Journalist Jeremy Klaszus formed The Sprawl as a “pop-up journalism project” to cover the 2017 municipal elections in Calgary, AB.

“It started spontaneously as a result of newsrooms around town being cut, and there being a lack of civic journalism in Calgary,” said Klaszus.

Though it initially only set out to cover the election, The Sprawl has evolved over time to help fill the void left by merged newsrooms and the closure of the city’s alternative weekly, Fast Forward.

Taking its name from what Klaszus says is one of the city’s defining characteristics — urban sprawl — the local news…

Despite significant ‘digital disruption’ over the past nearly half century, the foundations of our organization — ethics, standards, accountability — have all withstood the test of time

Editor’s note: The following is a direct transcription of a note written by Fraser MacDougall, the original executive secretary of the Ontario Press Council, and founding patron of the NNC’s student journalism award for human rights reporting.

While the letter’s pages have turned slightly yellow, and have gently frayed, its message is still just as prescient today as it was on May 6, 1974 when it was written.

Have you ever read in…

“We’re all kind of tied into this together,” says departing owner, editor and publisher Tara de Ryk

Update: The Davidson Leader has found a new owner. Dan Senick will become the Publisher and Editor of The Davidson Leader.

A century-old newspaper in Davidson, SK, is searching for a new owner. It’s bittersweet for The Davidson Leader’s current owner, editor and publisher Tara de Ryk. …

While his sense of business and policy served him well during his career in the publishing industry, it is Miller Ayre’s sense of community and pride in his home province that has inspired joy in his work

Note: A version of this piece first appeared in the Autumn 2019 edition of our member newsletter. Please consider subscribing to it here.

Miller Ayre recently returned from his 60-year class reunion at the historical cable landing station in Heart’s Content, Newfoundland. It was a history tour in more ways than one for the Newfoundlander, as he strolled the site of the first…

History and self-regulation help define what the work itself defines who is a a journalist

From time to time we hear musing (thank you Twitter!) about certifying or credentialing of journalists.

Is the idea an attempt to counter allegations of fake news? Is it a reaction to perceived loss of trust in the media? Perhaps the political climate is driving a desire to define journalists and media organizations because news consumers have to wade through a landslide of blogs, platforms and alternate news sources from every point of view.

The notion of professional certification is not new, but it does…

Note: A version of this piece first appeared in the Spring 2019 edition of our member newsletter. Please consider subscribing to it here.

Cheryl Palmer walks four kilometers to work and another four kilometers home most days of the week.

As an Anglican rector, her office is a grey-stoned church in Toronto’s Deer Park neighbourhood, a century-old building often sought out by choirs and musicians for its pleasant acoustics.

Sitting at a small café in the below-ground mall at Yonge and St. …

Every NNC decision is a window into a wider discussion about journalism standards and best practices

Note: A version of this piece first appeared in the Winter edition of our member newsletter. Please consider subscribing to it here.

The NNC posts its decisions and circulates them via Twitter and newsletter because it aims to be transparent about the work of resolving complaints.

Another goal is to use decisions as education about journalism standards and best practices. However, a significant number of complaints are mediated at the staff level for various reasons. …

As the print product of the Manitoulin Expositor enters its 140th year, the family-owned publication attributes continued success to their loyal readership

Controversy has resurged over whether Manitoulin Island is indeed the largest freshwater island in the world thanks to a clue on a recently aired episode of Jeopardy, reported The Manitoulin Expositor in their February 27, 2019, edition of the paper.

Instead of bestowing the title to the 2700-square kilometer island in the middle of Lake Huron, the trivia show answer referred to the much larger Marajó Island in Brazil as the world’s largest freshwater island.

Alex Trebek, who…