Six ways journalists can do better when covering disasters
Takeways from the RRJ’s conference, Covering Disasters: A Critical Lens.
How one local B.C. news organization fought the summer wildfires
A behind–the–scenes timeline from the Williams Lake Tribune and its ongoing coverage of the crackling threat that surrounded the town
No Newsroom, No Problem
How Fort McMurray Today’s four-person news team covered a national disaster.
Keynote Speaker: Catherine Porter
Catherine Porter addresses the audience as keynote speaker of the Fall 2017 RRJ Conference, Covering Disasters: A Critical Lens
Researchers urge journalists to examine who gets quoted in news stories
While the value of different sources can be subjective, newsrooms have a responsibility to interrogate their choices surrounding which voices get the most coverage, researchers agreed at a recent conference on local news.
Asmaa Malik, assistant professor at the Ryerson School of Journalism, emphasized that in a fast-paced newsroom, reporters rarely have time to question the value judgements they make. Yet, “research shows that news favours powerful people,” who get quoted more often and are featured more prominently in stories.
When the same voices continue to be amplified over and over, readers lose the opportunity to hear from more diverse sources.