By ROBERT LIWANAG Staff Reporter Ryerson journalism professors who travelled to Tanzania and Liberia for projects organized by Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) say they encountered inspiring students eager to learn, societies hungry for news and university journalism programs that faced some daunting challenges. Ann Rauhala, an associate journalism professor and the associate director of the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre, spent five weeks in Tanzania, teaching a variety of classes and workshops at Tumaini University in Dar Es Salaam from March 11 to April 22. Journalist Dawn Cuthbertson, a Ryerson graduate, was the other member of the teaching team. Associate…
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By ROBERT LIWANAG Staff Reporter The public’s access to government information in Canada will only improve if existing legislation is reworked completely, Canada’s information commissioner told a conference at the Ryerson University School of Journalism. Suzanne Legault tabled a report to the House of Commons earlier this year that outlined 85 recommendations for modernizing Canada’s Access to Information Act. Her recommendations included allowing access to information requests for all branches of government (including the prime minister’s office), a statutory obligation to declassify information on a routine basis, limits on when the government can deny the existence of a record and…
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By ROBERT LIWANAG Staff Reporter Ryerson journalism professor Bill Reynolds has been nominated for two writing prizes for his non-fiction book about the rise and fall of a Canadian businessman who co-founded a company that processed payments for Internet gambling websites. The book, Life Real Loud: John Lefebvre, Neteller and the Revolution in Online Gambling (ECW Press, 2014), has been nominated for an Arthur Ellis Award for “Best Non-fiction Book,” which is presented annually by the non-profit organization Crime Writers of Canada. It has also been nominated for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for “True Crime.” This award aims…
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Hand students a camera and they’ll show you how they see the world in their own unique way, says Ryerson journalism photography instructor Peter Bregg. Bregg, an internationally-renowned photojournalist, gave this year’s Introductory Photojournalism – JRN 201 students several assignments designed to encourage creative perspectives on everyday situations and objects while allowing students to demonstrate lighting, shutter speed and aperture techniques learned in class. “Today’s reality is that everyone who works at a newspaper, who writes, is expected to take pictures once in a while,” he says, explaining why it’s important for journalism graduates to be skilled photographers. The best…
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By ROBERT LIWANAG Staff Reporter Legal strategies and government policies that undermine the public’s right to know will be examined by journalists, media lawyers, Canada’s information commissioner and the country’s former chief statistician when they meet at Ryerson University on May 8. The gathering – entitled “Flying Blind: The right to know, government obstruction and fixing access in Canada” – will feature four panel discussions. The first will examine the government’s failure to create information due to funding cuts for scientific research, the elimination of public surveys by agencies such as Statistics Canada and other decisions. Challenges related to access…