Subscription drive If you haven’t yet, please consider subscribing. 1. Press-conference journalism “I’ve never been a fan of press-conference journalism,” writes Stephen Kimber: It may be a marginal improvement on canned-quotes press-release journalism when it comes to public accountability, but most press conferences I’ve attended are little more than carefully staged theatre pieces designed to […]
As reliable as a beer commercial
Morning File, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Erica Butler here, helping out with Morningfile today. Fear not, Tim’s still all over it. News 1. Burnside jail Tim reports from the hearing for Burnside jail prisoner Maurice Pratt, continuing to shed light on the situation in the facility. Prisoners launched a protest in August asking for better conditions at the jail, including access […]
The dog days of summer, but don’t name the dog
Morning File, Wednesday, August 15, 2018
News 1. Tufts Cove oil spill Yesterday, Nova Scotia Power (NSP) issued a news release about its cleanup efforts at the Tufts Cove oil spill. For the first time, the release defines the full extent of the spill, and as I predicted, it was much larger than originally reported. The company now says that in […]
The Tufts Cove cleanup could take as long as three months
Morning File, Thursday, August 9, 2018
News 1. Tufts Cove cleanup “MFR Oil Response is one of the companies contracted by Nova Scotia Power to do the cleanup work [at the site of the Tufts Cove oil spill],” reports Anjuli Patil for the CBC: Mark Ring, the company’s president, said he’s looking to hire more people to do manual labour at the […]
Halifax council passes stupid and overreaching cannabis restrictions
Morning File, Wednesday, July 18, 2018
News 1. Government drops effort to deport Abdoul Abdi The news was announced by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale via a tweet at 9pm last night: The Government of Canada respects the decision filed on July 13 by the Federal Court concerning Abdoul Abdi. The Government will not pursue deportation for Mr. Abdi. — Ralph Goodale […]
Like a turtle crawling out of a mulch pile
Morning File, Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Hi folks. Erica Butler here, filling in for Tim today. News 1. Al-Rawi asks for second assault charge to be quashed Reporting for the CBC, Blair Rhodes recaps the history of sexual assault investigations and charges against former Halifax cab driver Bassam Al-Rawi. While his first charge from a 2015 incident will be re-examined in […]
We’re watching Mark Lever destroy journalism in Nova Scotia
Morning File, Thursday, May 31, 2018
News 1. Fool’s Gold, Part 3 We’ve published the third instalment of Joan Baxter’s “Fool’s Gold” series. Part 3 looks at the provincial Department of Natural Resource’s efforts to open the Cobequid Hills up to gold production, and the effect prospecting and potential mining would have on the French River, which is the source of […]
The problems with the testing relied on by the Glaze Report: Morning File, Thursday, February 22, 2018
News 1. Teachers “The Nova Scotia Teachers Union’s executive announced most of its members voted in favour of illegal job action, but president Liette Doucet said the union is inviting the province to work with it,” reports the CBC: “We want Minister Churchill and the premier to meet with us to discuss the recommendations of the Glaze report,” Doucet […]
A durable dog is the bestest kind of dog: Morning File, Wednesday, February 21, 2018
News 1. Teachers “Nova Scotia’s 9,300 public school teachers could launch job action as early as Thursday if they endorse an illegal strike, the president of the province’s teachers’ union says,” reports the Canadian Press: Liette Doucet said the union executive will meet Wednesday to review Tuesday’s strike vote and decide whether to release the […]
The Herald’s news reporting on Northern Pulp Mill looks like a packaged advertising deal: Morning File, Tuesday, January 16, 2018
1. Fracking “On the same day that Nova Scotia’s governing Liberals introduced legislation to ban high volume hydraulic fracturing in the province, I happened to be on a ‘fracking tour’ in the U.S. with a bus load of other environmental journalists in a place that had instead embraced it,” writes Linda Pannozzo. That news was […]