Top 25 Underreported Stories
Recently stumbled upon a report that lists the top 25 underreported news stories in Canadian media between September 2010 and August 2011.
Thirteen Simon Fraser University student researchers analyzed both mainstream and independent news sources to first compile a list of 100 important national or international stories that lacked media coverage during the past year – important being defined as having a significant impact on a large number of Canadians.
They eventually narrowed it down to the top quarter, which includes topics ranging from the state of native reserves (now being addressed in the recent coverage of Attawapiskat), to the militarization of Canada’s foreign policy, to the extent of corporate lobbying on policy-making.
I haven’t read the complete report, but the 63-page summary was an interesting read, with one-to-two page synopses on each story. It also looks at the system, and suggests how it leads to these gaps in coverage.
Here’s the Top 25, in order of their importance, according to the study.
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1. Canada-Europe Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
2. Canadian Mining Companies Lack Accountability
3. Corporate Lobbying Shaping Laws
4. Crisis in Long Term Care
5. Violence Against Aboriginal Women in Canada
6. State of Native Reserves in Canada
7. Health Effects of Canada’s Tar Sands
8. Long Term Effects of Fukushima
9. Abandoned Oil Wells Cause Environmental Hazard
10. Global Disposable Workforce
11. Militarizing Canada’s Foreign Policy
12. Negative Impacts of Fracking
13. Devastation of the Oceans
14. Big Pharma Testing for Profit
15. Soldier Suicides and the Mental Health Cost of War
16. Threat of Public Relations to Newsrooms and the Public Sphere
17. Canadian Interference in Haiti
18. Disaster Capitalism in Afghanistan
19. Impact of Climate Change on Canada’s Boreal Forest
20. Asbestos Exports
21. Effects of Industrial Farming
22. BPA on Sales Recepts
23. Pharmaceutical Comapnies “Ghost Writing” for Medical Journals
24. FBI’s War on Islam
25. Failure of the War on Drugs
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The summarized report is available here, with more details on the topics and the study’s methodology.
And Happy New Year: Here’s hoping that 2012 brings more coverage to underreported issues.
This isn’t Afghanistan anymore
I quick update on what’s been going on in the lovely town of Wainwright, Alberta.
Today was my first full day on base, and everything I learned six months ago is coming back to me quickly: The ranks, the regiments, the names of weaponry and which building are which.
The weather is cool, but cloudless and sunny. No snow yet.
The biggest change here from my last exercise, unknown to me until I arrived yesterday, is that we aren’t training for Afghanistan anymore.
In fact, the scenario isn’t set, as far as I know, in Asia. And it’s not set anywhere in the Middle East for that matter.
The journalists don’t know much yet, but we have some details: We will be on an “island,” where the insurgents will be just as well armed as the Canadian troops. I believe it is going to be a UN-led mission, and that the primary language of West Isle is going to be Spanish.
It’s very different from Afghanistan. While it isn’t supposed to replicate a real-world conflict zone, we think the economic and political climate of the environment will be similar to that of Haiti.
But that’s only a guess. I’ll find out for sure when the exercise starts.
@HayleyWoodin
Wainwright: Round 2
Armed with five textbooks, two jackets, three heavy sweaters and more wiry wool socks than anyone should ever have, I am 10 minutes away from boarding my Edmonton-bound plane on my way to Wainwright, Alberta to spend another three weeks living on a military base.
Last April I paid to take a course in foreign correspondence, which included several weeks practical experience covering troops as they rehearsed manoeuvres, practice for how Canada plans to transition out of Afghanistan.
Who knew I would have loved it as much as I did, but here I am: I signed myself up for round two, and went after getting the opportunity with everything I had.
Sure, I’m missing a midterm, a research project, two guest speakers, an in-class essay, a quiz, multiple assignments and many readings. But what kind of student sleeps anyway?
This experience was simply too much to pass up: Sponsored school fees, free accommodation, free meals, reimbursed travel and the experience of a lifetime. (Well, a second experience of a lifetime.)
On top of it all, I am getting paid to do what I love. Do you know how cool it is to put on my resume that I have done contract work with the Department of National Defense? Very. Cool.
Boarding time, wish me luck.
@HayleyWoodin
(It took me 10 minutes to write this. I need to work on that.)
Bucket list #90
#90 Milk a cow
Today I completed one of the more unique items on my 10-year list with a trip to North Vancouver’s Maplewood Farm.
When I wrote my list close to a year-and-a-half ago, I had no idea how I was going to pull this one off: Not only did I need to find someone who would let me milk their cow, but if eating pork and undercooked bacon creeps me out, how on earth did I expect to get up-close and personal with a bloated udder?
Maybe it was my eagerness to hide my city-girl image, maybe it was how Farmer Courtney made the process look much easier than it actually was. Either way, at about 1:15 p.m., I gave a milking demonstration to four young kids and their respective parents.
By the end, we had filled a pale with close to five litres of fresh milk. And by we, I mean Farmer Courtney. (Although, I maybe managed to milk three ounces out of Lima, two of which ended up on my suede shoes.)
But I had a blast, and that’s all that matters.
I’d like to thank Maplewood Farm for indulging my random desire to milk a cow. There’s a first for everything, and now I know who to call if I decide to put “milk a goat” on my next 10-year list.
