them soundly in the
behind. I think it's a deliciously ironic
comeuppance.
Andrew Mitrovica is an award-winning
journalist and author of the book Covert Entry:
Spies, Lies and Crimes Inside Canada's Secret
Service.
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
good day and as a bad day for journalists, the
sources they rely on to inform the public, and
freedom of the press in Canada.
It was a bad day, of course, because a squad of
Mounties descended on the home of Ottawa
Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill that morning,
carting away anything that might identify the
insider who leaked information on the case of
Maher Arar, the Canadian man imprisoned and
tortured in Syria.
But it was a good day for the media — indeed,
a very good day — because in Toronto, a judge
was handing down an important precedent that
will ensure the authorities think twice before
going after a journalist's confidential sources.
Justice Mary Lou Benotto of the Ontario
Superior Court struck a powerful blow for press
freedom, striking down an RCMP search warrant
used to seize a document leaked in April 2001 to
Andrew McIntosh, the award-winning National
Post reporter who broke the Shawinigate scandal.
The document was political dynamite — a
Business Development Bank of Canada loan
authorization that suggested then-prime minister
Jean Chrétien stood to benefit from a 1997
decision to lend $615,000 to the Grand-Mère Inn.
According to the document, the inn owed
$23,040 to J. & AC Consultants Inc., a Chrétien
family holding company.As Justice Benotto noted:
"This, if true, may have placed the prime minister
in a conflict of interest."
When McIntosh contacted the bank for
comment, officials claimed the document was a
forgery and called in the RCMP. An officer
convinced an Ontario judge to issue a warrant to
J
seize the document, so it could be analyzed for
fingerprints and traces of DNA that might
identify who leaked it.
While the document had been sent to the Post
anonymously, McIntosh discovered it had come
from a source he had promised to protect. The
Post handed over the document in a sealed
envelope and, backed by The Globe and Mail and
the CBC, challenged the legality of the seizure.
Media lawyers attacked the warrant as a
violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Forcing journalists to expose confidential
sources, it was argued, tramples on freedom of the
press and hinders the ability of media outlets to
inform the public. Important stories — the sale
of tainted food, the dumping of hazardous waste,
scandals like Watergate — could go unreported.
Justice Benotto agreed. "Sources may dry up if
their identities were revealed," she wrote.
"Confidential sources are essential to the effective
functioning of the media in a free and democratic
society."
Sources may have valid reasons for seeking
anonymity, she added. "They may, themselves, be
breaching a duty of confidentiality.They may have
stolen the information. They may fear economic
reprisals. They may lose their jobs.
"They may fear for their safety. They may fear
for the safety of their families." She rejected the
assertion of government lawyers that such actions
should not be encouraged. "If employee
confidentiality were to trump conscience," she
said, "there would be a licence for corporations,
governments and other employers to operate
without accountability."
The judge went on to consider whether
McIntosh's relationship with his source should be
protected by privilege — a status Canadian
courts have been reluctant to afford to the media.
While the law treats most information that passes
between lawyers and their clients as confidential,
journalists and their sources — like doctors and
patients — must prove, case by case, that their
relationship deserves to be protected from prying
eyes.
Justice Benotto, applying a legal analysis
known as the Wigmore test, found that McIntosh's
relationship with his source was worthy of
protection.
What's more, exposing his informant would
harm an important societal interest while doing
little to advance what amounted to a fishing
expedition by police.
"It is through confidential sources that matters
of great public importance are made known," she
wrote. "As corporate and public power increase,
the ability of the average citizen to affect his or her
world depends upon the information
disseminated by the press. To deprive the media of
an important tool in the gathering of news would
affect society as a whole."
Since the judge who signed the search warrant
failed to consider these important issues, Justice
Benotto ruled, the seizure was invalid and both
the document and McIntosh's source were
protected.
Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General has
launched an appeal. Assuming the ruling stands,
what will it mean for journalists? While courts
outside Ontario are free to take a different
approach, other judges are certain to find Justice
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."
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.
The ruling will undoubtedly help the Ottawa
Citizen's lawyers as they try to quash the warrant
used to search O'Neill's home. And in future,
judges will have to consider the implications for
press freedom before authorizing the police to
raid newsrooms and reporters' homes in search of
insiders who leak information. In fact, Justice
Benotto says media outlets have the right to be
notified — and to assert the right to protect
sources — before such warrants are issued.
If the influential Ontario Court of Appeal
While the law treats
most information that
passes between lawyers
and their clients as
confidential, journalists
and their sources —
like doctors and
patients — must prove,
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
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.
Your way. Connected.
Stay in touch with the CN story,
with media contacts throughout
North America.
Corporate
Mark Hallman (Toronto)
Phone: (416) 217-6390
After hours: (416) 729-7238
Email: [email protected]
Louise Filion (Montreal)
Phone: (514) 399-5416
After hours: (514) 891-4489
Operations
Graham Dallas (B.C./Alberta)
Phone: (604) 501-5306
After hours: (604) 202-5687
Ian Thomson (Ontario)
Phone: (905) 669-3128
After hours: (416) 818-1745
Pierre Leclerc
(Quebec/Maritimes)
Phone: (514) 399-3108
After hours: (514) 231-4362
Jack Burke (United States)
Phone: (312) 755-7591
After hours: (312) 848-2530
Jim Feeny
(Saskatchewan/Manitoba)
Phone: (204) 934-7313
After hours: (204) 795-2059
www.cn.ca
NORTH AMERICA’S RAILROAD
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.
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
home and office were raided by the RCMP, is
working full-time on a book about her
experience.
As she walks into the small café where we are
meeting for lunch, O'Neill points to a table in a
back alcove, tucked away from the slight
afternoon crowd.
"It's a bit more private over here," she says.
And privacy is everything to a woman who has
been robbed of it.
That will be a major theme of her book,
because when officers rifled through "every nook
and cranny" of her home on that winter morning,
including her lingerie drawer and her most
personal papers, they left with notebooks,
microcassettes, a copy of her hard drive — and
O'Neill's sense of intimacy.
"I want to tell people what it feels like to have
your privacy completely stripped away," she says.
"It really is quite awful."
O'Neill lives in a quiet Byward Market house
just a couple of blocks from this Clarence Street
café. In the front part of the house, with a perfect
window view of the Notre Dame Basilica, is her
home office, where she has been typing away
while the motivation is strong and the memories
fresh.
O'Neill expressed an interest in writing out her
story to her editors at the Citizen, and both they
and the executives of CanWest Global
Communications, owners of the paper, have fully
supported her endeavour. She is currently
working on the book nearly every day on the
Citizen's payroll.
"There's an interest in my case all over the
world," she says, pointing to the attention the
international media have paid to her ordeal and
the many letters she has received from concerned
people worldwide.
"People care, because an international principle
— freedom of the press — is at stake here," she
says. "That is why I am writing this book."
And government interference with that
"international principle" is not a new or recent
experience for O'Neill. As a reporter who
between 1989 and 1993 covered what was then
the Communist-led Soviet Union for Southam
J
Juliet O’Neill is thinking of calling her book ‘Wake-Up
Call.’ “Because on more than one level,” she explains,
“that’s what it was.”
News, she experienced her share of state
restrictions on press freedom long before this
January.
For example, O'Neill remembers how she and
her colleagues were regularly spied on in
Moscow. The apartment complex where she lived
in the Soviet capital was home to a host of foreign
journalists, business people and diplomats, and it
was common knowledge that state officials were
always listening.
One day while searching for her cat, O'Neill
remembers poking her head into a room on the
top floor of the building. "Inside, there were two
banks of reel-to-reel tapes with headsets, one
along each wall," she says as she brushes a strand
of her shoulder-length brown hair away from her
face. "I think I found the listening room."
But accustomed as she was to writing under
the government's watch before the January raids,
they still came as a complete shock to O'Neill.
Gordon Fisher, CanWest's president of news
and information, told media the day after the
PHOTO CREDIT: James Bremner
"(The book) will be a
blend of media history,
politics, courtroom drama
and personal drama," she
says. "It will give readers
a glimpse into the impact
of an incident like this —
having your privacy
sucked away — and it
will explore themes of
press freedom and
society's quest for balance
between security and
civil liberties."
raids that they "smacked of a police state
mentality." And while the former Soviet Union
was definitely a police state, says O'Neill, "it was
not in the sense that you'd expect the authorities
to come crashing into your house and rifle
through your stuff.
"In Moscow, the absence of privacy was a fact
of life," she says. "But you would never dream of
something like this happening here in Canada, in
2004."
Drawing on that element of shock, O'Neill is
thinking of calling her book 'Wake-Up Call.'
"Because on more than one level," she explains,
"that's what it was."
The officers woke her up early in the morning
on Jan. 21 — a wake-up call in its most literal
sense. For the general public, she says, the raids
should be a metaphoric wake-up call —
reminding us not to take freedom of the press for
granted. And for herself, the incident has been a
tremendous learning experience — "that was my
own wake-up call," she says.
Though she has not signed any publishing
contract to date, she has multiple interested
suitors, including CanWest. "All I can say for
sure is that it will be published," she says.
O'Neill hopes the end product will be a
versatile and affordable paperback that will not
only serve as a useful handbook for journalistsin-training, but also as an interesting read for
the general public.
"It will be a blend of media history, politics,
courtroom drama and personal drama," she
says. "It will give readers a glimpse into the
impact of an incident like this — having your
privacy sucked away — and it will explore
themes of press freedom and society's quest for
balance between security and civil liberties."
It will also serve as a memoir of sorts, using
the incident as a starting point to share some of
what she has learned in almost 30 years as a
journalist.
But for O'Neill, the opportunity to write this
book is more than just a means of expressing
her experience; it's also a chance to live out a
childhood dream.
She takes a sip of her coffee and smiles as she
remembers growing up in Calgary, her nose
constantly buried in one book or another. "I was
always a voracious reader," she says.
And it was because she loved reading that she
always dreamed of becoming an author herself,
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
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.
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,
"so what was the point in going back?"
For eight years she covered Parliament Hill,
where she met and worked with Norma
Greenaway, now also a reporter for the Citizen.
The two have remained best friends throughout
their entire careers.
O'Neill's desire to travel drove her to apply for
and win a CP posting in Washington, D.C., in
1983. One year later, Greenaway joined her there
and together they formed CP's first all-woman
bureau.
"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.
"Well, we proved him wrong.
"We were best friends and best colleagues, but
we did get some work done," she jokes. During
their time in the Capitol, they covered the free
trade negotiations between then-prime minister
Brian Mulroney and former president Ronald
Reagan.
"It was sometimes very tedious, but we'd have
fun," Greenaway laughs. "Sometimes we'd just
flip a coin to see who would have to go cover a
boring committee."
The two-woman bureau split up in 1989 when
O'Neill left to fill the opening with Southam
News in Moscow. After studying Russian for six
months, she headed to the Soviet Union and, as
she describes it, "hit the ground running."
If there were highlight reels of the Soviet
Union's collapse, they would look a lot like the
headlines from O'Neill's Moscow days.
She remembers clearly the night Gorbachev
was temporarily unseated as leader in the
military coup of 1991. She covered first-hand
the ongoing military tensions between Armenia
and Azerbaijan and the battles for independence
in small Soviet satellites like Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania.
"The stories were handed to me on a silver
platter," she admits of her time in the Russian
capital. "The Soviet Union collapsed before my
eyes. As it unfolded, we were just front page,
front page, front page … It was the peak of my
career."
O'Neill later worked as a correspondent in
London, England, where she covered the
Northern Ireland peace talks, floods in the
Netherlands and the genocide in Rwanda, before
returning to Canada in 1995.
Upon returning, she spent a year studying
diplomacy and foreign affairs at the University
of Toronto on a Southam Fellowship, then put
her studies to the test in a year-long stint on the
foreign policy beat for Southam and the Citizen.
She also spent two years writing profiles for
the Citizen before taking her current job as the
newspaper's features writer.
"She is a consummate professional and a
terrific journalist," says Jim Travers, who headed
Southam News when O'Neill was in Moscow. "As
an editor, when you have her in the field, you
know that you will always be one step ahead
instead of one step behind."
And striving to stay one step ahead has made
her career a very compelling story.
As the waitress clears our dishes, O'Neill
reaches forward and stops the tape recorder she
brought along (she will need these memories as
much as I).
"Time to go get back to writing," she says.
The past month has been an unforgettable
ordeal for Juliet O'Neill and she says it will be a
long while before she is able to feel private
again. But in the meantime, she says, writing out
her story has been a very effective therapy.
