Full Description
Canadian news reports are riddled with accounts of Access to Information requests denied and government reports released with large swaths of content redacted.
The Unfulfilled Promise of Press Freedom in Canada offers a vast array of viewpoints that critically analyze the application and interpretation of press freedom under the Charter of Rights. This collection, assiduously put together by editors Lisa Taylor and Cara-Marie O'Hagan, showcases the insights of leading authorities in law, journalism, and academia as well as broadcasters and public servants. The contributors explore the ways in which press freedom has been constrained by outside forces, like governmental interference, threats of libel suits, and financial constraints. These intersectional and multifaceted lines of inquiry provide the reader with a 360-degree assessment of press freedom in Canada while discouraging complacency among Canadian citizens. After all, an informed citizenry is a free citizenry.
Contents
Introduction: Press Freedom in Canada
Lisa Taylor
Part I: Press Freedom and Internal Pressures
Chapter 1: The Real Danger to Press Freedom
Tony Burman
Chapter 2: Exploring How Emerging Digital Business Models and Journalistic Innovation May Influence Freedom of the Press
Leigh Felesky
Chapter 3: Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation and Freedom of the Press in Canada
Normand Landry
Chapter 4: Process Journalism and Responsible Communication: Establishing Real-Time Reporting Practices that Defend Against Defamation
Tim Currie
Chapter 5: Freedom of Expression, Entertainment, Hate Speech, and Defamation: Where Do We Draw the Line?
Anne-Marie Gingras
Part II: Press Freedom and Court Processes
Chapter 6: Free Expression at Thirty - The Search for Respect
Daniel Henry
Chapter 7: Has Dagenais-Mentuck Seen Its High-Water Mark?
Ryder Gilliland
Chapter 8: How the Criminal Code "Protects" Sexual Assault Complainants from Themselves and Constrains Their Participation in the News Media
Lisa Taylor
Chapter 9: Must News Reporters Be Guerilla Lawyers to Protect Their Rights? Covering the Canadian Justice System in Small Communities
Robert Koopmans
Part III: Press Freedom and Institutional Secrecy
Chapter 10: Freedom of Information: How Accountability to the Public Is Denied
Fred Vallance-Jones
Chapter 11: Municipal Access to Information, Delays, and Denials: An Insider's View
Suzanne Craig
Chapter 12: Unfettered Social Media versus Government Censorship: Mona Eltahawy's Twitter Escape as a Test Case for Press Freedom
Gavin Adamson
Chapter 13: Media Whining or Democratic Crisis? How Institutional Secrecy Is Contextualized in National Newspapers
Bruce Gillespie
Part IV: Press Freedom and the Charter
Chapter 14: Section 2(b)'s Other Fundamental Freedom: The Press Guarantee, 1982-2012
Jamie Cameron
Chapter 15: The View from Down Under: Freedom of the Press in Canada
James Allan
Conclusion: Use It or Lose It: Do Canadians Deserve Press Freedom?
Ivor Shapiro
Bibliography
Contributors
