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November-December 2018

Tout le monde en parle has gripped Quebec viewers for nearly 15 years. Why can’t it reach the rest of Canada?

Sara Black McCulloch unpacks the talk show Franco Quebecers can't stop watching

Sara Black McCulloch

Singer Grimes on Tout le monde en parle in 2015 When Canadian singer Grimes appeared on a segment of Tout le monde en parle in 2015, she was the only guest on the Franco-Canadian talk show answering questions in English. When co-host Dany Turcotte discovered she had lived in Montreal for six years, he asked […] More »
November-December 2018

I gave up television for 35 years. Why I started watching again

Writer Thelma Fayle jumps back into the world of TV and finds value in the medium that she never did before

Thelma Fayle

In the 1980s, Dan Hubbard and Richard Catinus were two brainy young guys trying to sell Apple computers when I was working in a government office that used IBMs. While outlining the advantages of using a Mac for my work, Dan mentioned in passing that, after reading Jerry Mander’s book, Four Arguments for the Elimination […] More »
November-December 2018

Inside the battle for taxpayer-funded multicultural television

The Canadian government wants TV to look as diverse as our country—but producers just want to make a quick buck

Aadil Brar

“Do Canadians really use the word ‘eh?'” “Yes, they do.” Welcome to one of OMNI television network’s flagship shows, Your New Life in Canada. Produced in English, Punjabi, Cantonese, and other languages, it offers a taste of Canadian lifestyle, culture, and language to newcomers to Canada and covers everything from how food differs in Canada […] More »
September-October 2018

Online dating apps have a major problem with sexual harassment—but solutions must start offline

There’s no doubt dating apps have a role to play in promoting safe romantic interactions. But sexual harassment and assault are social problems—and a culture shift is required if things are ever going to get better

Teodora Pasca

Amy was sexually assaulted three years ago, and we matched on Tinder in June. Even though I’m a journalist and a stranger she met online, I’m one of the only people she’s ever told her story to. It started when Amy, who lives in Yellowknife, agreed to go for coffee with a man named Paul. […] More »
September-October 2018

Why reporters need to be more responsible in their coverage of trans communities

Journalism about detransition is creating overblown moral panic among North American readers

Alex V. Green

Over the summer, I worked on two articles about non-traditional gender transitions, and interviewed 11 people about their experiences. Through email, over the phone, and at their kitchen tables, I talked with transgender people across Canada and the U.S. about navigating their transitions through the medical system—using hormones irregularly, ordering medications online, lying to doctors, […] More »
September-October 2018

How Canada’s news outlets have covered the Trans Mountain Pipeline controversy this summer

From the national broadcaster to community publications

Amy van den Berg

The Trans Mountain Pipeline saga has been ongoing for years, but tensions peaked this May when Justin Trudeau announced his government’s plans to acquire the project for $4.5 billion. In 2013, energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan proposed building a new pipeline to run parallel to the existing one, built in 1952. The proposal reignited ongoing […] More »
September-October 2018

The best and worst of Canadian happenings: September/October 2018

In this edition: legal win for polyamory, the ongoing fentanyl crisis, and more

Sara Tatelman

THE GOOD NEWS: – Two’s company; three’s family. The Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court has recognized all three adults in a polyamorous relationship as the legal parents of their daughter born in 2017. In his decision, the judge wrote there was no reason why the relationship would detract from the child’s best interests. – Last […] More »
July-August 2018

When it comes to representations of OCD in media, we can do so much better

We shouldn't have to rely on stereotyped characters to see ourselves in the shows and movies we consume

Lisa Whittington-Hill

I am quite open about the fact that I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD. Talking about it comes easy to me. More difficult to handle are the reactions I get from others. “So are you like that nerd on The Big Bang Theory?” someone in a work meeting recently joked after I mentioned my […] More »
July-August 2018

The best and worst of Canadian happenings: July/August 2018

In this edition: queer adult summer camp, lack of supports for veterans, and more

Sara Tatelman

THE GOOD NEWS: – Having fun isn’t hard when you have a library card—or when you can build your own personal book collection. Since February, Winnipeg non-profit Share the Magic has donated books to nursery and kindergarten classrooms each month. Meanwhile, Calgary’s Love With Humanity Association has founded a multicultural outdoor library with books in Punjabi […] More »

The obvious gender bias at play in the media’s coverage of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain’s deaths

The two died by suicide just days apart, but the coverage of their deaths that followed was stark in its gendered differences

Lisa Whittington-Hill

The new issue of People magazine has both celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade on its cover. Sadly, the magazine is the only weekly tabloid to give both stars the cover treatment, with other magazines featuring only Bourdain. When Spade and Bourdain died by suicide, just days apart, tributes and tweets celebrated the […] More »
March-April 2018

Pursuing a career in journalism in the #MeToo era can be disheartening—but young women must keep going

A student journalist reflects on her experiences

Reut Cohen

For a long time I thought of journalism as something I did in my spare time, not as a part of my identity. I was lucky enough to stumble into this field, becoming arts editor at the Varsity, the University of Toronto’s student newspaper, in 2016. Then the wave of sexual harassment allegations began. Story […] More »