"I know I haven't even gone through it all
yet," she says. "But I figure … it's just a chapter
in the book."
Daniel Smith is entering the third year of
Carleton University's journalism program.
Calling All Journalists...
Do Yourself Justice!
Justicia Awards 2004
If your superior reporting on justice issues has
contributed to public knowledge, understanding or debate
about Canadas system of justice, you may be a contender
for this years prestigious Justicia Awards.
The Justicia Awards recognize outstanding broadcast and print
stories that promote better public awareness of any aspect of
Canadas justice system. Award winners are selected by an
independent panel of judges.
Sponsored by the Canadian Bar
Association, the Law Commission
of Canada and the Department
of Justice Canada
To qualify, stories must be published or broadcast between
May 16, 2003 and May 15, 2004. The deadline for this
years entries is June 1, 2004. To check out details
or obtain an entry form, visit us online at
www.cba.org/CBA/Awards/justicia/, or contact Emily
Porter, Canadian Bar Association, at 1-800-267-8860,
ext. 155; e-mail [email protected].
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,"
or just "the Beeb" — whatever you call
this long-standing British institution — is
one of the world's top news organizations.
The opportunity to work for the British
Broadcasting Corporation is a chance to excel in
journalism's major league. So it's only natural
that Canadian journalists would cross the pond
to try make their mark with what is, arguably,
the world's top news broadcaster.
Of the dozens of Canadians in the BBC, three
women have landed their dream jobs and
succeeded spectacularly — despite the accent.
T
LYSE DOUCET
Lyse Doucet's distinctive New Brunswick
voice can be heard on BBC radio and TV. She's a
presenter and correspondent for BBC World
Television and BBC World Service Radio who is
often deployed to anchor special news coverage
from the field. She presented from Amman,
Jordan, and Iraq during the war last year. She's a
regular presenter for the program Talking Point,
broadcast in TV, radio and the Internet, and the
hard-hitting TV interview program Hardtalk.
But Doucet had modest beginnings. Driven by
the desire to do foreign news, Doucet moved to
Africa in 1982 after getting a master's degree in
international relations from the University of
Toronto.
"I knew what I wanted to do, and I did it," she
says. "I freelanced for about a year — and it was
the right place at the right time."
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
long period of military rule. She has also covered
major events in Iran, such as the 1989 funeral of
its spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the
Kurdish refugee crisis and the election of Ali
Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was Iran's president
from 1989 to 1997.
Today, Doucet's job is to present/anchor the
news in the field and land the "big interviews"
with major international newsmakers. She
admits working for the BBC offers "great
opportunities" she'd unlikely get elsewhere.
"The BBC is one of the top players, we have a
global reach…" Doucet says. "It adds a level of
meaning to your work that is very gratifying."
It also helps to land those key interviews such
as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, UN chief
weapons inspector Hans Blix, Pakistani president
General Pervez Musharraf, and Afghan President
Hamid Karzai. Even the former Canadian prime
minister, Jean Chrétien, couldn't escape her
microphone during his July 2003 visit to London.
"People you interview know that if they want
to talk to the world, they'll talk to the BBC," the
45-year-old says.
Doucet's job has also exposed her to
unrelenting hardships and poverty around the
globe.
"The world has become a more dangerous
place," she says. Internet, satellite-TV and e-mail
have made the world smaller, she adds,
highlighting the gap between rich and poor.
"We all know more about each other and our
differences," she says, "and the (large) disparities
have become that much more huge."
Her work, however, has given her greater
appreciation of being Canadian.
"For me it's humbling," she says. "I find that
the longer I work, the more humbled I am at such
circumstances around the world."
Doucet also works hard to maintain ties with
her Canadian journalist colleagues. Anna Maria
Tremonti, the host of CBC Radio's The Current,
is one of her closest friends.
"We were Jerusalem correspondents at the
same time and we have had an arrangement
since then that we call each other on Sunday, no
matter where we are in the world," Tremonti
says. "So that meant everything from telephone
boxes in Mexico, satellite phones in freezing wardestroyed rooms in Kabul, and middle-of-thenight airport lounges."
“I find that the longer I work, the more humbled I
am at circumstances around the world.”
– Lyse Doucet
Today Sian Griffiths is one of eight producers in
London for Hardtalk, a hard-hitting news program
shown on BBC World and BBC News 24.
PHOTO CREDIT: BBC
SIAN GRIFFITHS
The desire to travel and work abroad also
drove Sian Griffiths to leave Canada after
graduating in 1989 from Carleton University,
where she studied international politics.
"I knew I wanted to be a journalist, but I knew
that journalists need to have things to talk about
— so I chose political science," she explains.
Her British ancestry made her choice to move
overseas obvious: "I had a British passport and
wanted to travel, go abroad."
She arrived in London in 1990 and did some
work on the commercial side of the BBC before
enrolling in a post-graduate diploma in
broadcast journalism at the University of Central
Lancashire in Preston, England, to improve her
chances of landing that dream journalism job.
PHOTO CREDIT: BBC
After graduating, and following a stint with
the BBC travel series Rough Guide to the World
in 1993 and 1994, she found herself in BBC's
Manchester newsroom as a researcher. She
returned to London after landing a job as a
researcher with BBC World.
Today Griffiths is one of eight producers in
London for Hardtalk, a news program shown on
BBC World and BBC News 24. Her job involves
research, logistics and convincing international
news figures to agree to an intense half-hour
grilling by host Tim Sebastian — a tough task.
"People know the reputation of Hardtalk
now," she says. "It's not a soft touch."
The 36-year-old has had some career highs
with Hardtalk, notably what she calls her "minipeace process." Griffiths was one of a small,
tenacious team that brought together senior
politicians from Israel and the Palestinian
Authority for a show in East Jerusalem —
despite curfews.
"Those were some very beautiful moments for
me," she says. Griffiths also enjoys putting
newsworthy figures on the hot seat — such as
when her team raised the no-go issue of
pedophilia by Catholic priests while
interviewing Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, the
head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the
Laity.
"You're right into the heart of the Vatican," she
recalls. "You could feel the weight of history on
your shoulders."
She also recounts bumping into Angola's
infamous rebel leader Paolo Lukamba — better
known as "General Gato" — in the halls of BBC's
London headquarters and getting him on air
behind the microphone: "He was asked how
many people he's killed," she says.
Griffiths loves her job and credits the BBC for
giving her a "mind-expanding, rewarding
experience," although this Nepean, Ontario,
native does admit to missing Canada and "its
great outdoors."
In spite of covering horrific issues,
Giselle Portenier has managed to escape the
cynicism that affects many jaded journalists.
“I’m not a total cynic... I believe journalism
has made a huge impact.”
PHOTO CREDIT: BBC
GISELLE PORTENIER
The pull of foreign affairs journalism
prompted Giselle Portenier to leave her
reporter/anchor job at Vancouver's BCTV for
London in 1982 — only four years after she
graduated from Carleton's journalism program.
She joined the BBC Four in 1986, after working
in London with ABC News and 60 Minutes.
This award-winning investigative journalist
has since worked for Panorama, the BBC's
flagship current affairs program, as well as
Newsnight and, for the past decade, as a senior
producer on the BBC's top foreign affairs
documentary programs, Assignment and
Correspondent.
"It's a fantastic job to travel and see the world
and to do journalism that has impact," Portenier
says.
Her style is to get ordinary people into her
documentaries, to root out the truth and expose
human rights injustices around the world.
"My goal is to do very strong, powerful
journalism and at the BBC, the opportunity is
there," she adds. "It's a dream job in a dream
organization that's committed to foreign affairs
journalism."
The topics she has tackled include: "honour
killings" in Pakistan; an investigative
documentary, Murder in Purdah, which netted
several awards; Russia's Mafia; Africa's child
slave trade; and Rwandan genocide.
Portenier's latest works include producing the
2003 TV documentary Israel's Secret Weapon,
which probes Israel's nuclear weapons program,
and Ten Days that Shook the World, a BBC
documentary about people directly affected by
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York.
In spite of covering such horrific issues,
Portenier has managed to escape the cynicism
that affects many jaded veteran journalists.
"I'm not a total cynic," she says. "I believe
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
journalist who recently returned to Canada after
working for four years in Britain and the Middle
East. His work has appeared in the Globe and
Mail, Christian Science Monitor, Vancouver Sun,
Geographical magazine and Canada in Europe.
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
going to talk about math for journalists for
the next 1,166 words.
If that makes you queasy, sorry. But many of us
suffer from math phobia — a discomfort with
numbers — and like to hide behind the fact that
we're pretty good with words. When it's relevant
to our reporting, however, Words minus
Numbers = Shoddy Reporting. And that's a big
problem.
Most journalists openly admit that part of the
appeal of the craft was the mistaken belief we
would never again have to worry about math ...
until, of course, the first time we had to cover a
wage settlement, an assessment appeal board or
the unemployment rate.
Few stories or beats can escape a steady
parade of numbers. The entertainment reporter
may have to dig deeper into the symphony
orchestra's budget. The sports reporter swims in
numbers. And then there's city hall (budgets),
medical/science (risk of disease), politics (polls)
and police (statistics). There is simply no
escaping them. And when we try to, we let
readers down and we erode our credibility.
Reporters and editors must challenge
themselves to become more comfortable
working with numbers. The intent is not to turn
journalists into mathematicians (an impossible
task, frankly), but we need to develop an
intuition around numbers that rivals our
analysis of words. Those we interview can spin
numbers to deceive readers, viewers and
listeners just as they use jargon and bafflegab to
blur the message. Journalists take pride in trying
to break through such language barriers, but we
fail to put the same effort into translating and
challenging numbers.
We tend to accept numbers as pure, hard facts
beyond dispute and often: 1) Choose to omit
numbers because we don't understand them; 2)
Throw them all in, hoping no one will question
what they mean; 3) Bury them in quotes,
rationalizing that having a person say them gets
us off the hook; 4) Put them in sidebars and
charts with the unwritten message, "Hey, you
figure it out."
S
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Kevin Crowley (pictured on the right) was one of the journalists whose work on a dubious
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financing scheme for a city sports complex earned The Record, which covers Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo
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region, the 2002 Michener award. Crowley recalls leaving one of his first interviews with John Ford
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(pictured on the left, the former city of Waterloo treasurer who helped finance the deal) “with the uneasy
78901234567890
feeling that city officials had committed generations of taxpayers to a deal they didn’t understand.”
Journalists need to first set aside the excuse
that we only work with words. Then we need
to develop a basic (key word: b asic)
understanding of numbers. Sources are often as
bad at numbers as we are or, depending on their
message, they have their own reasons to
interpret them in a more positive or negative
way.
When we regurgitate those numbers without
questioning them, we do a disservice to our
readers. Journalists need to learn when to
question numbers and, when necessary, go in
search of help to interpret them.
When The Record in the Kitchener-Waterloo
region broke the story on a leasing firm's
complicated and questionable financing of a
sports complex in the city of Waterloo (please
see Media magazine, vol. 9, no. 1), it all began
with good, old-fashioned skepticism by a sharp
editor. The numbers, she said, looked too good
to be true. And even when a reporter figured out
the numbers correctly, he didn't trust his own
PHOTO CREDIT: Mirko Petricevic, Record staff
work, so he went in search of expert help — a
couple of business professors from area
universities. They did the math and the results
showed a huge gap between the stated and
actual long-term interest costs. The stories
earned the newspaper a well-deserved
Michener award for meritorious reporting.
The message here is to employ the same
skepticism and intuition with numbers as we
do with words. Be not afraid to ask obvious
questions or call an expert.
Understanding how to analyze numbers is an
important journalistic skill, but knowing when
the numbers are the story is an essential first
step. If we know they are important, the next
step is to seek help in translating them — from
the finance department at our newspaper, radio
or television station, from a math or business
professor, from an accountant, a newsroom
math whiz, a spouse, a neighbour. And then, as
with other assignments, check it out with a
second source just as The Record did.
Here's a starting point (some of these items
are part of a competency list created by the
Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St.
Petersburg, Florida):
We need a basic understanding of arithmetic.
We need to add, subtract, divide and multiply.
Never ask the reader to do the math.
We need to know how to work with
percentages — if only to eliminate our
guesswork when we incorrectly resort to
loaded words such as "slight" or "huge"
increase.
We need to know the difference between
median (the value in the middle) and mean
(average) and know when it is better to use
one over the other. In the baseball strike of
1994-95, it was to the owners' advantage to
use mean because the number of milliondollar-plus contracts translated into a higher
salary figure. It was to the players' advantage
to use median because it showed how many
players earned well below those milliondollar salaries.
