I’m working mornings the next couple of days, which means when I’m not working I’m either asleep or in a semi-comatose state, so to make up for the lack of posts here’s some reading material from the Ryerson Review of Journalism’s spring 2009 issue:

The most interesting one is Lora Grady’s piece on the battle of Canadian news websites (I was interviewed for this piece though I’m not mentioned in the online version, still it stands as the only time I’ve ever been contacted by a fact-checker). The piece is spot-on on a lot of things, such as the fact that CBC.ca got a head start on its online operation and until recently handled elections (or at least election results) a lot better than the private sites. It also points out that sites like the Globe and Mail have played catchup and have a lot more long features and just-for-web multimedia content. And yet, there’s a bitterness over the fact that CBC.ca gets more traffic than those private sites.

Also:

• Laura Janecka & Eve Tobolka on comments attached to news articles online, in the wake of an embarrassment at the CBC allowing nasty comments about aboriginals.
• Jenelle DaSilva-Rupchand on small magazines in Canada
• Daniel Kaszor on CBC’s Search Engine moving from radio to online (this was before the CBC cancelled it completely and it moved to TVO)
• Christal Gardiola on the failed experiment that was the Carleton (N.B.) Free Press.
• Chantal Braganza on the thorny issue of police posing under cover as journalists (J-Source also explores this issue)