Category Archives: Journalism

Call for Submissions for the Canadian Hillman Prize in Journalism

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* ATTENTION EDITORS AND AWARDS COORDINATORS *

Call for Submissions for the

Canadian Hillman Prize in Journalism

Postmark Deadline January 9, 2014

 

4th Annual Prize Honours Excellence in Journalism

In Service of the Common Good

The Sidney Hillman Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Canadian Hillman Prize honouring excellence in journalism in service of the common good. The Hillman Prize seeks out the best investigative reporting that draws attention to social or economic injustice and hopefully leads to corrective measures. We strive to recognize discernment of a significant news story, resourcefulness and courage in reporting, skill in relating the story and the impact of the coverage.
The 2014 prize will be given to a reported piece or series produced, published, broadcast or exhibited in 2013. Eligible entries include reporting in newspapers, magazines and online, as well as film and broadcast journalism (television and radio), and multi-media. The contest is open to journalists and subjects globally, although the content must have been published in Canada. The postmark deadline for submissions is January 9, 2014.

The winner(s) of the Canadian Hillman Prize will be announced in mid-March and awarded travel to receive a certificate and a $5,000 prize at a reception to be held on Tuesday April 1, 2014 in Toronto. The winner will also get to travel to New York City to participate in the U.S. awards ceremony to be held May 6, 2014. The Canadian winner will be listed among all Hillman Prize winners on the Hillman Foundation website.

There is no submission fee. A cover letter and four copies of the nominated material are all that is required.

This year’s entries will be judged by a distinguished panel ofCanadian judges: Tony Burman, previously managing director of Al Jazeera English, chief news editor of CBC News, and currently Toronto Star world affairs columnist, Fiona Reid, acclaimed theatre actress and Vice President of the Actors’ Fund of Canada and Bonnie Brown, a journalist who has worked as a television documentary producer and radio news producer at CBC for 15 years.

 

Since 1950, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has honoured journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public policy for the common good. Sidney Hillman was the founding president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union of America, a predecessor union of Workers United, SEIU. Sidney Hillman, an architect of the New Deal, fought to build a vibrant union movement extending beyond the shop floor to all aspects of workers’ lives.

 

“In each of the three years the Canadian Hillman Prize has been awarded we have been exposed to the tenacity, hard work and creativity of Canadian journalists who are unflinchingly committed to exposing injustice and seeing it corrected,” said Alex Dagg,Director of Operations, National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) and member of the board of directors of the Sidney Hillman Foundation. “Reflecting on the past year’s news, we anticipate a tough decision by our judging panel, which means Canadian media are doing it right.”

 

Please forward all nominations/submissions to:

Annie Hennessey

Media Profile

500-579 Richmond Street West
Toronto, Ontario

M5V 1Y6

416-342-1815

 

For more information and to see past winners, please visit the website at www.hillmanfoundation.org.

 

GUILD: ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS AND PRESS FREEDOM MUST END

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Source: newsguild.org
Sector Executive Council
August 26, 2013
NewsGuild-CWA

 

The public’s right to know is in grave jeopardy as journalists – locally, nationally and globally – face shocking levels of government interference and intimidation.

The recent detention of the partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald at Britain’s Heathrow Airport, and the seizure of his laptop, cellphone and other materials, is only the latest high-profile example of authorities’ abuse of power.

In the United States, revelations about federal authorities tracking journalists’ cell phone records and even their movements have had a chilling effect on reporters and potential whistleblowers. A New York Times reporter is being threatened with jail if he refuses to disclose the source of a leak.

In cities across the country, police have become almost brazen in arresting photographers and journalists simply doing their jobs at crime scenes and public protests. In July, a Guild-represented photojournalist in Detroit was arrested for photographing an arrest scene on a public street. She was detained for 6.5 hours and her cell phone, which she was using to take photos, was confiscated. When it was returned, her SIM card was missing.

