While doing a series of newspaper stories on evangelism in the United States, journalist Ian Brown heard “the voice of God” coming through the radio in his car.
He described that experience, in vivid and hilarious detail, to a recent Winnipeg gathering of the Canadian Association of Journalists. He published the story, and others in a series, in the Globe and Mail earlier this year.
In another conference session, Jackie Shymanski, a former reporter with CNN, told of life and death decisions necessary while covering war zones during the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia.
Read Also
Topsy-turvy precipitation this year challenges crop predictions
Rainfall can vary dramatically over a short distance. Precipitation maps can’t catch all the deviations, but they do provide a broad perspective.
Yet another session allowed Teresa Strongquill, Floyd Wiebe and Stella Bignell to describe their experiences in dealing with media after their respective personal tragedies.
Strongquill is the daughter of RCMP constable Dennis Strongquill, who was killed in 2001. Wiebe’s son Trevor was murdered in Winnipeg in 2003. Bignell is the mother of Neil Stonechild, whose body was found in 1990 and whose case led to the firing of two Saskatoon police officers.
In a session on libel chill, lawyer and author William Kaplan talked about threats and intimidation he endured during investigations into the airbus affair that involved former prime minister Brian Mulroney.
On the drive back to Saskatchewan from Winnipeg, I thought about the experiences described by these journalists and subjects, all quite unlike those regularly encountered by Western Producer journalists as they cover agricultural news.
Coverage of war and murder are not part of the regular news menu. No, our beat is the one I watched out the car window Ñ farming, ranching, rural life and the gamut of human drama it entails. But yes, our beat has its own wars and triumphs and requirements for reliable information.
Considered in that light, the weekend examination of the journalism craft showed the commonalities in news reporting regardless of topic. It reinforced the basics: accuracy, the value of a well-crafted story, the importance of detail, the need for sensitivity and the responsibility to provide information readers want and need.
On another note entirely, I draw your attention to the item at the upper left, written by Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Stan Eby. The Producer asked the CCA for a comment for this issue in particular, which acknowledges the second full year since the BSE crisis began. Our news package begins on page 69.
We also invited R-CALF to provide comment so that readers would have the chance to better understand that organization’s position. So far the group has not responded to our invitation.