We need to analyze and translate numbers for
our audience. By themselves, raw numbers
serve little or no purpose. What's the point of
saying something has increased by 25 per
cent if we don't provide people with the
relevant figures? EXAMPLE: Fear of the West
Nile virus has led to a 25 per cent increase in
the sale of mosquito repellents. This year, the
store has sold 10,000 cans compared to 8,000
at the same time last year.
We need to be more diligent in reporting and
understanding the margin of error in polls
rather than reporting them as fact.
We need to search for editors and reporters
who are competent in math just as we
embrace those who can untangle a dangling
participle or those who speak more than one
language.
We need to offer basic training in math just as
we offer workshops on how to write a great
lead or how to develop better interviewing
skills.
We need to develop a list of resource people
on whom we can call for help — just as we
would consult our lawyer on libel issues. Find
someone without a vested interest — a
retired math teacher, professor or accountant
who is on call to translate numbers.
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.
For some reporters and editors, Strunk and
White offers a once-a-year refresher in the
proper use of language. Perhaps it's time to
add a math book to our reading list. In A
Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, John
Allen Paulos says that along with the 5Ws and
H, reporters need to ask: How many? How
likely? What percentage? How does this
quantity compare with other quantities? What
rate (in medical, crime or accident stories, we
often use a rate such as a certain disease or
illness affecting one in 100,000)?
A journalist who was part of a numeracy
skills study at one U.S. newspaper says: "If you
can't speak math, you have no business being
in journalism because that is much of the ball
game." A couple of guys called Woodward and
Bernstein would probably agree after being
told by Deep Throat to "follow the money."
Sources are often
as bad at numbers
as we are or,
depending on
their message, they
have their own
reasons to interpret
them in a more
positive or
negative way.
It is no longer a badge of honour — if it
ever was one — to say, "I don't do math, I do
words."
Don Gibb teaches reporting at Ryerson
Unive rs it y ' s S cho ol of Jour n ali sm .
Occasionally, he wades into the world of
numbers, but he's still overcoming his
nervousness around them.
Editor's note: Seven valuable books for
helping journalists overcome mathphobia
are: Numbers in the Newsroom by Sarah
Cohen, for Investigative Reporters and
Editors, Inc; Precision Journalism: A
Reporter's Introduction to Social Science
Methods, 4 th edition, by Philip Meyer; A
Mathematician Reads the Newspaper,
by John Allen Paulos (already mentioned in
the column); Math Tools for Journalists, by
Kathleen Woodruff Wickham; 200% of
Nothing, by A.K Dewdney (a Canadian author
and book, no less); News and Numbers, by
Victor Cohn; Overcoming Math Anxiety, by
Sheila Tobias; and finally the Web site of
Robert Niles.
Try this quiz
Here are a few simple number problems
that made it into print:
1) "If the real cost of electricity is roughly
four cents a kilowatt hour, then why are
so many signing contracts to buy it at
roughly six cents a kilowatt hour? Why
are people paying one-third more than
the actual cost of electricity today?"
2) The amount of nandrolone found in
(Kelly) Guest's system was 3.06
nanograms per millilitre, barely over
the limit of two.
3) The risk of chromosomal abnormality
increases as a woman ages, from about
one in 50 at the age of 20 to one in 60 at
the age of 40.
4) Canadians now have 33 billion debit
cards, which they used 1.3 billion times
last year to make $58.5 billion worth of
purchases.
Answers:
1) This quote was attributed to Ontario
Premier Dalton McGuinty when he was
Opposition leader.We can only hope his
math skills are much improved during
the budget process. To figure out a
percentage increase, we need to put the
difference (six cents - four cents = two
cents) over the original number (four
cents). Two over four equals a 50 per
cent increase — not 33.3 per cent (or
one-third).
2) Beware of reporters using the words
"slightly" or "barely." The words are
often used incorrectly. The amount of
nandrolone in triathlete Kelly Guest's
system is more than 50 per cent higher
than the limit — far from "barely" over
the limit.
3) The opposite is true. The risk of
chromosomal abnormality decreases as
a woman ages. No doubt 60 being
higher than 50 threw off the reporter.
4) Here's where intuition comes into play.
It just doesn't look right, so don't let it
go by unchallenged. If the 33-billion
figure is correct, then every man,
woman and child in Canada possesses
more than 1,000 debit cards. The
correct figure is 33 million.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
BY ANNE P. KOTHAWALA
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
Minister Paul Martin has talked about a
"culture shift" in Ottawa, only his
actions will determine whether the culture of
secrecy will shift as well. The sponsorship scandal
highlights how access to information is the
Achilles heel of the prime minister's plan for
democratic renewal. Without substantive
legislative change, the Martin government will not
be able to claim victory in its bid to slay the
democratic deficit.
Hailed as progressive and enlightened when
introduced over 20 years ago, Canadian access-toinformation (ATI) legislation has not aged well.
Once seen as leading edge, our current "freedom of
information" (FOI) laws are outdated, no longer
meeting the needs of society in 2004. It's worth
revisiting those societal needs as we consider long
overdue reform of our ATI.
Transparency in government decision-making,
particularly in that growing zone where the public
and private sectors overlap, is an important
measure of our democratic values. Beyond the
notable exception of the secret ballot, the powerful
symbol that creates and defeats governments,
secrecy and democracy should not coexist
comfortably. It is through transparent government
decision-making that we limit the lurking shadow
of corruption that has so threatened the legitimacy
of ostensibly democratically-elected governments
around the world. In short, effective access-toinformation laws are critical in holding our
governments accountable for their actions, and in
some cases, their inaction.
Every year, a respected organization known
as Transparency International releases its
"Corruption Perceptions Index," a global ranking
of national governments based on how corrupt
they are perceived to be. Historically, Canada has
enjoyed a rather lofty ranking, but a troubling
trend has recently emerged. In 2000, Canada
ranked fifth in the world behind Finland,
Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden. In 2001 and
2002, Canada had fallen two positions to seventh.
This past year, the 2003 Corruption Perceptions
Index revealed that Canada had dropped to 11th
position. To be fair, Canada still ranks very high
among the 133 nations in the survey, but the
steady decline in recent years is cause for concern,
reflection and action.
It seems that in the last three years, at least the
perception of government corruption has gained
W
ground in Canada. Transparency in government
decision-making is a potent weapon against
perceived corruption and an important vehicle for
government accountability. In a smoothly
functioning democracy, citizens often delegate at
least some of the responsibility for holding
governments accountable to journalists. This is
certainly true in Canada. Which brings us back to
the sponsorship scandal dominating the
headlines.
The government's response to the growing
controversy has been to call a public inquiry. But
here's the irony: the public and journalists have
actually been attempting to make inquiries about
the sponsorship scandal for several years. How?
By using the Access to Information Act, a federal
law that is supposed to guarantee access to
documents held by government agencies. A search
of the ATIA database maintained by professor
Alasdair Roberts at www.foi.net lists many ATIA
Hailed as progressive
and enlightened when
introduced over 20
years ago, Canadian
access-to-information
legislation has not
aged well.
requests about Groupaction contracts, going back
at least four years.
Unfortunately, the ATIA is no longer an effective
tool for holding government accountable.Since the
election of the Chrétien government in 1993, the
Liberals have been systematically chopping away
at the act. It is at the very heart of a culture of
secrecy in Ottawa that has grown out of control.
Central to the principle of transparency in
government is a comprehensive and responsive
access-to-information regime. For the access-toinformation system to be, and be seen as
promoting transparency, it must be accessible,
easy to navigate and provide timely responses. In
other words, information delayed or information
obscured is tantamount to information denied.
Many government departments now have
sophisticated procedures designed to control
requests for information about sensitive topics
such as the sponsorship scandal. Interference
from ministerial staff and communications
advisors often results in delay and limited
disclosure.
As well, costs should not be a barrier to public
use of our access-to-information laws. If only
seasoned journalists working for large media
outlets can secure information from the
government, our FOI laws have failed us. Some in
government have suggested that a truly accessible
and affordable FOI system would simply cost too
much. That's like saying we should stop holding
elections because they're too costly. While we do
expect governments to operate within the bounds
of fiscal prudence, operating an accessible and
affordable FOI system is simply one of the nonnegotiable costs of democracy.
The problems are compounded by the limited
scope of our FOI laws. For instance, Crown
corporations are at the heart of the sponsorship
scandal, but they aren't even covered by the act.
What we have is an outdated law that has long
since outlived its useful purpose. The Canadian
Newspaper Association has been calling for
reform since 1998 and commissioned two reports
pointing out serious inadequacies in the
legislation.
Because of such reports, Ottawa launched a
review of the ATIA. It established a task force in
August 2000 and in June 2002, the group
delivered its report. The report has since
gathered dust. (http://www.atirtf-geai.gc.ca/report/
report1-e.html)
A DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT, INDEED:
Shortly before the news of the sponsorship scandal
broke, Paul Martin introduced his Action Plan for
Democratic Reform. There was no reference to
reforming ATI legislation. How astonishing to even
have a conversation about democracy and to forget
one of the fundamental pillars that makes it work
— the protection of the public’s right to know.
One of the recommendations of the task force
was to extend the Act to Crown corporations and
agencies, despite strong lobbying to the contrary.
Just that one change could have given journalists a
tool to explore the possible connections between
the sponsorship scandal and public institutions
such as the RCMP, Canada Post and Via Rail.
Shortly before the news of the sponsorship
scandal broke, Paul Martin introduced his Action
Plan for Democratic Reform. There was no
reference to reforming ATI legislation. How
astonishing to even have a conversation about
democracy and to forget one of the fundamental
pillars that makes it work — the protection of the
public's right to know.
More amazing is that hardly anybody noticed.
With no mention of modernizing ATIA legislation,
the prime minister's democratic reform plan is like
an automobile safety program that doesn't
mention seatbelts.
So far, the scandal has focused on who got paid
what and who in government knew about it.
Instead, the fundamental question should be,
'how could something like this happen in a free and
democratic country like Canada?' A big part of the
answer lies in the weaknesses of our current
Freedom of Information legislation. In the absence
of FOI, scandals like the sponsorship program will
never be uncovered and our notionally free press
will be reduced to retyping government press
releases.
There are those who argue that FOI laws are
simply used by the media to practice and perfect
what has come to be known as "gotcha"
PHOTO CREDIT: CP/Tom Hanson
Crown corporations
are at the heart of the
sponsorship scandal,
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
institutions such
as the RCMP,
Canada Post
and Via Rail.
Sources_AD
journalism, where minor indiscretions are unfairly
sensationalized. This phenomenon, if it exists at
all,is a small price to pay for a system of checks and
balances that makes government decision-making
accessible and transparent. In many cases, from
the tainted blood scandal to the Somalia affair, FOI
laws have been used to protect and promote public
safety and the public interest. That's why we have
FOI.
The role played by strong freedom-ofinformation laws in ensuring a well-functioning
democracy is clear. They are one of the key tools
journalists, opposition parties and others use to
hold government accountable.
Martin has an opportunity to address the root of
the problem.He should immediately introduce new
FOI legislation that rewards openness and
penalizes secrecy. Transparency must be, and be
seen to be, a cornerstone of democracy. Otherwise
the endemic tight-lipped culture will prevail.
This government owes it to Canadians to
demonstrate with action that it has nothing to hide.
This is even more important as election season
approaches. The Canadian Newspaper Association
is strongly urging the major political parties to
address FOI reform in the upcoming campaign.
Freedom-of-information reform may not sound
like an exciting election issue, but it is a barometer
of the state of our democracy. As journalists, we
owe it to Canadians to hold the government to its
promise to end the culture of secrecy.
Anne P. Kothawala is president and CEO of the
Canadian Newspaper Association.
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,
and to argue freely according to
conscience, above all liberties
-John Milton, Areopagitica, 1644
anadian journalists were incensed when
police raided the home and offices of
Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill on
Jan. 21, judging the incident as a threat to every
one of us, as well as our democratic system.
Stirring defences of free expression rang from
Canadian media outlets.
Across the world that same day in Zimbabwe,
journalists were experiencing another battle for
press freedom. The country's only independent
daily newspaper, and the largest in circulation,
had been shut down the previous September by
the government of Robert Mugabe, ostensibly
for operating without the required governmentissued license. The publisher was thrown in jail
overnight — a not uncommon occurrence for
Daily News journalists, as media monitoring
organizations such as Reporters Without
Borders and the Committee to Protect
Journalists have reported in regular bulletins.