The United States should be ashamed of the example it is setting for the rest of the world with regard to press freedoms and the public’s right to know. One has to wonder if Britain would have detained David Miranda in the absence of the U.S. campaign to crack down on truth-tellers.

We will not stand by and allow the United States to go further down this dangerous road.  We will redouble our efforts to fight these attacks on freedom, engaging our members, our allies and the public at large.

We will make sure the public fully understands that this fight isn’t about special treatment for journalists, that everyone’s freedoms are under assault.

Sun Media continues death by 1,000 cuts, abandoning quality jobs and journalism

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Death by a thousand cuts continues apace at Sun Media, which today announced it is shuttering 11 titles and axing 360 jobs.

CWA Canada, which represents workers at several Sun Media newspapers, urged the company in a news release to reverse its self-destructive plan and to instead focus on quality local jobs and journalism to boost profits.

Director Martin O’Hanlon said Quebecor-owned Sun Media, which last November cut 500 jobs and closed production plants in Ottawa and Kingston, is pursuing a slash-and-burn strategy that will only lead to a slow death.

In her note to employees today, in a spectacular example of doublespeak, Sun Media COO Julie Tremblay trumpets that Sun Media will “continue to focus on great journalism.”

“And how will they do that?” asks O’Hanlon. “By laying off journalists!”

“I’m still waiting for someone to show me how you produce better journalism with fewer journalists. To suggest it’s possible is either delusional or dishonest — neither bodes well for Sun Media’s fortunes.”

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2013.03.18|  Departing Quebecor chief leaves ‘sorry legacy’ of gutted newspapers

2012.11.13|  Sun Media’s cuts, closures a ‘major blow’ to Kingston Local

2011.11.29|  Quebecor’s Sun Media eliminating 400 jobs

2008.12.16|  Union deplores Quebecor’s massive job cuts

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O’Hanlon maintains that cutting jobs is a suicidal strategy that only hurts quality and does nothing to attract readers or generate revenue.

He notes Quebecor talks a good story about its commitment to the communities it serves, but everything it does — from cutting local jobs to producing sub-standard local news — is bad for those communities.

Five CWA Canada members (of Local 30248 – Peterborough) lost their jobs last month, when Sun Media shut down the 152-year-old Lindsay Daily Post. It is among the 11 closures announced today. A few more of the union’s members, reporters at other Sun Media papers, will see their jobs cut.

All of those members will have access to CWA Canada’s $500 training/education grant and whatever other support the union can provide.

Sun Media is to kill off its free 24 Hours newspapers in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton as well as community publications in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It describes the closures as “a series of initiatives to enhance operational efficiencies” and expects to save $55 million.

O’Hanlon once again suggested that Quebecor borrow a page from legendary investor Warren Buffett who is busy buying newspapers in the United States and committing to quality local journalism as the key to success.

 

Chicago Sun-Times lays off its photo staff

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Source: my.chicagotribune.com

By Robert Channick, Tribune staff reporter

The Chicago Sun-Times has laid off its entire photography staff, and plans to use freelance photographers and reporters to shoot photos and video going forward, the newspaper said.

A total of 28 full-time staffers received the news Thursday morning at a meeting held at the Sun-Times offices in Chicago, according to sources familiar with the situation. The layoffs are effective immediately.

The newspaper released a statement suggesting the move reflected the increasing importance of video in news reporting:

“The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network.”

read the entire story here

Labour Reporting award winners expose injustice of unpaid internships

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Source: CWA|SCA Canada

Three academics who documented the growing scourge of unpaid internships are this year’s winners of the Labour Reporting Award sponsored jointly by CWA Canada and the Canadian Association of Journalists.

Martin O’Hanlon, Director of CWA Canada, said Interns Unite! (You have nothing to lose — literally), published in November by the “fiercely independent” Briarpatch magazine, is an example of the quality, public-service journalism that is so sorely lacking in this country.

“This is a well-written, well-researched piece of journalism that tells an important story and exposes an injustice that is bad for society and bad for the economy: the exploitation of interns.

