World Press Freedom is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Jimmy Lai, the founder of Apple Daily, who remains unjustly detained in Hong Kong under the pretext of national security charges. His pro-democracy newspaper was shut down. The 77-year-old publisher has been held in solitary confinement for more than four years under harsh […]
Read MoreIn times of crisis, governments often sacrifice transparency for expediency and efficiency. We saw it during the Covid-19 pandemic. Public and private bodies were lacking in transparency with regards to the actions they took to combat the pandemic. Misinformation, dishonesty, self-promotion, fraud and waste all flourished to some degree in the prevailing secrecy. Canada now […]
Read MorePress freedom is under siege in the United States after two months with Donald Trump in the White House, the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières (RSF) says. “The newly-elected president, his administration, and his political allies have conducted a rapid series of attacks on press freedom that amount to a monumental assault on […]
Read MoreFor many years, #NotATarget has been used on social media to raise awareness of the brutal impact of conflict on civilians, including children, humanitarian workers and doctors. The campaign condemns the killing and injury of innocents in wars, and seeks to pressure decision-makers to protect civilian life in accordance with international humanitarian law. In the […]
Read MoreAmerican media companies face accusations of self-censorship and legal cowardice as they confront a new term for President-elect Donald Trump, who has targeted the press as an enemy. Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned in early January after the paper’s editors spiked her cartoon showing media owners and tech billionaires genuflecting to Trump. The […]
Read MoreCourts and governments across Canada tightened the noose around transparency last year, making it harder for journalists and other civil society actors to hold governments to account. Last February, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a decision by the Ontario government to withhold ministerial mandate letters as cabinet secrets. CBC had been denied the letters in […]
Read MoreJournalists who don’t toe the MAGA line have long been among Donald Trump’s favourite targets. His election victory on Nov. 5 heralds a new era of media bashing, with efforts to silence independent voices and attacks on journalists themselves. In the waning days of the campaign, Trump frequently targeted the “fake media” at his rallies. […]
Read MoreEach year at our annual luncheon, World Press Freedom Canada director Guy Badeaux (pen name: Bado) announces the winner of our international editorial cartoonist contest, which celebrates the journalists who illustrate the state of the world through pictures, metaphors and snappy lines. Editorial cartoons are the soul of a newspaper, anchoring the editorial pages with […]
Read MoreThere appears to be no end to the rocky road of broadcast news in Canada. Shrinking newsrooms have been a feature of the media landscape in Canada for the past two decades but the decline has accelerated in recent years. The trend leaves Canadians increasingly ill-served by major corporations that own broadcasting networks but see […]
Read MoreNational Defence has long been a rogue institution in complying with the Access to Information Act. Its secretive practices are especially concerning after DND officials issued a controversial statement on the Gaza War and then flouted the law by refusing to deal with a journalist’s request for information on how they reached their conclusions. The […]
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