Good questions While 10 bad interviewing habits were identified in last week’s column, good questions can be summed up as following three principles: they should be open-ended, neutral and simple. John Sawatsky, who recently coached our staff on interviewing skills, said the more bland and simple a question is, the more colorful the quote will […] Read more
Stories by Elaine Shein
Gaining insights into pioneers
Elaine Shein is Managing Editor of the Western Producer. Gathered around a fuzzy television screen a couple of Christmases ago, my family watched several hours of videos. They weren’t the usual rental-action-thriller or laugh-a-minute home-video type. Instead we were treated to educational, emotional ties with our ancestors’ homeland. Some relatives had taped scenes of life […] Read more
Surfing the net
Some of our reporters have been cruising the information highway, researching topics ranging from mad cow disease to weather. Occasionally they take off-road exits into areas like reports of UFOs landing in farmer fields or the Central Intelligence Agency home page. The Western Producer has had its own web site for a while, allowing computer […] Read more
Save CBC? (part 3)
What’s the main reason CBC should be saved? CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge told a Regina audience a few weeks ago that CBC “does the stuff no one else does on a national scale.” No other organization devotes so much prime-time Canadian programming to news and current affairs to inform and enlighten, Mansbridge said, citing […] Read more
Keep humming along
Sometimes our readers request we publish the words to popular songs from the past or present. People recall this was done years ago in the Young Co-operator’s pages. During our newspaper’s 70th anniversary, several readers reminisced how they checked the Favorite Songs column for lyrics they liked, memorized the words and then practised their vocal […] Read more
Tell it to Ralph
A weekly feature where Western Producer editorial staff respond to readers’ questions, explain what’s behind our news coverage, and comment on issues in journalism. A story this week tells how federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale wants proposals about rail car ownership as soon as possible. “It’s important that I get as much detail as fast […] Read more
Zarfs and bibcocks
A weekly feature where Western Producer editorial staff respond to readers’ questions, explain what’s behind our news coverage, and comment on issues in journalism. Today you may be coming into contact with a zarf, tang, aglet and bibcock without even knowing what they are. And every day you look in the mirror and your philtrum […] Read more
Share, share alike
Twice last week our editorial staff crammed around a boardroom table to discuss credibility, and real or perceived conflict of interest. Our editors and reporters ultimately decided to sacrifice possible investment income for the sake of a credible paper. They decided to voluntarily refrain from buying Saskatchewan Wheat Pool shares through an employee loan program […] Read more
U.S. media
If you subscribe to cable television or own a satellite dish, you are probably inundated with American news coverage. Even if you receive the basic Canadian channels or read Canadian newspaper dailies, you likely receive a high dosage of stories originating from U.S. reporters. While most people recognize there’s an “American slant” to the stories, […] Read more
Campaigning in Russia
Russians last month received a taste of what Canadians receive regularly at election time: television campaigning. The twist is television time was provided free to candidates – and 43 political parties were represented. With 62 candidates running for four positions in their lower house of parliament (the Duma), time was tight. According to INEWS, each […] Read more
