In a small room midway down a hallway at the University of Western Ontario sits a solitary journalist monitoring Canadian Press wires and writing and rewriting agricultural news. Judith Pratt is compiling Westex, Canada’s first news service adapted for the twoway electronic medium, videotex. Some of Western’s journalism students spend time in this second-floor newsroom… Continue reading The Latest Flash
Shooting Wars
When CBC’s Vietnam war correspondent Bill Cunningham left the plush surroundings of Phnom-Penh’s Royal Hotel in April, 1970, he knew he was taking a calculated risk. With his cameraman and an American reporter, he was setting out to document the presence of North Vietnamese troops in Cambodia. “The day was hot, dusty and sleepy. We… Continue reading Shooting Wars
The Creative Agonies of Ed Franklin
He had built him out of spaghetti. The great opera singer, Luciano Pavarottiwas nothing but a mass of noodles, long and stringy, oozing out of a classic black tuxedo. The cartoonist looked at his creation and almost smiled. He leaned back for a moment and glanced out the window of his studio in Clarence Square.… Continue reading The Creative Agonies of Ed Franklin
Hail and Farewell to the Whig
One day in September 1990 Neil Reynolds, the editor of The Whig~Standard of Kingston, Ontario, strode into the office of the publisher. Reynolds was an astute man and something had been bothering him for the last 10 days. Much as he had for 11 years as editor, he elected to share his concern with his… Continue reading Hail and Farewell to the Whig
Issues First, Journalism Second
he Monday evening at Revival is growing old. It must be hot on the crowded platform, where the mayor and his interrogators exist in close quarters beneath stage lights and a Spacing sign. David Miller is taking a swig from his water bottle between questions, the sound of TTC chimes signals when his airtime is… Continue reading Issues First, Journalism Second