Despite all this, Jan. 21 was a day for
jubilation at the Daily News. For the first time in
four months, it rolled off the presses in Harare,
its press run of 100,000 snapped up eagerly on
Jan. 22. Three weeks later, the Daily News was
still publishing — a miracle of sorts, given its
recent history — when its publisher Samuel
Sipepa Nkomo, along with Sunday editor and
columnist Bill Saidi, visited Canada and the
United States.
"If we are able to publish for one month," a
hopeful Nkomo told a gathering of about 50
people at the Carleton School of Journalism and
Communication on Feb. 2, "I think we will be
able to keep going forever."
That was early February, and within days, a
court ruling threatened staff with imprisonment
for operating without the required government
license, and the paper was forced to close again.
The Daily News' financial resources were also
being exhausted by round after round of court
cases without regular revenue from sales and
C
advertising, said Nkomo, whose official title is
CEO of the Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe, which owns the Daily News.
"In the four months we have not been
publishing, the aim of Jonathan Moy
(Zimbabwe's Minister of Information) and the
government was to cripple us financially. And
they did," Nkomo told his Carleton audience.
The Daily News, in short, was in desperate
need of international support. Yet not one
"… the aim of … the government was to
cripple us financially. And they did."
— Samuel Sipepa Nkomo
member of the Canadian daily media turned up
to cover the visiting journalists' single public
appearance in Canada. Threats to press
freedom, it seems, are only news in Ottawa if the
journalists are Canadian. Or perhaps the
journalists have to be white.
Nevertheless, the Zimbabwean freedom
fighters did receive some significant support
from Canadians, including Canada's
ambassador in Harare, John Schram. The High
Commission there helped finance the trip to
Canada, and Foreign Affairs provided a warm
welcome at this end. The day after their Carleton
speech, the team met with Foreign Affairs
Minister Bill Graham and senior officials in his
department. The week before, they had met
officials in U.S. State Department and media
monitoring groups, such as the Committee to
Protect Journalists. In Toronto, they also met
with Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
and journalists at the Globe and Mail.
Supporters exist in other countries as well,
particularly in Britain and the Netherlands, said
Bill Saidi. "We were invited to the U.S. and
Canada by the governments there — to explain
what it was that had caused our problems with
the government," he explained. "Earlier, we were
invited on a similar mission to the U.K. by the
British government. Before that an NGO in the
Netherlands had invited me to Holland to
explain the situation to their government and to
the press there. Again, there was massive
support for the company (Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe) and its newspapers.
"The promises we have received are for a
stepping up of protests and help with training of
our journalists. Some offered equipment —
laptops, tape recorders and things like that. In
the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Netherlands,
we spoke to as many newspapers and radio and
TV people as we could, spreading the story of
our struggle against the government. We think
we succeeded in telling it like it is."
As well as Carleton University — where their
public talk was sponsored by the School of
Journalism and Communication, the Norman
Paterson School of International Affairs and the
African Studies Committee — Nkomo and Saidi
visited York University, where they met with
political science professor Richard Saunders,
who has studied Zimbabwe's media extensively.
"The Daily News is famous across southern
Africa, and these people have been at it
(practicing journalism) a long time," said
Saunders in a telephone interview. "The Daily
News is the great experiment and they made it
work."
The most successful of Zimbabwe's handful of
independent newspapers, and the only daily
among them, the Daily News was founded in
1999, and within two years had a healthy
circulation of 120,000 — surpassing its chief
rival, the government-owned Herald, to become
the country's largest-circulation newspaper. Its
reported "pass-around" circulation is 800,000.
It's a feisty paper that has dared to criticize the
government, pointing out instances of
"corruption and graft and excess, which had
reduced ordinary Zimbabweans to destitutes,"
said Nkomo, his voice rising in the cadences of a
natural preacher.
Four days after their brave words of hope in
Ottawa, however, the great experiment stopped
working. A court decision on Feb. 5, this time
favouring the Mugabe government and its law
requiring annual licensing of all media and
individual journalists, upheld the right of the
government to refuse the Daily News a license,
despite a court order in October ordering one
to be issued. This ruling came despite a
constitutional guarantee of free expression.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, in a
press release on the day's events, said the
legislation "allows the government to decide
who can be a journalist and criminalizes the
practice of the profession by those who are not
approved by the government."
Licensing has long been known as an affront
to free expression. Indeed, the most eloquent
defence of free expression in the English
language — John Milton's Areopagitica — was
penned in opposition to exactly such a
licensing scheme enacted in England by the
Long Parliament of 1643.
"Though all the winds of doctrine were let
loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the
field, we do injuriously by licensing and
prohibiting to misdoubt her strength," Milton
wrote in that famous essay. "Let her and
Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to
the worse in a free and fair encounter?"
In our own history, Canadians revere rebel
journalists such as William Lyon Mackenzie
and Joseph Howe, whose reform-minded
newspapers met with similar state opposition
in the tempestuous 1820s and 1830s.
Harassment and intimidation have been
ongoing facts of life for Daily News journalists.
"Our offices have been bombed to
smithereens," said Saidi. The Committee to
Protect Journalists reports three bombings at
the Daily News since 2001, when first the
presses and later the offices were attacked.
Fortunately, no staff members were killed. But
a long list of staffers, from the publisher and
editor-in-chief to novice reporters on
assignment, have been jailed, detained,
harassed and in one instance tortured for
exercising their constitutional right to free
expression.
For most of the past several months, with
their presses shut down and guarded by armed
police, staff at the Daily News continued to
gather in the office each morning. When they
couldn't work, said Nkomo, they simply prayed.
On Feb. 24, however, the paper announced
that it could no longer keep most of its staff on
the payroll: 250 out of 300 were reluctantly laid
off.
The Daily News was, until recently,
Zimbabwe's leading newspaper, admired by
many at home and abroad, says Saunders, who
encountered Saidi and Nkomo several years
ago, when he worked as a journalist there and
co-produced a documentary film on
Zimbabwe's media.
Even in its current sorry state, Saunders
said, the Daily News is still a beacon of hope in
Zimbabwe's time of darkness, as Mugabe turns
80 with his grip still fiercely on the presidency
and the country tumbling into economic and
social chaos. At the paper's most recent court
appearance, on March 3, its lawyers again
“In the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the
Netherlands, we spoke to as many newspapers
and radio and TV people as we could, spreading
the story of our struggle against the government.
We think we succeeded in telling it like it is.”
— Bill Saidi
presented arguments that the licensing law
violated constitutional guarantees of free
expression. But this time, the rebel newspaper
had submitted an official request for a license,
which was not granted. The Daily News had
previously refused to do this, deeming the
whole exercise unconstitutional, but February's
court decision nixed that argument.
At press time, no ruling on the March appeal
had been issued. Canada's Foreign Affairs
department recommends the independent
Zimbabwe news website ZWNEWS.com —
which reprints articles from a variety of more
or less credible publications — for updates.
There is always the possibility that a license
will be granted and the paper will rise again
from its deathbed.
But the decision lies with Jonathan Moy, the
Mugabe government's Minister of Information.
He's the one responsible for most of the Daily
News' current troubles, says Saunders. "He's the
key strategist. He's calling the shots." And he's
using the licensing requirement as a tactic for
suppressing dissent, adds Saunders.
Another Moy strategy has been to bar
foreign journalists from practising in
Zimbabwe, unless they get a special visa from
the Zimbabwean embassy in their own country.
These are rarely issued. However, if a Canadian
delegation of journalists were to request
permission to go to Zimbabwe on a factfinding mission, the government might not
want to risk the international shame of saying
no, says Saunders.
The Daily News' Bill Saidi hopes foreign
media will continue to cover their struggle for
freedom of speech. He said foreign attention
will help to put pressure on Zimbabwe's
government and its courts to uphold the
constitutional guarantee of freedom of
expression, said Saidi in a recent e-mail.
"We think as long as the story of the Daily
News, the Daily News on Sunday and ANZ is on
the front pages or even the inside pages of the
major newspapers in the world, there is a
chance of us returning to the streets."
Meanwhile, on the Daily News' South
African-based Web site, the same unchanging
stories published in its last edition on Feb. 5
stand as mute testimony to the situation.
Though the date on the page changes
automatically, so it appears to have been
updated, click on any of the stories to see the
date it was posted. As of this writing, all were
dated Feb. 5 or earlier. I for one will be making
a periodic checks at www.dailynews.co.za for
signs of renewed life.
Carrie Buchanan is a doctoral student and
sessional lecturer at Carleton University's School
of Journalism and Communication. She worked
for many years as a journalist, primarily at the
Ottawa Citizen.
Editor's note: For those interested in
finding out more about the situation at the
Daily News, you can contact Nkomo and Saidi
by e-mail. A few words of support from people
overseas mean a great deal, said Nkomo, whose
addresses are [email protected] and
[email protected] while Saidi's is
[email protected]. The newspaper's Web
site is: www.dailynews.co.za
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
master'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.
"I am bored. You are so lucky to be in Iraq," I
reply.
"Then why don't you just come here? Get off
your lazy ass and come.You know this region and
the language. What is stopping you?" he writes,
ending his message with a smiling emoticon.
I think for a moment.
"Well, can just anyone go there? Isn't it
dangerous?" I ask.
"The borders are open and you don't need a
visa. It is dangerous but that shouldn't be
anything new to you. You can help out with some
of the stories here and get paid for it."
B
WHAT AM I DOING HERE? “Don’t worry, I transport all kinds of people from Amman to
Baghdad and back,” Hatem (pictured above) tells me in Arabic... The only thing we need to worry
about are road pirates, but I am ready for them,” he says as he shows me his gun.
I have experienced crazy "adventures" before,
such as going across Canada and driving through
the desert in Arabia equipped only with my
camera and curiosity. It is also my hope to become
a foreign correspondent one day, so getting to
know Iraq is critical.
"OK, I am coming."
And that was it.
My colleague would arrange someone to take
me from Amman, Jordan, to Baghdad, and the rest
is up to me.
PHOTO CREDITS: Rym Tina Ghazal
I knew some Iraqis in Ottawa who had families
in Baghdad. They wouldn't mind my staying with
them if anything should go wrong.
I also plan to stay a couple of days at the
infamous Palestine Hotel, as most of the western
media reside there. The next day, I call my
supervisor, Allan Thompson, a former
Parliamentary correspondent for the Toronto Star
who now teaches journalism at Carleton
University. I tell him I changed my master’s
research paper.
"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
phone 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
pass and the scenery remains the same — dark
nothingness. It would be eight hours to Baghdad.
I try to break the ice: "So how is the weather in
Baghdad?"
Hatem and the driver laugh. Ice broken.
"Don't worry, I transport all kinds of people
from Amman to Baghdad and back," Hatem tells
me in Arabic.
I sit in the back holding on to the front seat
trying to balance myself against the bumpy roads.
"Only thing we need to worry about are road
pirates, but I am ready for them," he says as he
shows me his gun.
What am I doing here?, I think to myself. I have
doubts about my decision.
It is daylight as we arrive at the border between
Jordan and Iraq. At the border, without
exaggeration, there are so many cars they
resemble a giant beehive. Some have no license
plates.
"Black market," says Hatem as he watches me
take photos of the cars. "Smugglers, psychos, you
O
BORDER PATROL: At the border, without exaggeration, there are so many cars
they resemble a giant beehive. Some have no license plates.
name it, everything and anyone can go now to
Iraq," he says.
"If people want peace in Iraq, you would think
they would start controlling the borders," I
respond with some frustration.
Hatem seems to be a man of many
connections, for somehow he's able to bypass
hundreds of cars and get me through to the other
side in an hour.
I notice a vandalized picture of Saddam
Hussein on the gateway to Iraq, standing in great
contrast to the glorified and well-maintained
pictures of former and current King of Jordan on
the Jordanian gateway. History is captured in
these three larger-than-life-size murals of the
Arab leaders.
We pass through what Hatem calls "no man's
land," tents set up with refugees who are
"unwelcome" in Iraq and Jordan. Among the blue
tents, children in rags kick a soccer ball.
"What is this? How come I never heard about
this place?" I ask.
"Journalists are not allowed here, and they
don't seem interested anyway," Hatem answers
dismissively. He warns me against taking a photo
or taping, as they will be taken away. I get annoyed
and make a promise to myself that one day I will
be back with the support of some major news
network to tell the refugees' stories.
As we drive on, I see power stations down. They
look like broken branches. And there are miles
and miles of desert. But unlike the one in Saudi
Arabia, this one seems to have a mood. It looks
filthy and feels uneasy.
