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Watchdogs • Advocates • Independent
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Canadian | International |
Alberta
Independent
Media Centre |
alberta.indymedia.org
"The Alberta Independent Media
Centre is a non-commercial, democratic collective of Alberta
independent media makers and media outlets, and serves as the
local organizing unit of the global Indymedia network. ...
There is a growing popular realization that the corporate mass
media, because of its ownership by increasingly fewer and larger
transnational corporations, is not adequately serving the interests
of society. Instead, the corporate media is promoting the interests
of transnational capital and the state institutions that support
it. Dissatisfaction with this situation has led to a grassroots
movement known as 'independent media'. Documenting the social
and ecological issues in our communities that increasingly
fall beyond the eye of the corporate media." |
Argosy
Independent Student Journal |
www.argosy.ca
Produced by students at Mount Allison
University, Sackville, New Brunswick. |
Campaign
for Press and Broadcasting Freedom
(Vancouver Chapter) |
www.presscampaign.org
"The Campaign for Press and
Broadcasting Freedom represents a common front of readers
and viewers, those working in the media industries, and labour
and community groups concerned about the increasing concentration
of media ownership in Canada. We are active in promoting
greater diversity of media ownership, enhancing the rights
of media workers to report freely, and monitoring key developments
in the news and information industries."
[A Canadian affiliate of mediachannel.org — "the
global network for democratic media." (see International
listings). This site shows little sign of reader/viewer involvement.
However, its online review, Free the Media,
contains dated but still relevant information and analysis
on Canadian media concentration and cross-ownership, plus
an examination of media conglomerates' political power.]
NOVEMBER 2000 / Herschel
Hardin / The
big taboo VANCOUVER, B.C. — It's the issue
the other parties dare not talk about! It's the media,
silly — the growing concentration of mass-media ownership
in just a few hands, almost all of the same narrow political
stripe.
Conrad Black's gobbling up of newspapers in Canada, and moulding
them to his own ideological bias, was bad enough — more
extreme concentration than anywhere else in the western world.
Now Black has sold most of his major dailies here to Izzy
Asper and his company CanWest, the owner of BCTV, CHEK and
the Global television network. This takes concentration to
an even more destructive level: massive "cross-ownership." BCE,
meanwhile, has bought the CTV television network and the
Globe and Mail.
In the end it's these media owners
who have the power, not the Liberals or any other political
party. The media "set the frame" — the perspective
through which issues are examined and the news is filtered — and
this influences in turn how people vote and what political
parties say, or don't say, as they try to be elected.
FALL 2000 / Scott
Uzelman / Editing
public debate: Conservative opinion dominates Canada's
national newspapers In the fall of 1998 CBC
TV and Maclean's magazine asked Canadians what they felt
were Canada's most pressing problems. This year, NewsWatch
Canada researchers compared the results of this poll to
opinion pieces in Canada's two national newspapers, the
National Post and the Globe and Mail, and also, for comparison,
in the Toronto Star, because of the latter's large circulation
and independent influence. The survey covered editorials
and op-ed pieces in the eight months following the CBC-Maclean's
poll (November 1998 to June 1999).
Our results suggest that the concerns of these newspapers
do not coincide with those of Canadians and that the editorial
voices of Canada's two national newspapers promote similar
conservative viewpoints on at least three of the issues involved.
FALL 1999 / James
MacKinnon / Media
busters muffled Why did the Vancouver Province
and the National Post spike stories about culture-jamming,
direct-action media critics? |
Canadian
Association of Journalists |
www.caj.ca
"The CAJ promotes excellence
in journalism, encouraging investigative journalism. We serve
as the national voice of Canadian journalists, and we uphold
the public’s right to know." |
Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression |
www.cjfe.org
"The CJFE is a Canadian non-governmental
organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates
of free expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend
the rights of journalists and contribute to the development
of media freedom throughout the world. CJFE recognizes these
rights are not confined to journalists and strongly supports
and defends the broader objective of freedom of expression
in Canada and around the world." |
The
Dominion |
dominionpaper.ca
"The Dominion is a not for profit
free newspaper covering topics of interest to Canadians. We
aim to provide a progressive counterpoint to the mainstream
papers, direct attention to quality work published on the internet,
and create a venue where alternative forms of journalism can
be practiced." |
King's
Journalism Review |
journalism.ukings.ns.ca/kjr
"King's Journalism Review is
an annual publication examining issues in Atlantic Canadian
journalism. It is written by fourth-year students in the
Bachelor of Journalism (Honours) programme at the University
of King's College School of Journalism in Halifax, Nova Scotia."
