Blog by John Miller

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Wente must go

April 26th, 2016
So let's call this Wentegate: The Sequel.Once again, the Globe and Mail has been forced to correct and apologize for the ethical transgressions of its most prominent commentator, Margaret Wente.And once again, it has handled the problem in a less than satisfactory manner.Two correction/apologies published in today's paper address what the Globe calls errors in attribution in columns written b ...
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Let's be accountable

December 4th, 2015
In case you haven't heard (and I'm sure you haven't), Canada has a new national body to hear complaints about what you think is wrong in newspapers, magazines and online news sites. It's called the National NewsMedia Council, and it describes itself as an amalgamation of the old Ontario, Atlantic and British Columbia press councils. But that's not really correct: It's replacing the British ...
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The Hall of Shame

November 26th, 2015
Even Paul Godfrey seemed surprised when he was installed in Canada's News Hall of Fame this week. "I was quite surprised," he said in his acceptance speech. "I'm not a journalist, I don't pretend to be a journalist." The man should not be surprised about another development, though -- the negative reaction his "honour" is receiving among many journalists. As CEO of Postmedia Network Canada ...
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Bye bye newspapers

November 10th, 2015
Way back in the 1980s, Canadian publisher Stuart Keate said that being in the newspaper business doesn't make much sense. "Ask yourself: is there another business quite like it? Where the product may vary widely, in size and content, from day to day, but always sells for a fixed price? Where, having gone through a sophisticated laser system straight out of NASA, it is handed over to a tw ...
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A PR disaster

October 28th, 2014
If Jian Gomeshi was still on the air, he'd be all over this story. That's what Q did best. It explored the intersections of interesting and emerging cultural trends. Like why a star has to lose his job because of what he does in his private life. Like what are the limits of consent in sexual relationships. Like when pandering to your friends on Facebook can help you and when it can be absolut ...
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Brave new media?

March 31st, 2014
Just the other day (Saturday, as a matter of fact) the three leading news stories posted at Vice News Canada were, in order:1. How to save mummies from the Egyptian revolution2. Guinea bans bat meat to stop the spread of Ebola3. 2013 was a big year for executionsWhy is this important? None of it is news, as news is traditionally defined. But it leads the day on one of the fastest growing news ...
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Ford's nemesis

November 3rd, 2013
Seems there's a street gang operating out of the mayor of Toronto's office.The only good news? Rob Ford appears to be the "brains."Uncovering his abuse of high office is the highest achievement of a year of intense media scrutiny, culminating in a judge this week releasing hundreds of pages of unprecedented police surveillance of the after-hours behaviour of the mayor of North America's fourt ...
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Lack of trust

October 19th, 2013
Does the public have the faintest clue about how journalism works? Or does it understand all too well, and finds it wanting? Who is responsible for articulating journalism's value to society, and ensuring that our media are operating ethically and in the public interest?It's a question raised by the Ontario Press Council in its recent ruling endorsing the Toronto Star's controversial story of ...
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Dropping the ball

September 9th, 2013
  I am attending the long-awaited Toronto Star-Rob Ford "show trial." The Ontario Press Council is holding it in a room at Ryerson University that honours the university's major benefactors. "Toronto Star" is engraved in the second row from the top. Not exactly neutral ground.The trial itself? Not exactly what anyone would call a fair fight.Rob Ford was a no-show, of course, as we kne ...
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Back from the dead

August 25th, 2013
With so many newspapers failing or in financial difficulty, it's a pleasure to welcome some back from the dead. Next month, several downtown Toronto neighbourhoods will again receive their Town Crier, a monthly tabloid that ceased publication in May after the paper's parent company, Multimedia Nova, was placed in receivership.Now it's being relaunched as an independent publication by a group ...
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