"Welcome to Iraq," laughs Hatem.
I remain quiet, looking ahead as I start video
taping. I had promised Iraqis back in Canada to
document my trip for them.
Continued on Page 22
Continued from Pg. 21
Road pirates, strange men, Iraqi tea...
And, oh yeah, "Merry Christmas," I announce,
to no one in particular.
DEC. 25, 2003: I BECAME
CHRISTMAS DINNER
n the way to Baghdad, we stop at a gas
station packed with lines of cars. I have to
go to the bathroom.
"There is no Benzeen in Iraq," says Hatem.
No gas in Iraq?
O
Hatem accompanies me to the restaurant near
the gas station for my safety because I stand out,
being the only female on the road. He waits
outside the restaurant as I enter the "traditional"
washroom, which consists of a hole in the floor.
Men are so lucky; it is always so easy for them.
I go about my business and get out of the
restaurant. There is no trace of Hatem or Saber,
our driver. I notice a crowd of men who follow me
as I walk back to the car. I stand by it, waiting for
Hatem or Saber.
Where are they?
The men come closer. I'm surrounded. Some of
the men are wearing traditional clothing with
their faces covered. I feel like a piece of fresh meat
that is about to get devoured.
"Who are you?" asks one man in broken
English.
I ignore him. Others laugh and mumble
shameful things I won't repeat out of respect for
myself. A gunshot goes off, the men scatter like
flies. Hatem is pointing his gun to the sky.
"Let’s go," he tells me.We quickly climb into the
car. "It is not safe for women here," warns Hatem.
"A lot get kidnapped."
"Why did you leave me?" I ask.
He doesn't answer.
THE KID AND ME
oldiers are everywhere, navigating the
congested streets of Baghdad in tanks and
trucks 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
video games. The kid reminds me of my 14-yearold brother. He, too, likes video games and is
safely home in Canada.
S
THE KID AND ME: 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 video games... I wonder how
he is doing now, the “kid” who is stuck doing, well, a man’s job?
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
window. It worked. The shop owner quickly
unlocked the door.
Snap. I take a photo with him. I wonder how
he is doing now, the "kid" who is stuck doing,
well, a man's job?
BEING A GIRL!
eing a girl in Iraq got me into many places
I knew others had difficulty getting into.
For example, I had no trouble going in and
out of the Green Zone while other journalists
called ahead and stood in lines. I respected the
soldiers and they seemed to have respected and
trusted me. Or was it the fact I was single and
from Montreal?
Being a girl also had its disadvantages. I
remember the dirty and degrading comments
from passers-by, such as "Can I frisk you?" for
security reasons. 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 window. It
worked. The shop owner quickly unlocked the
door.
B
THE RISKY BUSINESS OF NEWSPAPERING IN IRAQ: There was one day I was heading towards the
Al-Sabah newspaper... Just minutes before I arrived, someone in a passing car fired shots at its office, killing a
security guard and injuring innocent bystanders.
I can't believe I did something like that, but then
again, what else could I do?
I felt that I was viewed as either a delicate flower
that needed protection or a sex-object in need of a
different kind of attention.
As if it wasn't enough that I couldn't sleep
properly due to surprise visits from American
helicopters and subsequent shaking walls or
bomb explosions.
RISKY MOMENTS: NEWSPAPERS
AND MAFIA LEADERS
n this day I head towards the Al-Sabah
newspaper. The United States used to give
the publication money. Now it's
independent, and still struggling to gain
credibility among the locals.
Just minutes before I arrive, someone in a
passing car fired shots at its office, killing a
security guard and injuring innocent bystanders.
I remember looking at the bullet holes in the
walls and getting an eerie feeling the longer I
stood there.
O
Now I understand why newspapers here have
security guards with guns.
Another time I ended up at some Iraqi Mafia
leader's house — by mistake — thinking his
house was that of a renowned retired journalist.
Here's the short version of the story:
I was set free — after being locked up in a
luxurious living room for two hours — as I "was
cute," according to the self-proclaimed Godfather.
He made one of his thugs escort me out to the
right address, but only after I had tea with the
Godfather.
The journalist lived a block down and had a
blast laughing at my good, or bad fortune. It
depends on how you look at it. I was told the
Godfather — whom I literally walked into — was
very dangerous.
The journalist said that I must have had "a
guardian angel" for no one "just walks out of that
place." Or it could have been the chain of prayer
beads that I bought from a local store that
protected me that day. Who knows?
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
with 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
hospitals have their own smell of rot and death.
They are full of agonizing children, unclaimed
and struggling with gunshot wounds. The
media aren't allowed in the hospitals, and there
is a good reason for it. They might just discover
that the hospital is really butchery in disguise.
I
NEW YEAR'S EVE: WESTERN
MEDIA, HOTELS AND A DIFFERENT
KIND OF BOMB
nap. I take this photo in front of the hall where
a major New Year’s party is being held, mainly
attended by Western media and staff. I have a
hard time smiling, but I take this photo as a
reminder of what I witness in the room right across
from where I am standing.
The New Year's Eve party is being held in a
magnificent hall, carefully decorated with balloons.
A DJ plays songs by the Bee Gees, Britney Spears
and some popular Arabic groups. Alcoholic
beverages from champagne to beer served by local
waiters fill a row of tables.
It's midnight. People dance and drink. I stand
and watch while I drink straight from a bottle of
water. The room shakes with music. I see two Iraqi
girls belly dancing in the middle of the room.
They're wearing almost see-through nightgowns.
They look so young. I ask one of them her age.
"Fifteen," she whispers to me as she dances
provocatively closer to me, twisting her waist and
S
WHAT YOU DON'T SEE IN THIS PICTURE: I take this photo in front of the hall where
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're wearing almost see-through nightgowns. They look so young. I ask one of them her age.
"Fifteen," she whispers to me… I'm about to snap a photograph of this scene when the older man
approaches me surreptitiously and tells me firmly, no photos!
shaking her somewhat flat chest in rhythmic
synchrony to the blaring music.
I notice an older man observing my every move.
He looks like a pimp out of a movie with his overdressed navy suit and beige leather shoes. I'm about
to snap a photograph of this scene when the older man
approaches me surreptitiously and tells me firmly, no
photos!
"Why not?" I ask.
"You have to pay me," he responds, smiling.
"Are they prostitutes?" I ask bluntly, feeling shock at
my own question.
"They can be whatever you want, depends on how
much you pay," he tells me before leaving casually.
CONCLUSION: THERE ISN'T A
CONCLUSION
want to go back to Baghdad.There are many streets
I didn't visit and others I just passed by where I am
sure many stories reside untold. I want to visit the
rest of Iraq, too, and learn more about the country's
people and their lives.
I have learned a lot about myself. I look back and
laugh at how I ate fly-infested falafels, befriended
important politicians like Adnan Pachachi and dodged
stray bullets from kids playing with guns in the streets
I
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and still made it back home without a scratch.
My dad is pleased.
"No more dangerous adventures like these, OK?" he
tells me over the phone.
We shall see.
I now trust my instincts more and make the most of
unplanned circumstances. I also never knew how
impulsive my curiosity was before my trip to Iraq. I
would catch myself observing and listening carefully a
lot more than usual, even when I thought I had an
answer to my question.
My advice to anyone going to Iraq: be patient, have a
sense of humour and expect the unexpected.
I think now I feel more confident asking hard
questions, not only of the people I meet, but also of
myself. I know what I can and cannot do as a journalist
and more importantly as a human being. I realize I
can't change the world and make it a better place as I
have vowed to do many times as a journalist, but I can
at least try and keep trying.
I owe a lot of thanks to all the people I met on the
way to Iraq and on the way back. I can't believe I had
the great fortune and honour of being trusted with
their tales, lives and secrets. It is funny, in the end,
names didn't matter, for most of them just called me
the Canadian, or "Al-Kanadeya" as I carried a handbag
with "Canada" printed on it. It became my good luck
charm and my second ID in Iraq, after my passport, of
course.
After a while, security guards and other officials
stopped asking me for my passport, they just looked at
my bag and waved me in. That was a nice feeling. I felt
respected, at least by the soldiers and officials.
I also think I won the dare with my friend from
CNN.
Rym Tina Ghazal is completing her master’s of
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
her German and is learning Spanish. She has an
undergraduate degree in psychology and economics.
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
November 2003. Its parent company,
Montreal-based Transcontinental Inc., was
moving into Atlantic Canada in a big way. It was
shedding another layer from its image of "the
most illustrious unknown" with its offer to buy
Optipress, a chain of 25 weekly newspapers with
assorted trade magazines and nine printing
plants in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
This $56 million purchase makes
Transcontinental the largest printer and
community newspaper publisher in the Atlantic
provinces — not bad for a newcomer.
Transcontinental made its debut in the region in
August 2002 when it picked up 10 daily
newspapers, two weeklies, 32 related publications
and printing plants in the four Atlantic provinces
and Saskatchewan from CanWest for $255
million. That was just the beginning of the buying
spree in Atlantic Canada.
Last spring Transcontinental snapped up the
Amherst Daily News and its two sister weeklies.
This fall it added the Optipress chain. The results
are astounding. In less than a year and a half,
Transcontinental has gone from having no
presence in Atlantic Canada to being
omnipresent. It owns both dailies and almost all
the weekly newspapers in Newfoundland. It has
the two dailies in P.E.I. In Nova Scotia it owns 10
weeklies and five dailies, leaving the Halifax
Chronicle Herald as the last surviving
independent daily in Canada. The print scene in
New Brunswick remains firmly under Irving
control, with Transcontinental owning just one
weekly newspaper.
This growing media corporation is the creation
of Rémi Marcoux,a self-made man from the Beauce
region of Quebec. At 63, Marcoux, a chartered
accountant, retired as the chief executive of G.T.C.
Transcontinental Group. He's the executive
chairman and retains his controlling interest in
the corporation. Marcoux started in 1976 with a
small bankrupt printing plant and 30 employees
in St. Laurent, a suburb of Montreal. He grew his
company into an international empire, with about
13,000 employees in Canada, the United States
and Mexico. About 70 per cent of the company's
media revenues now come from outside Quebec.
Trancontinental's president of media, André
Préfontaine, doesn't hide his admiration for
“H
Here in Canada,
Transcontinental is
now the second-largest
community newspaper
owner, behind Sun
Media, with more than
135 local and regional
newspapers in every
province except Alberta
and B.C.
At 63, Rémi Marcoux, a chartered accountant, retired
as the chief executive of G.T.C. Transcontinental Group.
Marcoux. Préfontaine calls his boss a visionary
with a knack for transforming bad situations into
good. Préfontaine points to the Quebec newspaper
strike of 1978. Marcoux was printing advertising
flyers for the broadsheets until the strike. "It was a
life-threatening situation for the business," says
Préfontaine. "Rémi turned it around. He set up an
alternative flyer distribution network from
scratch. As a result, Transcontinental has 85 per
cent of the flyer market share in Quebec."
Marcoux's action during the newspaper strike
did not win him any friends within the labour
movement, but the episode did not stunt
Transcontinental's growth."He sees things other
people don't see," says Préfontaine, and points to
Transcontinental's printing presence in Mexico.
Préfontaine says Marcoux recognized the country
was like Canada some 40 or 50 years ago with a
middle class starting to take root. Now
Transcontinental is the largest printer in Mexico
with three presses.
Here in Canada, Transcontinental is now the
second-largest community newspaper owner,
behind Sun Media, with more than 135 local and
regional newspapers in every province except
Alberta and B.C.
Transcontinental owns not only the papers, but
the presses too. It's now the largest commercial
PHOTO CREDIT: Transcontinental
printer of newspapers, advertising flyers, books
and direct marketing mail in Canada. It delivers
some 60 million advertising flyers for grocery
stores and retail outlets into homes coast to coast.
It prints some regional editions of the National
Post and Globe and Mail and books, such as the
North American edition of Harry Potter. It also
owns and publishes more than 40 trade and other
magazines in French and English, including The
Hockey News, TV Guide, Canadian Living and
Coup du Pouce.
Financially, Marcoux weathered the economic
storms of the past 25 years by holding a steady
course. He didn't expand too quickly or
accumulate high debt. Shareholders are reaping
the benefits. In 2002 Transcontinental
outperformed the industry. It reported a profit of
$143 million (a 15 per cent increase over the
previous year) on revenue of $1.9 billion (a sevenper cent increase over the previous year).With the
purchases of CanWest papers, the Optipress chain
and CC3, a direct marketing company in the U.S.,
Marcoux predicts Transcontinental revenues will
hit a record $2.2 billion this year.
