It’s not every day that one is presented with the opportunity to reflect on a career of more than 60 years in the news business, but for the NNC’s executive chair, that rare moment will be taking place on Thursday evening. This past June, the Michener Awards Foundation announced that John Anderson Fraser would be receiving the prestigious Michener-Baxter Special Award for long-term achievement in public service journalism. This special award, established in 1983 and presented at the discretion of the …

Over the past several months, the NNC has been hearing a great deal about pandemic-related reader comments and letters to the editor. “Yet another (letter) praising (a writer’s) comments has appeared in this week’s (paper). Large numbers of protestors have started to protest measures based on this type of misinformation that they believe affects them,” is one lament we heard. “It concerns me that misinformation, and disinformation for that matter, would even get published.” Some readers have told us they …

The NNC has received several complaints this year about headlines. In two recent examples, both complainants were concerned that the headline of the story contained misleading or insufficient information. The NNC found no breach in either case, but instead identified relevant points for the purpose of reader education. In one case, an individual was concerned that the headline of a Globe and Mail article incorrectly attributed the statement that ‘Mi’gmaq students [were] no longer welcome’ in the province to the …