Full Description
Crime reporting, in one form or another, is as old as crime itself. Almost all young reporters have spent some time on this beat, and their work affects all of us. Covering Canadian Crime offers a deep and detailed look at perennial issues in crime reporting and how changes in technology, business practices, and professional ethics are affecting today's crime coverage.
Social media in the courtroom, the stigmatization of mental illness, the influence of police media units, the practice of knocking on victims' doors, the culture of masculinity in the newsroom: these are among the topics of discussion, explored from various disciplinary perspectives and combined with poignant interviews and thought-provoking introspection from seasoned journalists such as Christie Blatchford, Timothy Appleby, Linden MacIntyre, Kim Bolan, and Peter Edwards. A critical account of the challenges involved in crime reporting in ethical, informed, and powerful ways, Covering Canadian Crime poses the questions that reporters, journalism students, and the public at large need to ask and to answer.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
Chris Richardson & Romayne Smith Fullerton
PART ONE: THE ROUTINES AND REALITIES OF CANADIAN CRIME REPORTING
THE TRADITIONAL "PICKUP" OR "DEATH KNOCK" STORY: ITS ROLE, ITS VALUE(S), AND THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Romayne Smith Fullerton and Maggie Jones Patterson
IS COVERAGE OF THE MAFIA TUFF ENOUGH?
Cecil Rosner
THE INHERENT DRAMA OF COURTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH NATIONAL POST COLUMNIST CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton
SOMETIMES THE LAW IS AN ASS: REFLECTIONS ON PUBLISHING THE RECORD OF A JUVENILE
Kirk LaPointe
NOT NAMING NAMES? CRIME COVERAGE RITUALS IN CANADA, SWEDEN AND THE NETHERLANDS
Romayne Smith Fullerton and Maggie Jones Patterson
"I SLEEP REALLY WELL AT NIGHT": THE GLOBE AND MAIL'S TIMOTHY APPLEBY ON COVERING THIRTY YEARS OF GRIEF
Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton
A CASE OF PRAIRIE JUSTICE: THE MURDERER, THE JURY, AND THE SPIRIT OF DURKHEIM
James S. McLean
PART TWO: COURT ACCESS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
COURTHOUSE CULTURE
Linden MacIntyre
THE VIRTUAL COURTROOM: JOURNALISTIC PRACTICE, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND INFORMATION FLOW IN CANADA'S COURTS
Susan Harada and Mary McGuire
"DID SHE CONSENT TO THIS SEX ACT WITH THIS ACCUSED?" THE NEWS MEDIA, SEXUAL ASSAULT MYTHS AND THE COMPLAINANT'S PRIVATE RECORDS IN COURT TESTIMONY
Barbara M. Freeman
FIGHTING ON THE SIDE OF ANGELS: THE TORONTO STAR'S NEWSROOM LAWYER BERT BRUSER ON THE CHANGING CHALLENGES OF THE LAW IN CANADA
Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton
THE BANDIDOS MURDER TRIAL: ALL A-TWITTER ABOUT A CANADIAN FIRST
Kate Dubinski
AIDING AND ABETTING: HOW POLICE MEDIA INFORMATION UNITS SHAPE LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE
April Lindgren
"SCOOP WAS KING": MEDIA COMPETITION, CRIME NEWS AND MASCULINITY
Mary Lynn Young
PART THREE: CONSTRUCTING CRIMINALS AND CRIME NEWS
THE PEOPLE'S SERVANT: VANCOUVER SUN CRIME REPORTER KIM BOLAN'S BREAKTHROUGH BLOGGING
Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton
"EVERYONE KEPT GANGING UP ON HARPER": POLITICAL "GANGS" AND THE LANGUAGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN CANADIAN JOURNALISM
Chris Richardson
GUNS, GANGS AND THE UNDERCLASS REVISITED: AN ANALYSIS OF COURTROOM COVERAGE FROM THE JORDAN MANNERS TRIALS
William O'Grady and Patrick Parnaby (with Sabah Fatima)
TELLING GREAT STORIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH REPORTER-TURNED-THRILLER WRITER RICK MOFINA
Chris Richardson and Romayne Smith Fullerton
COVERING WHITE 'JUST-US': WHAT DID JOURNALISTS 'REALLY' SAY ABOUT IPPERWASH?
Romayne Smith Fullerton, Ginny Whitehouse and Maggie Jones Patterson
'DEBWEWIN': THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT IPPERWASH
Peter Edwards
DID NEED FOR SPEED KILL? "STREET RACING" LEGISLATION AND THE MEDIATED REALITY OF CRIME
Stephen L. Muzzatti
REPRESENTING RISK: CRIMINALITY, VIOLENCE, AND MENTAL ILLNESS IN CANADIAN NEWS MEDIA REPORTING
Sarah Berry and Rob Whitley
RE-THINKING YOUNG PEOPLE, CRIME AND THE MEDIA: TURNING TRANSCENDENTAL ILLUSION ON ITS FEET
Hans Skott-Myhre