Marcoux says the values his father, a merchant
who died young, instilled in him are at the root
A new and powerful kid on the block
of all his success. Those values drive
Transcontinental's corporate culture. "They
include openness and simplicity in dealing with
others, solidarity with our partners and the
communities in which we operate, customer
satisfaction and the importance of
communication," Marcoux told business leaders
in the Beauce.
Marcoux's other inspiration comes from his
former boss at Quebecor, Pierre Peladeau, who
showed him "that it was possible for French
speakers to build large companies." Marcoux
worked for Quebecor for seven years, rising to
vice-president of operations, before leaving in
1975 to start his own business.
Marcoux
has
run
Transcontinental
conservatively, expanding in clusters and always
in printing, publishing and distribution, its area of
expertise — the CanWest newspapers and
Optipress chain are just two examples. Company
officials were quick to quash rumors circulating
earlier this year that Transcontinental was eyeing
the Globe and Mail. They said it just didn't fit
with the company's other publishing holdings.
Nor do radio or telev ision stations or
telecommunications companies. Transcontinental
was one of the few media companies that refused
to hop on the convergence bandwagon. The
company grew not in print isolation, but by
forming partnerships with broadcast media and
Internet providers. That way, Transcontinental
could cross-promote its products without having
to "own the pipes" or buy the station.
For Marcoux, "the next battle won't be that of
the Net versus traditional media, but rather the
battle to keep customers loyal." Transcontinental
believes it's well-equipped to win that battle on all
fronts: customers, shareholders, employees and
communities.
His general leading that battle is Préfontaine.
As president of Transcontinental Media,
Préfontaine has been at the helm of the company's
biggest acquisitions. "We were looking at ways to
become a national publishing group," he says. The
big break was in 2000, with the $125-million
purchase of the Telemedia group of consumer
magazines which, "propelled us to the national
scene." The purchase of the CanWest newspapers
and the Optipress chain followed.
Préfontaine is an almost ecclesiastical figure,
tall, slim with silver hair and enormously selfassured. He travels across the country from
acquisition to acquisition like a papal emissary
overseeing Rémi Marcoux's grand design in
publishing. Préfontaine brings a 32-year career
that spans all sides of the business.
He started as a reporter with La Tribune in
Sherbrooke, Quebec. After five years, he joined
Presse Canadienne, the French version of
Canadian Press, where he moved from
parliamentary correspondent up through the
ranks to vice-president of marketing in Toronto.
The challenge of rescuing Le Droit, a nearly
bankrupt French-language newspaper in Ottawa,
lured Préfontaine back into print. From that
success he gained the reputation of helping papers
in trouble. In 1990, he moved to the Southam
chain where he was operations manager at The
Whig-Standard in Kingston and then president
and publisher of The Windsor Star. He joined
Quebecor in 1994 to be vice-president of its daily
newspapers. In 1996, he left to become president
All across the country
we see media
conglomerates that
have monopolies on
information and ideas
in a community, region
and even province. In
the print world we have
the Irvings in New
Brunswick. Now
Transcontinental owns
both dailies and all
but a few weeklies in
Newfoundland and
Labrador. That
concentration of
ownership limits the
number of points of
view readers get at
the newsstand.
of Transcontinental's publishing division and
moved to Transcontinental Media in 2000.
At every acquisition, Préfontaine has promised
that Transcontinental will follow a policy of "strict
non-interference in the editorial operations of its
papers." This is a relief to reporters and editors at
former CanWest newspapers. You won't find
national editorials or edicts from head office in
Montreal. Transcontinental is big on local and
community. One per cent of the company's profits
goes to community events and causes. After
Hurricane Juan, $40,000 in profits from a
magazine went into relief effort. "To try to fill the
papers up with centralized stories that come from
elsewhere, would break the bond of trust between
the paper and the community," says Préfontaine.
Transcontinental doesn't have a record of
interfering with local editorial decisions and it
appears to take constructive criticism much
better than some other newspaper publishers. My
colleague Stephen Kimber has already tested the
waters. In a column in The Daily News, Kimber
criticized the Halifax paper for its congratulatory
front-page story about Transcontinental's
acquisition of the Optipress chain. He asked why
the story didn't address legitimate questions
about media concentration in the region and he
urged The Daily News to be forthcoming about
such questions. What a difference the change of
owner makes. In January 2002, Kimber
questioned editorial policies of the Aspers, the
then-owners of The Daily News. His column was
spiked and he quit writing for CanWest
newspapers. This time around, The Daily News
published Kimber's column, a sign that the editor
has the freedom to include diverse opinions.
There is, however, a limit to that freedom in
each newspaper as Bretton Loney, former editor of
The Daily News, found out. Last fall the company
stepped in and replaced Loney with Jane Purves
— a smart and feisty former managing editor of
the rival Halifax Chronicle Herald and defeated
Tory MLA and former cabinet minister. Loney is
still at the paper as a columnist.
Préfontaine insists the editorial change had
nothing to do with circulation or revenues. "We
were not dissatisfied with what was going on," he
says. "We are just fixated on our goal. We are
committed to making this paper No1 in HRM and
we will do what it takes to achieve that goal.
"We felt that Jane would bring us farther along
faster to where we want to be in our long-term
strategy for the Daily News."
Transcontinental sells itself as a good corporate
citizen, providing communities with local news
coverage free of editorial interference from head
office in Montreal and that's a fine thing. Big is not
necessarily bad. What is bad is when media
concentration dries up choices at the local
newsstand. This concentration means a company
has a monopoly on information and ideas without
competition from another newspaper in town.
The other side of media concentration is an
economic monopoly where one company owns
the printing presses.
All across the country we see media
conglomerates that have monopolies on
information and ideas in a community, region
and even province. In the print world we have the
Irvings in New Brunswick. Now Transcontinental
owns both dailies and all but a few weeklies in
Newfoundland and Labrador. That concentration
of ownership limits the number of points of view
readers get at the newsstand. Transcontinental
may produce a solid newspaper (and, in many
communities, it does), but when it's the only one
for sale, that' a problem. It limits people's access to
As president of Transcontinental Media,
André Préfontaine has been at the helm of the
company’s biggest acquisitions.“We were looking
at ways to become a national publishing group,”
he says.
democratic debate and the choice to read
different points of view.
Predictably, Transcontinental doesn't share
that view. "In our opinion, having diverse and
multiple sources of information in the era of
the Internet and the proliferation of specialty
TV channels is one of the best ways to
guarantee the public's right to free and
quality information," Préfontaine told the
Standing Senate Committee on Transport
and Communications into media interests
last October.
Fewer people own the papers. Fewer
people also have control over the printing
presses. In the past, people who didn't like
what they were reading started their own
paper. But these days that's difficult, if not
impossible, especially when the competition
owns the presses and has the so-called
"synergies" when it comes to advertising
rates. Where can a dissenting voice find
another press? How can it offer advertisers
competitive rates? Even advertisers may find
themselves hostage to rising rates in a onepaper town. Transcontinental has promised
that it will not be increasing rates in Atlantic
Canada.
Transcontinental expects to save as much
as $4 million after it harmonizes operations
in Atlantic Canada.
The Optipress papers are moneymakers,
so it's unclear how and if Transcontinental
will fiddle with them. On the printing side,
Prefontaine says, "there's some substance to
being concerned" about what will happen.
Transcontinental will integrate the moneylosing Optipress printing operations into its
two existing plants in the region. Prefontaine
says some equipment will move, but he
promises "more work than before" as
regional plants begin printing national
flyers.
This is all fodder for the Senate committee
on the media when it comes to Atlantic
Canada sometime this year. Unfortunately,
there's not much the esteemed senators can
say or do about the Transcontinental deal.
It's done, and most of the changes will be in
place. "We do it in increments, we digest what
we have done, we integrate it, and then we
move on," Préfontaine explains. The next
horizon? He says Transcontinental has room
to grow, especially out west.
Kim Kierans is the director of the School of
Journalism at the University of King's College
in Halifax.
Editor's note: On Thursday, March 25,
days after Rémi Marcoux stepped down as
the company's chief executive, Transcontinental Media announced it was closing
two printing plants in Yarmouth and New
Minas, Nova Scotia. Ninety-three people will
lose their jobs — 70 in Yarmouth and 13 in
New Minas. The company will offer jobs to 50
employees at its new plant near Halifax
where it prints the Globe and Mail and
Halifax Daily News.
OPSEU Ad repeated
PHOTO CREDIT: Transcontinental
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
of some of Canada's largest newspapers and
magazines on unproven, disproven and just
plain silly therapies and products. They include
articles on: Essiac, the anti-cancer herbal drink
invented by a Canadian nurse; the benefits of
craniosacral therapy — a technique where the
fused plates in your skull are supposedly moved
around to help "balance" the rhythm of your
cerebrospinal fluid; the wonders of acupuncture
facelifts; and the benefits of a thorough bowel
cleansing to remove the toxins from your body.
The stories were, without exception, largely
uncritical. Some did not contain a single
criticism or challenge to the ideas promoted by
the alternative medicine practitioners, and
others included a halfhearted sentence or two to
the effect that the therapy is not acknowledged
or accepted by the mainstream medical or
scientific community.
Readers, viewers, listeners and reporters
might well ask: What's going on here? As
journalists, we pride ourselves on our
skepticism, our critical thinking skills and our
vigorous pursuit of the truth. We question
statements by politicians, police, government
officials and corporate spokespersons. We
double-check claims made by most people we
interview.
We work hard to get multiple sources on
stories and we seek out other points of view to
provide balance and fairness in the stories we
write. And that's as it should be.
When people make claims that crime rates
are down or that shareholder value is up, we
demand evidence — reports, studies and
statistics — before we run with a story that
contains controversial information.
So why should it be any different when we
tackle stories involving alternative health claims
and other science and pseudo-scientific topics?
Too often, it seems, we toss out the regular rules
of journalism. And, it's not as if information on
these subjects was not readily available.
Craniosacral therapy was the subject of an
extensive report by the British Columbia Office
of Technology Assessment, which concluded
that there was no evidence to support the theory
or the efficacy of the therapy. Essiac has been
the subject of several studies and reviews, none
of which have shown that it is an effective cancer
treatment. A little background reading would
reveal that the notion that your bowels build up
I
toxic waste and need periodic "purification" is
an idea that was discarded by scientific
medicine about a century ago. All of this
information — including full-text studies — is
available online, only a Google search and a few
keystrokes away.
The problem is not information, but rather
attitude and approach. I would suggest there are
a number of reasons why uncritical and
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.
misleading stories like these are regularly
published or broadcast by the mainstream
media.
THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE
The stories I've mentioned did not appear in
the hard-news sections of the paper. They were
considered "soft news" and appeared in the
pages devoted to lifestyle trends, food, health
and wellness. Many editors consider these
"light" stories, lively, interesting articles to
attract readers to the weekend edition of the
paper or the features section of the newscast.
But how are readers supposed to know the
"rules" of hard and soft news? More importantly,
shouldn't reporters apply the same basic rules to
all stories?
BUT THEY LIKE IT
Editors know that Canadians are interested
(in no small part, because they hear about it in
the media) in alternative medicine and fringe
science topics such as UFO, parapsychology and
paranormal phenomena. Canadians spend
approximately $3.8 billion on alternative health
care a year. Media outlets must cater to their
audiences, and taking a nonjudgmental
approach seems a safe bet. Telling people
regularly that they have stupid ideas and are
wasting their money is probably not good for
business. At smaller papers or in specialty
magazines, there may also be some fear of
offending advertisers.
WHO KNOWS FROM SCIENCE?
Many reporters (myself included) ran
screaming from high school algebra and
calculus classes and considered chemistry and
physics courses only slightly less enjoyable than
the stomach flu. Though some journalism
schools offer a course in science or medical
reporting, it is seldom, if ever, compulsory. The
result? A lot of journalists are no more literate in
the sciences than most people. With the
exception of full-time science and medicine
reporters — who seldom write the "soft" stories
anyway — most reporters have spotty scientific
knowledge, and know almost nothing about the
scientific method and the nature of evidence.
For example, a 1990 poll of managing editors of
American daily newspapers by Professor
Michael Zimmerman of Oberlin College in Ohio
found that about half of the editors were not
sure whether dinosaurs and humans lived on
earth at the same time and at least 30 per cent
thought the earth might only be six to 20
thousand years old. (It's between four and five
billion years old). If most reporters don't
understand the nature of evidence, the
importance of controlled studies and the role of
critical scientific thinking (and neither do most
editors), then it's unlikely that anyone will raise
the red flag on a dubious story.