“As the country’s only all-media union, our focus is promoting and protecting quality jobs and quality journalism. That’s why we sponsor this award.”

Enda Brophy, Nicole Cohen and Greig de Peuter, who are collaborating on a research project on labour politics in the creative industries, were announced as the winners of the $1,000 prize at the CAJ’s annual conference held in Ottawa on the weekend.

The rampant growth of unpaid internships is a key issue for CWA Canada and its largest Local, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), which represents a significant contingent of freelancers in this country. The CMG partnered with ACTRA and Ryerson’s Centre for Labour Management Relations to stage the Will Work for Exposure conference in October 2012 that addressed topics including wage theft, copyright and workers’ rights.

2012.10.29| Unpaid internships: A boon or a bane?

2012.10.24| Internships and the intersection of class struggle and opportunity

There were several CWA Canada members among the recipients of the 15 awards handed out at the CAJ gala. They include:

Glen McGregor (Ottawa Newspaper Guild) of The Ottawa Citizen who, along with Postmedia’s Stephen Maher, shared in the Open Newspaper / Wire Service category for “Dirty election tricks revealed.”

Gil Shochat, Alex Shprinsten, Joseph Loeiro (Canadian Media Guild) of the CBC News Investigative Unit, in the Open Television category for “Fatal Deception.”

Melissa Brousseau (Canadian Media Guild) of CBC North – Maamuitaau, in the Regional Television category for “Breaking the mold.”

Alison Motluk (Canadian Media Guild) of CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition, in the Current Affairs category for “Wanted: Egg donor in good health.”

Jim Bronskill (Canadian Media Guild) of The Canadian Press, in the Scoop category for “Canada’s torture memos.”

Nahlah Ayed, Diane Grant (Canadian Media Guild) of CBC News – The National, won the JHR / CAJ Award for Human Rights Reporting for “Seeking safety.”

High School Grads – Apply for the Dreams of Jobs and Freedom Scholarship

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gradUnion Privilege and the AFL-CIO have announced a new scholarship program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The one-time, $5,000 scholarships are for study for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2013 through summer 2014. They will be awarded to at least 50 talented high school seniors to help pay for the costs of higher education.

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech as part of that historic March on Washington. This scholarship program honors the legacy of Dr. King’s speech and his dream that all of America’s children could have equal access and equal opportunity.

An application, including an essay, is required. The application deadline is July 1, 2013. For more information and to apply online, click here

 

Transcontinental Media squeezing freelancers: why this matters to us all

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Source  CMG  •  POSTED ON  February 20, 2013

Transcontinental Media, publisher of magazines such as Elle Canada and The Hockey News as well as dozens of community newspapers across the country, is trying to impose a harsh new contract on freelancers. The conditions Transcontinental is seeking undermine everyone in the sector.

Transcontinental wants the same rights it gets for the work of employees and highly-paid contractors. The catch? It wants to keep paying low editorial freelance rates.

Freelancers are being asked to sign over all rights to the pieces they contribute, on all platforms and all brands the company owns, in all countries, forever. Transcontinental is also seeking the right to change the work in any way it wants and either leave the freelancer’s byline off – or, perhaps worse, leave it on.

Please spread the word about this – especially if you know anyone who freelances for Transcontinental. The Guild is organizing with fed-up freelancers to fix the contract. Write to Keith Maskell (keith@cmg.ca).

There’s more to this story, which you can find on Story Board here.

Deadline for the CAJ-CWA Canada Labour Reporting award has been extended to Feb. 8.

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The Canadian Association of Journalists runs an annual awards program recognizing the best in Canadian journalism, with a particular focus on journalism that is investigative in nature. Entries are welcome from any practising journalist whose work has been published or broadcast in Canada. A call for entries is usually issued in December-January, with a deadline in late January or early February. Once judging is complete, a list of the finalists in each category is released. The winning entry in each category is announced as part of the banquet during the annual conference each spring. For more information on the categories and lists of previous winners. Please click this link for more information about this award.