Historians sometimes speak of a “usable past,” a common narrative about the events that brought us here and why we’re a “we” at all. This commonality is seen as essential to creating a sense of community or nationhood. Frankly, Canadians should be more concerned about maintaining a usable present. With[Read More…]
Tag: media
Thinking before you speak in a digital age
The comment sections of online articles offer a variety of contributions, ranging from bigotry to thoughtful insights. Of course, the purpose of comment sections is to foster productive discussion on the article at hand, which, unfortunately, sometimes does not happen. Different publications are considering ways to referee discussions on their[Read More…]
Communicating climate change in Canada
On Feb. 2, Media@McGill hosted a panel discussion on the role of journalism in effectively communicating climate change. NASA recently revealed that 2016 was the hottest year in history and the third record year in a row—the first time such a pattern has occurred since climate data collection began. Despite[Read More…]
Eva Bartlett in Montreal: ‘Mainstream media is lying’ in Syria coverage
On Jan. 28, the freelance and sometimes controversial Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett spoke at the Montreal Delta Hotel. The event was part of her nationwide tour on the Syrian Civil War and alleged misreporting by Western media. Bartlett, whose work has been published on independent watchdog journalism website MintPress News,[Read More…]
Bill Clinton needs to exit the political discussion
On Oct. 7, Presidential candidate Donald Trump released an apology for his misogynistic comments in an infamous 2005 tape, which records him bragging to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women. However, his apology merely brushed off the incident as “locker-room talk” while shifting the focus onto Bill[Read More…]
2016 Lorne Trottier Symposium on Science and the Media discusses the challenge of pseudoscience in reporting
Today it might be bacon, but tomorrow it could be avocados; the public has a macabre obsession with searching for things that may kill us. In the Age of Anxiety, it’s easy to get lost in all the opinions thrown around as fact in the media. The Lorne Trottier Symposium[Read More…]
The media on life, death, and the late Rob Ford
The media has a habit of praising public figures upon death, even—and perhaps especially—when they were criticized in life. Media coverage of Rob Ford’s death has been markedly different from how he was covered as mayor of Toronto. Ford was caught smoking crack cocaine, denied it, and then finally admitted[Read More…]
The timely demise of PostMedia
If a tree falls in a forest when no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Two weeks ago, 90 journalists from PostMedia Network Inc., Canada’s largest newspaper chain, were fired in the latest blow of its ongoing struggle to stay afloat. Along with the layoffs,[Read More…]
Food, Facts, & Fiction
Waiting patiently on the centre of a table sits a large bowl of homemade gravy, the warm smell of turkey-stuffing wafts through the room, and hot steam rises from the garlic mashed potatoes; it’s Thanksgiving. It is a perfect time to give thanks for what everyone truly loves—food. Dinner is[Read More…]