THE TESTIMONIAL
Journalists love anecdotes. The personal story
is the cornerstone of good reporting — putting
a human face on a science or medicine article is
the key to good storytelling. Unfortunately,
anecdotal evidence and testimonials are almost
useless when it comes to figuring out whether a
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 "individualagainst-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
science works. There are 50,000 scientific
journals in the world. People who say they
cannot get their work published are either liars
or cranks or both.
I'M JUST REPORTING ON IT
"That's what they said." This is a common
refrain among reporters when they're
questioned about a story filled with dubious
claims. Barrett calls stories in which the
reporter repeats the proponent's claims, without
attempting to show whether they are true or
not, "mindless articles." Reporters must
investigate claims, check credentials, verify
facts, and seek supporting or contradictory
information. Also, reporters need to make sure
they are not just going through the motions
when they get a scientist or doctor to say, "It's
bunk." It's important to explain why the remedy
or therapy is dismissed or regarded with
skepticism by experts. It's a lot of work, but to
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.
SOME TIPS THAT MAY HELP REPORTERS
1.
The burden of proof for any claim rests with the person making the claim.You can ask:
Where's the evidence? Is it in a peer-reviewed journal? If not, why not?
2.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. How big is the claim? Reversing
diabetes? Meeting alien life forms? How good is the evidence? Testimonials and
anecdotes don't cut it if you are claiming to cure cancer.
3.
Find out what the critics say. Investigate the claims and check what research has
already been done. Talk to doctors and scientists from reputable organizations.
4.
Avoid "bogus balance." Lining up one craniosacral therapist against one mainstream
neurologist suggests to readers that there's a simple difference of opinion between
credible experts and they can take their pick. It's crucial to provide context. If an
alternative theory or treatment contradicts most of known science and the vast
majority of experts in that field reject it, make that clear to the reader. To do otherwise
is misleading.
5.
Do the basics. Follow up anecdotes. Check credentials. Follow the money. A soft story
promoting a quack cure is not nearly as good as an investigative story exposing it.
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
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
Cameron struggle with the same
fundamental questions asked by Joe Howe
during his famous trial for freedom of the press in
1835 — "What is right? What is just? What is for
the public good?"
These three investigative reporters have gone
from reporting the story to being the story.
Two hundred people pack the Alumni Hall for
the 25th anniversary symposium of the University
of King's College School of Journalism in Halifax.
The theme for the day is "From Joe Howe to
Journalism School: Democracy & Journalism in
the 21st Century."
It's a sunny Saturday on the 20th of March, the
first day of spring.
"All three of this afternoon's panellists are
essentially locked in the same battle; it is the battle
of the state versus a free press," says CBC producer
Lisa Taylor, who is moderating the discussion.
Having these three well-known journalists
together in the same room provides a rare
opportunity for the journalism students in the
audience to hear directly from professionals who
have figured prominently in their recent classroom
discussions.
From the beginning, the atmosphere of the
panel is charged with emotion. Sensing this, the
audience grows still with expectation.
Juliet O'Neill speaks first.
A senior writer with the Ottawa Citizen, O'Neill
is a 30-year veteran reporter, having served as a
foreign correspondent in Washington, London and
Moscow.
"The confidence that we can go about our work
as usual has been shattered for me," says O'Neill,
her voice quivering."Who would dream,well it was
more of a nightmare, that 20 RCMP officers and
investigators would invade your home and office?"
They searched everything from her floppy disks
and hard drives to her love letters and lingerie
drawers.
O'Neill refers to the events of Jan. 21, 2004. On
that date, the RCMP were looking for the source of
information behind O'Neill's Nov. 8 article relating
to Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen deported to
Syria by U.S. authorities.
"Also shattered since that day — my private
life, the sense of my home as a private sanctuary,
the assumption that my telephone conversations
and e-mail correspondence are private, that the
A
files in my office, in the drawers, and my virtual
files on my computers at the office and in my
home, my laptop, are my own," says O'Neill.
It is now a crime, under the Security of
Information Act, to communicate, receive or
possess secret information that has been
entrusted to any person holding office under Her
Majesty.
"But I have to underline that Section 4 of the
Security Act that was cited in the warrants in my
"People with power
can do incredibly
powerful things to
make your life
miserable."
— Andrew McIntosh,
National Post
"It's still unfathomable
to me that the everyday
work of reporting and
writing can be deemed
a crime punishable by
up to 14 years in prison."
— Juliet O'Neill,
the Ottawa Citizen
"My encounter with
the RCMP has been a
disaster for me and
I will never talk to the
police again."
— Stevie Cameron,
author
case are word for word from the dusty old 1939
Official Secrets Act, which was a law intended to
catch German spies and communist traitors, preWorld War II," says O'Neill.
No charges have been laid to date, but the
threat of prosecution has not yet been removed.
The case is before the courts and the Ottawa
Citizen and its parent company, CanWest Global
Communications, have vowed to fight "with guns
blazing."
The Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, CBC and
CTV are all intervening in the case, an indication
of how important this case is for the future of the
freedom of the press in Canada.
"It's still unfathomable to me that the everyday
work of reporting and writing can be deemed a
crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison,"
says O'Neill.
She works hard at controlling her voice, but the
stress and hurt of the past eight weeks still show.
Seldom smiling, she wears an air of sadness.
Following O'Neill on the agenda is Andrew
McIntosh. A three-time National Newspaper
Award winner, McIntosh is a senior writer and
investigative reporter for the National Post.
"I want to tell you about how a brown envelope
I received in April 2001 became a nightmare for
me, for my family, and one that continues more
than three years later," says McIntosh.
That plain brown envelope contained a
document that alleged impropriety on the part of
former prime minister Jean Chrétien. The right to
protect the source of that plain brown envelope
was upheld by Madam Justice Mary Lou Benotto
of the Ontario Superior Court on Jan. 21, 2004,
coincidentally the same day the RCMP came to
call on Juliet O'Neill. (Please see Dean Jobb's
column on page eight).
"But this symposium is not about the Benotto
ruling, but journalism and democracy, and I feel
they are symbiotic," says McIntosh. "Good
journalism cannot survive without a strong
democracy and a strong democracy cannot
survive without good journalism that shows no
fear and no favour."
It is the job of investigative reporters to help
people understand, even as officials and
politicians sometimes try to cloud or confuse the
issues, McIntosh says.
"People with power can do incredibly powerful
things to make your life miserable."
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.
O'Neill, sitting on his left, hands him a Kleenex
and Stevie Cameron, on his right, lays a
supportive hand on his back.
The National Post has already spent close to
half a million dollars on legal costs for the
McIntosh case. The Globe and Mail, Bell Globe
Media and the CBC are also interveners in the
case.
"Media organizations are not letting
themselves get picked on alone," says Cameron,
author and one of Canada's foremost
investigative journalists.
"It's good to band together when you're under
attack."
Freelance journalists don't have liability
insurance and they don't have the National Post
or other media corporations to back them up.
"I pay my own legal bills," says Cameron. "I
have been a freelancer, for the most part, for the
past 15 years. I pay for all of this myself. I don't
have banks of newspaper lawyers and other
lawyers to assist me. I have three lawyers that
have been working with me since November, and
I've covered those costs myself."
Since November, those costs have amounted to
$50,000, she says. She refers to the Eurocopter
case, where she is in court because she has been
identified as a secret RCMP informant.
"One of the things I'd like to raise is the effect
of what's happened to me on reporters and the
police," says Cameron. "I think it's a really
important issue. I've been called by eight to 10
reporters over the last few weeks to tell me how
my case has affected their work."
She says one reporter, for example, called her
to say that a series he had worked on for months
and months had been cancelled by his editors
because he had received information from, and
swapped information with, the police, and his
editors realized there was no way they could
afford to have any disclosure.
"Reporters are now telling me that stories
A FIGHT AGAINST THE COPS: “All three of this afternoon’s panellists (Stevie Cameron on the left,Andrew
McIntosh in the centre and Juliet O’Neill on the right) are essentially locked in the same battle; it is the battle of
the state versus a free press,” says CBC producer Lisa Taylor (at the podium), who is moderating the discussion.
where they traded any information with the
police, where they got information, where the
police leaked stuff to them — that material —
those stories will probably never appear now,"
she says. "And I think this is going to change
investigative work in this country forever."
Cameron says her problem was she didn't
know about the Supreme Court's Stinchcombe
ruling when she first spoke to the RCMP in 1995.
She was told the conversation was off-the-record
and that they were talking to all the journalists
who had worked on the story. She says the
information she gave them was already out there
in the public eye in her book.
The Stinchcombe ruling requires Crown
attorneys and police to disclose all the evidence
they have against an accused. Cameron says any
conversation, no matter how casual, a reporter
has with police is recorded and kept on file and
will be disclosed if a case goes to trial.
"I did it for the same reason that the rest of us
did it — because I wanted a scoop," says
Cameron.
She has been criticized by many of her peers
who say it is not the role of a journalist to supply
information to the police because sources will
not talk to reporters if they think the information
they provide is not confidential.
Since her hearing has been delayed until May,
Cameron says she can't really discuss specifics.
She does say, however, that she has disclosed
everything that has come out about her case
publicly.
"It was my decision, when we found out that at
one point I had been labelled a confidential
informant, I'm the one who released that
information," says Cameron. "I talked to my
lawyers about it, and we decided that the only way
through this was to tell the truth at every point."
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Creagen
As a result of her experience, Cameron has
some advice for students.
"Never talk to the police." The audience laughs.
"I actually mean that," she says. "My encounter
with the RCMP has been a disaster for me and I
will never talk to the police again."
Cameron, who has spent the last two years
working on a book in British Columbia about
alleged serial killer Robert William Picton, says
she hasn't spoken to the police once during this
period of time. She seems jaded and the impact
of her experience is evident as she tells the
audience, "I'll take a serial killer over a politician
any day."
Three stories — three journalists — the
walking wounded.
A thunderous applause erupts as a burly,
white-haired gentleman, a local artist, says the
audience is looking at three candidates for the Joe
Howe award for courage.
"The spirit of Joe Howe is definitely alive here
today," he says.
People are moved by the presentation. More
than one is heard to comment on how open the
panellists have been.
"They were very brave," one lady says.
"It's one of the most powerful presentations
I've ever attended," says a student as he leaves the
room.
Joseph Howe challenged his jurors "to leave an
unshackled press as a legacy to your children."
The struggle for the freedom of the press
continues.
Mike and Linda Whitehouse are mature students
in the University of King's College School of
Journalism. Having retired from careers in education
and banking, they will be leaving this summer to
travel and write aboard their 32' sailboat, Masai.
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
profound implications for anyone doing
computer-assisted reporting in Canada.
On it hangs a basic question that has been
tossed around for years but never quite resolved:
is information about individuals that is by law
public in paper form, by extension public in
electronic form?
A Toronto collection agency is taking on the
province's property assessor in a case that could
decide the issue in Ontario and in other
provinces with similar legislation.
Security Recovery Group made a request
under the Municipal Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Act for a copy of the
assessment roll for the province. The roll
contains millions of records detailing the
assessed value of properties, as well as the
names of the owners, sizes of the lots, whether
the taxpayers direct school taxes to public or
Roman Catholic schools and a wealth of other
information.
The same details have always been available
to view at municipal halls across the province to
anyone who asks. But an electronic copy of the
entire roll has not been available since the
Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
(MPAC) stopped selling it in 2000, citing privacy
concerns.
MPAC is jointly owned by Ontario
municipalities and took over the job of property
assessment from the Ontario government in the
1990s.
The president of Security Recovery Group,
Royce Charles-Dunne, wants to use the data to
hunt down judgement debtors (those against
whom a court judgement has been entered) as
well as to find properties that debtors may be
trying to keep hidden from creditors. His
company does not do small consumer
collections, but focuses its attention on large
debtors.
Charles-Dunne filed a freedom of
information request and MPAC said no. It felt
releasing the entire roll would be an
unreasonable invasion of privacy. It takes this
position even though the information is
currently available, albeit divided up in paper
records at hundreds of municipal halls.
MPAC maintains the Assessment Act only
intends for the information to be available for
viewing during regular office hours. It contends
A
allowing the release of a searchable, electronic
version would allow criminals to use the data to
stalk women or pick out expensive homes for
customized robberies.
Charles-Dunne appealed MPAC's decision to
the provincial information and privacy
commissioner, which ordered the data released.
The commissioner's office holds that since the
Assessment Act requires the information to be
public at town halls, it is public for the purposes
of the FOI legislation.