14 OCT 2003 / Ingrid
Deon / Optipress
wields the cookie-cutter Optipress, the company
formed when the Robinson-Blackmore and Cameron chains of
community newspapers merged, insists its editors are still
independent, even though it's making all its papers look
alike and expecting them to use stories from the Optipress
news service.
14 OCT 2003 / Jacqueline
Gough / Guild
fears 'bimedialism' at the CBC Deb Woolway and
Susan Mitton insist that convergence is not to save money
but to improve broadcasting. Gerry Whelan sees it differently: "Just
cutting out jobs. That's the name of the game."
21 OCT 2002 / Kim
McKay / The
new boss The president of Transcontinental
Media, André Préfontaine, has sent a message
to its newly acquired Halifax Daily News: don't count on
an injection of cash to help you battle the Halifax Herald.
21 OCT 2000 / Jennifer
Fox / The
bogeyman Visit the Daily News and Global TV
to find out what the Aspers' takeover of Conrad Black's
newspaper empire will mean for Halifax.
21 OCT 2000 / Ann
Shupe / Phooey
to you, Izzy Asper The presses need replacing,
the staff is weakened by buy-outs, the competition's becoming
stronger and convergence is threatening, but the independent
Halifax Herald seems unworried. After all, this is Nova
Scotia. |
Maritimes
Independent Media Centre |
maritimes.indymedia.org
"(Local) The Maritimes Independent
Media Center is focussed on providing an ongoing resource for
diverse sources of information and views on a variety of subjects
(Arts and Politics initially), and to promote debate within
a broad context. (Global) Indymedia is a loose affiliation
of local media activist groups, dedicated in various ways to
democratizing media coverage, and enabling underrepresented
viewpoints." |
Our
Public Airwaves
|
www.publicairwaves.ca
"Our Public Airwaves is the initiative
of concerned Canadians who believe a strong Public Broadcasting
system is essential to provide a broad range of innovative
programming in the public interest, independent of commercial
considerations. We advocate revitalization of Public Broadcasting
to expand public airspace in which Canadians can share their
ideas, meet their neighbours and tell their stories." |
PEN
Canada |
www.pencanada.ca
"PEN Canada works on behalf of
writers, at home and abroad, who have been forced into silence
for writing the truth as they see it. ... PEN Canada is for
debate and against silence. We lobby governments in Canada
and internationally, organize petitions, send letters , faxes,
and postcards to lobby for the release of persecuted writers,
and conduct public awareness campaigns about freedom of expression." |
PWAC
Periodical Writers Association of
Canada |
www.pwac.ca
The Periodical Writers Association
of Canada, established in 1976, represents/serves more than
500 freelance writers in Canada. Although its role is to develop
and maintain professional and industry standards, provide information
and professional development for writers, etc., it is also
committed to lobbying for freedom of the press and freedom
of expression. |
rabble |
www.rabble.ca
"rabble.ca is ... built on the
efforts of progressive journalists, writers, artists and activists
across the country. ... fuses the hot energy of activism with
the cool eye of journalism. We feature some of the best progressive
writers in Canada. Some will be known to you; others are the
new and emerging voices you've been straining to hear. In addition
to original news stories, in-depth features, provocative interviews,
commentaries and more, rabble publishes columns from some of
the few progressive voices in mainstream media..." |
Ryerson
Review of Journalism
Ryerson University School of Journalism |
www.ryerson.ca/rrj
"The Ryerson Review of Journalism
examines Canadian media, offering insights into current trends
and issues in print, broadcast and new media. For more than
20 years, the RROJ has reported on developments and trends
in the world of journalism by examining day-to-day forces that
affect press performance, as well as the political, economic,
technological, social, and legal forces that are always guiding
the press." |
Thunderbird
Media Review
University of British Columbia School
of Journalism |
www.journalism.ubc.ca/thunderbird/
"The Thunderbird is the student
publication of the UBC Graduate School of Journalism. Our traditional
mission has been to engage readers with original content focusing
on Canadian media issues." |
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International
| Canadian |
Accuracy
in Media |
www.aim.org
"Accuracy In Media is a (Washington-based)
non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media
that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the
record straight on important issues that have received slanted
coverage." |
