Court finds tribunal secrecy unconstitutional in response to Star challenge

Ontario Superior Court declared as “invalid” provisions of Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act that delay or block public access to tribunal records. The province has one year to consider how to make its tribunal system more open and accessible to journalists and the public.

Full story

Steve Paikin cleared after investigation into allegation of inappropriate comment

Steve Paikin has been cleared of an allegation that he made an inappropriate sexual comment to a Toronto mayoral candidate during a business lunch in 2010the Star reports.
“An independent third-party investigation commissioned by TVO to examine allegations by Sarah Thomson has been completed,” TVO chief executive officer Lisa de Wilde said in a written statement released Friday. “The investigator found that the allegations were not substantiated and Mr. Paikin did not violate TVO policies. As such, the investigation is now closed.
“TVO is proud of the work of Steve Paikin, who has been at the centre of TVO’s journalism for more than 25 years.”
MORE

Attempt to organize the National Post newsroom fails

J-Sourse reports that an attempt to organize the National Post’s newsroom has failed after the Ontario Labour Relations Board delivered a ruling on a number of challenged ballots.
Seven names on management’s list of employees were challenged by the union in 2017. The final vote against joining the union -- CWA Canada -- was 32 to 31.
Full story

Former Rogers president Ken Whyte launches non-fiction publishing house, acquires small press

Kenneth Whyte, former president of Rogers Publishing Ltd. and past editor of Maclean’s and the National Post, announced this week that he is launching a publishing venture that represents a departure from his decades in journalism, Becky Toyne writes in the Globe and Mail. The Sutherland House, will release its first books in early 2019.

The press will be devoted to the publication of literary non-fiction, with books already under contract including We, The Meeple, an examination of culture, history, society and relationships through the medium of board games by former Walrus editor Jonathan Kay and board-game expert Jonathan Moriarty, and Perfect City, a guided tour of the world’s great cities by urban strategist Joe Berridge.

Full story

The Globe's John Doyle takes another run at The National

"CBC’s The National is confusing, well-meaning and maddening," says the headline above John Doyle's piece. He writes:

"Readers write to me about The National. That would be the usual thing if I write something about CBC’s flagship newscast. But readers now write to me regularly about The National, not just in response to a column.

"Mostly, they complain. Often, they’re writing to tell me they’ve given up. They stopped watching because the hour of news is confusing and they don’t feel they’re getting a definitive, authentic roundup of the important news of the day. A constant complaint is that, at the top of The National, two or three stories are presented as the news agenda. Then other stories appear in the lineup, getting brief or extensive coverage, unannounced.

"Some long-time viewers are irritated by the use of on-screen text to promote an upcoming story in a certain number of minutes. The appearance of the text is too brief to read, let alone register. Others are irritated by what they see as overemphasis on Indigenous-related stories and content in the mini-documentaries that are featured. The latter complaint isn’t made in a rancorous, dismissive manner. It’s just that some readers who watch The National feel the coverage of wrongs done is relentless. They roll their eyes.

The full story