MPAC maintains the
Assessment Act only
intends for the
information to be
available for viewing
during regular office
hours. It contends
allowing the release of a
searchable, electronic
version would allow
criminals to use the data
to stalk women or pick
out expensive homes for
customized robberies.
MPAC didn't accept that ruling, and made an
application for judicial review to the Divisional
Court of Ontario. I won't get into the convoluted
legal details of the case. But at the core of
MPAC's argument is the alleged threat to
personal privacy, as well as lost opportunities
for the assessor to sell portions of the data for
profit. The case went before a panel of three
judges on February 10. They will issue a written
ruling later.
This case is crucial for those of us doing
computer-assisted reporting and seeking access
to electronic versions of public registry
databases. The assessment database alone could
be a gold mine of stories, including
investigations into the accuracy of the
valuations.
MPAC seeks the absurd outcome that a record
completely open at municipal halls should be
inaccessible once compiled into one electronic
version. There is a delicious irony in this matter
beyond the fact many journalists will end up
cheering a collection agency.
While assistant information and privacy
commissioner Tom Mitchinson ruled in
Charles-Dunne's favour this time, it wasn't long
ago that he shared MPAC's view that the release
of electronic versions of such public data sets a
fundamental threat to personal privacy.
The argument generally goes like this: the
original statutes that made the information
public never contemplated their being made
available in a searchable, electronic format. Such
technology didn't even exist.
As the logic goes, misuse of the data is
difficult when you have to look at statistics one
entry at a time in a paper format at hundreds of
municipal halls. But add in the power of the
computer, and the invasion of privacy becomes
infinitely greater. Paternalistic bureaucrats are
then needed to protect us from our own
information.
This argument sounds compelling, until you
realize that most information is now held in
electronic form. The world has moved on from
the simpler time contemplated by the original
statutes, and so must we. Given the fact
individuals with enough time on their hands
can use a scanner to convert paper records to
electronic form, even the distinction between
paper and electronic records is fast
disappearing. And there is nothing to stop
criminals from going to the appropriate
municipal hall and finding out about people's
properties. That is a small price we pay for living
in an open society and not in the old Soviet
Union.
The fundamental truth that once something
is public in one form, it is public — period —
was recognized by the same divisional court
when it overturned Mitchinson's earlier ruling
denying Toronto Star reporter Phinjo Gombu
access to an electronic copy of civic election
contributions. In that case, the only difference
between the electronic record and the paper
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
warrants 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
anti-terrorism laws. We need to prepare for a
review of this legislation, later this year.
Our aim should be to develop specific, practical
ways to instill the spirit of Benotto's ruling into
the security legislation through new language and
procedures.
To get the conversation rolling, I propose that
journalists ask lawmakers to insert into the
security act a section that explicitly protects
journalistic activity from the law's open-ended
list of actions deemed "prejudicial" to the national
interest. The section should say several things.
First, the section should state that the security
act does not abridge the constitutional right of a
free press, nor restrict the press as public
watchdog on those who govern. The section
should also state that the act is not intended to
target news-gathering activities, or the use of
confidential sources.
The idea of a "journalism exception" section is
not new. Privacy laws in several provinces contain
clauses that permit a violation of privacy if there
are reasonable grounds to believe that any matter
published was of public interest.
In Saskatchewan, the privacy act protects news
gatherers. For example, it says an action is not a
violation of privacy if "such act … was reasonable
O
A PROMISE WAS A PROMISE: When Jean Chrétien ran for office in 1993, he promised
that his Liberal government would introduce whistleblowing legislation. For those who
have dragged their heels on whistleblower laws in Canada, we can point to the Liberal
sponsorship scandal, or the removal from office of the federal privacy commissioner.
in the circumstances and was necessary … to
ordinary news gathering activities."
I propose further that journalists insist that a
revised security law recognize the right of news
media to special consideration by the justice
system. Except in special cases, judges should
allow media lawyers to be present at search
warrant applications against their clients. Media
lawyers should be able to quickly appeal
judgments against their clients — to get a second
judicial opinion — prior to a police raid.
The public should be able to learn the judge's
general reasons for granting a search warrant
against a journalist, and why he or she thought the
action fell under the act. These special procedures
are necessary to monitor the use, or misuse, of
security laws.
The principle that should guide reform of the
security laws is this: No action should be taken
against news media unless it can be shown, upon
proper judicial review, that the activities in
question are a clear and present danger to
national security. Only if we move in this direction
will security laws be subject to independent and
PHOTO CREDIT: Ottawa Citizen/Bruno Schlumberger
open judicial review, in a manner consistent with
a free press and the public's right to know. If, in
the end, a review of security laws is not
satisfactory, we must consider testing the
constitutional basis of the laws before the
Supreme Court of Canada.
Obtaining the required changes to Canada's
security and terrorism laws will require a
coalition of journalists, associations, educators,
groups with similar concerns (such as the
Canadian Bar Association) and members of the
public. A committee of the Canadian Association
of Journalists, of which I am the chair, has written
ethical guidelines for investigative journalism.
These guidelines could provide the ethical basis
for a presentation by journalists to reviewers of
the security act.
Concerted action has changed or defeated laws
in the past. About three years ago, reasoned and
persistent opposition from editors and lawyers
helped to kill a badly drafted New Brunswick
privacy law that threatened grave restrictions on
news gathering.
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
A casket with the remains of Corporal Jamie Brendan Murphy is repatriated back to Canada
by members of The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) during a ceremony in
Trenton, Ontario. He was 26 and had he lived, he would be home now. His six-month
rotation was almost up.
've had one of those television moments that
captivated a nation. It began with the death of
a single soldier. On January 27th, 2004, a
suicide bomber threw himself at a jeep full of
Canadian soldiers on patrol in Kabul. There was
one fatality — Corporal Jamie Murphy. He was 26
and had he lived, he would be home now. His sixmonth rotation was almost up.
Jamie Murphy grew up in Conception Harbour,
Newfoundland. His parents’ house is a 45-minute
I
drive from St. John's. Just hours after Jamie was
killed, I was knocking on their door.
Mr. Murphy's eyes were wet as he opened the
door. He invited me in. I was so nervous I forgot to
introduce myself. I just started offering
condolences and apologizing for intruding on
them at a time when they were in so much
anguish. One of the women said, "Who are you?" I
remember sputtering, "I'm Glenn Deir with CBC
Television in St. John's," and after that it gets a bit
PHOTO CREDIT: DND/Corporal Gayle Wilson
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.
He got up from the couch and left the room.
The three women immediately closed ranks.
They sat closer together. Yes, there were tears,
but not many. The women were thoughtful and
articulate. I ended the interview by thanking
them and saying that whatever we put on the
air I hoped I would do it justice.
Afterwards I was on the couch, again holding
Mrs. Murphy's hand and stroking her back. She
was leaning into her daughter, weeping. We
shot a few photographs — the most striking
was a smart portrait of Jamie after he
graduated from boot camp. He was so young
The death of a soldier
and handsome. I'm sure everything I asked of
them only increased their sorrow. But they
never said no. They were unfailingly generous
and kind.
As we pulled into the CBC parking lot, the
resources producer was waiting at the door.
The whole country wanted the interview. We
were escorted to the feed suite.
Within moments of receiving it, Newsworld
decided to run the entire 10-minute interview,
Jamie Murphy was buried
with full military honours
in his hometown…
Jamie's sister Rosemary
was still there. I shook her
hand and told her again
how sad I was for what
had happened… She
hugged me. This woman
who bared her soul on
television in her darkest
hour at my request hugged
me…That hug is the most
decent thing anyone has
ever done for me.
unedited. By the time I got back upstairs to the
newsroom, the phone calls and e-mails had
started. The head of the news desk in Toronto
was on the phone telling me that people in the
newsroom stopped what they were doing and
watched. Jaded journalists were crying. The
reaction kept coming all day. I had notes from
close friends; I had notes from people I've
never met. All of them offering
congratulations and commending me for
treating the family with dignity. I wondered
whether I deserved the kind comments. I had
put a distraught family on television in raw
pain. It didn't seem very dignified.
That evening on our Canada Now news
program, we ran the Murphy family interview.
We were afraid of viewer backlash and thought
an interview with me would soften any
negative reaction. The anchor asked how the
interview came about. I began by telling her,
"The longest walk a reporter will ever take is to
a house with a grieving family inside." I guess
I struck the right chord with the audience. We
didn't receive a single complaint. The next
morning at the YMCA, people were stopping
me to say how much they appreciated the
interview and the respect I showed the family.
I'm not a religious man, but I think do unto
others as you would have them do unto you is
a good rule to use in these situations. On that
day it got me through. The family's interview
with me was the only television interview they
gave. I wondered what they thought of it.
A week later at Conway's Funeral Home, Mr.
Murphy shook my hand. Rod Ryan, Jamie's
brother-in-law, told me the family thought the
interview was fine. Still, I had pangs of anxiety
because I hadn't spoken to any of the three
women.
Jamie Murphy was buried with full military
honours in his hometown. We brought a satellite
truck to Conception Harbour and I did a live
insert into our newscast. As the crew was
breaking down the gear, I went to the church hall.
Jamie's sister Rosemary was still there. I shook
her hand and told her again how sad I was for
what had happened. She didn't quite recognize
me. "You're the reporter who did the interview
with us." "Yes I am. How was it?" "I didn't see it,
but I hear it was good." She hugged me. This
woman who bared her soul on television in her
darkest hour at my request hugged me. It meant
more to me than all the accolades from my peers.
That hug is the most decent thing anyone has
ever done for me.
I've covered many deaths over the years. None
touched me as much as Jamie Murphy's. How
different it would have been had Mr. Murphy
simply closed the door in my face.
Making a case for assessment records
It’s time for journalists to speak up...
filings by candidates was the electronic record
contained home phone numbers. The court didn't
think that was a significant enough invasion of
privacy to warrant withholding the entire
database.
Mitchinson, who is generally a highly-regarded
and fair adjudicator, was forced to change his tune
on the issue of bulk electronic records.
Interestingly, the commissioner's office was set
to take the Gombu decision to the court of appeal
until it suddenly dropped its appeal last year.
And while the information commissioner's
office is now vigorously making the argument for
openness in the new judicial review, CharlesDunne muses whether the office might in fact still
hold to its original view and might secretly be
hoping to lose the appeal in his case,which has less
attractive optics than an appeal by a journalist.
Not surprisingly, the office dismissed that as
"wild speculation," but one certainly does have to
marvel at the 180-degree turn in Mitchinson's
viewpoint.
I guess the proof will be in whether the office
appeals if it loses.
In any case, once the divisional court rules in
the new judicial review — and that result may well
be known by the time Media magazine goes to
press — an appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal
is expected no matter which side wins. A further
appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada is also
possible.
This case has the potential to set the law for
years to come and I for one am rooting for Royce
Charles-Dunne, collection agent or not.
Ultimately, the issue of security law review
goes far beyond the O'Neill raid. The issue is part
of a broader struggle to maintain open societies
in a climate of uncertainty. Since the late 1990s,
national security laws have been introduced in
country after country, weakening freedom-ofinformation laws. Spurious appeals to national
security have repeatedly prevented the release of
politically embarrassing information.
For those who once assured us that new
security laws would never be abused in Canada,
we can now point to the O'Neill raid. For those
who have dragged their heels on whistleblower
laws in Canada, we can point to the Liberal
sponsorship scandal, or the removal from office
of the federal privacy commissioner.
We need a wide public dialogue over Canada's
laws of national security, so hastily introduced
after Sept. 11th, 2001. This dialogue should be
informed by a vigorous public-policy journalism
that investigates the implications of these laws,
and the agencies that implement them.
Journalists should help citizens oversee their
nation's security sector.
Impartial journalists are chary of talk about
coalitions and lobbying. Rightfully so. But they
should not shrink from defending the principles
of their democracy — the very principles that
allow objective reporting and investigative
journalism to exist.
An active, critical stance is necessary if
Canadians want to achieve a better balance
between the legitimate need for national security
and the equally legitimate need for a free press
and self-governing citizens.
Fred Vallance-Jones is a special reports writer at
the Hamilton Spectator and teaches CAR and
investigative journalism at Toronto's Ryerson
University.
Glenn Deir is a reporter for CBC Television's
Canada Now. He is based in St. John's.
Stephen J.A. Ward is a columnist for Media
magazine. He also teaches at the University of
British Columbia's School of Journalism.
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Spring 2004 - Canadian Association of Journalists

Transcription

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