American
Journalism Review
Philip Merrill College of Journalism,
University of Maryland |
www.ajr.org
"American Journalism Review is
a national magazine that covers all aspects of print, television,
radio and online media. The magazine, which is published 10
times a year, examines how the media cover specific stories
and broader coverage trends. AJR analyzes ethical dilemmas
in the field and monitors the impact of technology on how journalism
is practiced and on the final product." |
FAIR
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting |
www.fair.org
"FAIR, the national media watch
group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media
bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First
Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press
and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public
interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. As an anti-censorship
organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working
journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group,
FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to
break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent
public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of
information." |
Free
Press |
www.freepress.net (a.k.a.
www.mediareform.net)
"Free Press is a national nonpartisan
organization working to increase informed public participation
in crucial media policy debates, and to generate policies that
will produce a more competitive and public interest-oriented
media system with a strong nonprofit and noncommercial sector."
From its FAQ:
"Free Press is about having the core governmental policies that create
and shape our media system be the result of informed and widespread public
participation. ... Free Press works for policies that will bring more diverse
and local media ownership of our commercial media, and more competitive
markets. ... Media should not be the exclusive province of billionaires
and hundred-millionaires. Free Press believes that advertising and commercialism
must be carefully regulated. ... strong democratic trade unions are an
important and mandatory protection for the public against concentrated
commercial media power. ... a healthy media system must have a very strong
non-profit and non-commercial sector." |
Independent
Media Center |
www.indymedia.org
"Indymedia is a collective of
independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists
offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a
democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate,
and passionate tellings of truth." |
KnightRidderWatch.org |
www.knightridderwatch.org
"Knight Ridder Watch is a project
of the Knight Ridder Council, a coalition of union locals representing
employees at Knight Ridder newspapers. Through information
sharing, joint action and coordinated effort, the Council seeks
to advance the interests of Knight Ridder employees and to
advocate for quality in journalism and business practices." |
MediaChannel |
www.mediachannel.org
"MediaChannel is a media issues
supersite, featuring criticism, breaking news, and investigative
reporting from hundreds of organizations worldwide. As the
media watch the world, we watch the media." |
Online
Journalism Review
Annenberg School for Communication,
University of Southern California |
www.ojr.org
"As a journalism review based
online, we are committed to covering the full range of journalistic
issues in all media, but with a particular emphasis on the
Internet. Since our March 1, 1998, launch, we have devoted
most of our resources to evaluating the emerging field of online
journalism, providing readers commentary, monthly features
and Web resource databases. Our purpose is to be useful to
journalists and anyone interested in where journalism is going
in cyberspace." |
Project
Censored |
www.projectcensored.org
"The Mission of Project Censored
is to educate people about the role of independent journalism
in a democratic society and to tell The News That Didn't Make
the News and why." |
Regret
The Error |
www.regrettheerror.com
"Regret The Error reports on
corrections, retractions, clarifications and trends regarding
accuracy and honesty in the media."
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Reporters
Without Borders |
www.rsf.org/
"Reporters Without Borders, kept
on constant alert via its network of over 100 correspondents,
rigorously condemns any attack on press freedom world-wide
... The association defends journalists and other media contributors
and professionals who have been imprisoned or persecuted for
doing their work. It speaks out against the abusive treatment
and torture that is still common practice in many countries." |
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