These are the stories we’re watching this week. Here is your Weekly Wire:
- BuzzFeed Canada editor Craig Silverman is returning to his “Regret the Error” days. On top of his duties at BuzzFeed’s Toronto office, he’ll be spearheading coverage of journalism as the company’s new media editor. He told Fortune that, instead of focusing on legacy media news, he’ll be diving into digital trends—like the proliferation of false news, which the RRJ’s Emma Poisson covered last week, and the ways social media platforms are changing how we consume news coverage.
- Both the Canadian Press and the Toronto Star have fallen into lockstep with a multitude of news organizations—from Thinkprogress to the Associated Press—on how to accurately describe the alt-right. CP updated its style guide last week, cautioning reporters to use the term “sparingly” and emphasize its illegitimacy. Kathy English, the Star’s public editor, also called on her newsroom to identify the alt-right as a movement focused on white supremacy—and, by extension, racism. Look out for more on this from the RRJ later this week.
- Respected Canadian photojournalist Ed Ou tried flying from Vancouver to the United States to cover the Standing Rock protests in October. Instead, U.S. border agents confiscated the SIM cards from his cell phones, copied pages from his notebooks, denied him entry to the Land of the Free—and refused to explain why. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a formal complaint—but searching the devices of incoming travelers for the purpose of “security compliance” is legal under U.S. law.
- The CBC is continuing its attempts to secure federal money in order to go ad-free. However, some private media companies are calling for the CBC to be reigned in, citing its ever-growing digital presence as a problem. Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch has thrown her hat into the debate as well, calling for the CBC to be completely dismantled, with the exception of departments servicing rural and remote areas.
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About the author
This is a joint byline for the Ryerson Review of Journalism. All content is produced by students in their final year of the graduate or undergraduate program at the Ryerson School of Journalism.