And a special thanks to Farmer Courtney, in some of the photos below, and who gave me a lovely souvenir, photo to come.
I am now 16 down, with 85 to go.
(Enjoy the photos, the video will be posted soon.)
Night of Illumination
Friday night, I had the opportunity to attend the Mayor’s Gala, hosted by Surrey mayor Diane Watts as a fundraiser for the Firefighters Association.
The ball was a black-tie event, with approximately 650 of the city’s elite in attendance. After all, it cost guests $1,000 a seat to go, so you knew you were among business royalty.
You also knew that it had to be a spectacular evening.
And it was.
Held in an abandoned shopping mall that had ceased construction several years ago due to a lack of funding, the space was decorated with Andy Warhol-like prints and living statues covered in body paint. An open bar served cosmos and an assortment of colourful cocktails, while dozens of chandeliers lit the space, and men in uniform sold tiny gold boxes at $100 a piece for the chance to win a $10,000 diamond ring.
Dinner began at 7 p.m., although I’m pretty sure the main course wasn’t served until 9 p.m. So for a couple of hours, diners were entertained by emcee Mark Madryga, host Diane Watts and the world’s fastest painter, Dan Dunn.
I didn’t recognize his name at first, but I knew who he was as soon as he began to paint what seemed to be an abstract doodle. But in about the time it took to play one-and-a-half songs, he spun his canvas around, and the accurately-detailed face of Elvis was clearly visible. His second painting was a portrait of Marilyn Monroe, done in Warhol colours.
After the filet mignon, we were each served a plate with several dessert samplings, most of which involved sparkles of some kind. And while I enjoyed something very chocolaty while just a little too much gusto, the Canadian Tenors performed.
It was certainly a night to remember, and maybe one day, if that mall is ever completed, I can walk through the shops while telling my grandchildren that the floor where we’re shopping once hosted the most unbelievably extravagant party I had ever been to.
I also hope that I’ll be able to tell them that I was invited back the year after…
But despite the frivolities and perks of it all, the best part of the evening was that everything, from the open bar to the VIP RiverRock show tickets, was donated, so that every penny raised went to the Firefighters Association, which supports over 80 local charities and organizations.
So assuming that there were 650 people there, I’m sure that close to three-quarters of a million dollars was raised for Surrey that night.
That has the power to do a lot of good.
New York aftermath
I woke up relatively early today, in my own bed, after having grown accustomed to living three hours ahead on the East Coast.
Now that it’s all over, it feels like the trip passed in the blink of an eye, and yet I can’t figure out how we managed to cram so much site-seeing, touring, walking and eating into a six-day trip.
Since my last post, us three wannabe New Yorkers took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, where my great-grandmother landed after weeks of travelling across the Atlantic. We visited the Top of the Rock, which is almost 70 stories above 30 Rockefeller, home to NBC studios. And as timing goes, about an hour after photographing the beautiful panoramic view, Virginia was hit by the magnitude 5.8 earthquake.
We happened to be on an NBC tour at the time, where we saw the set for Monday Night Football, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live. It wasn’t until a reporter informed our guide that we couldn’t view the NBC news studios – because they were busy producing “breaking news” – that we knew what had happened.
Our broadway play for the trip was How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It was absolutely phenomenal. Everything from the set to the talent to Daniel Radcliffe was spectacular.
We literally ran through the Museum of Natural History an hour before closing in search of their dinosaur exhibit. The Ben Stiller movie Night at the Museum was filmed there, and in one of the scenes, the dinosaur skeleton comes to life, as do the other displays. Most kids would remember the scene where an Easter Island statue wants gum, or something like that. Either way, my sister clearly remembered, and so we sprinted through exhibits and dodged security guards clearing out the building for closing until we got our photo.
We saw Brooklyn, briefly, and walked the Brooklyn bridge. We trained to Coney Island to ride the wooden Cyclone roller coaster, and eat a hotdog at Nathan’s.
In my previous post, I mentioned how much I love the Met. Well, my favourite part of that museum was the section of modern art and famous paintings, and I soon discovered that MoMA is essentially a full gallery of my favourite floor of the Met.
We also visited the World Trade Centre site, where a memorial garden is being built. We saw Wall Street, City Hall, UpTown, MidTown and DownTown.
The stories are endless, and the three of us can’t wait to get back.
In the mean time, I’m turning to my 10-year list to see what else I can cross off.
This past week, I’ve accomplished #2 and #26, which are travelling to New York and turning my cell phone off for a week.
As an aside, I’d like to address the latter of the two, and the comments stating that it doesn’t count if I go on vacation for a week and leave my phone at home.
First, this was not a vacation. It was a chaotic site-seeing tour where we ran around the island of Manhattan until we could no longer use our feet. Vacations are for relaxing.
Second, I suffered from not being able to use my phone, and for several reasons: I couldn’t tweet what I was seeing, I couldn’t tweet breaking news about the East Coast’s first earthquake of such a magnitude in decades, I couldn’t call home to say we were fine (because the earthquake was barely felt in New York), I couldn’t text my loved ones, I couldn’t text those whom I don’t love but like a lot, I couldn’t choose to not text those that I dislike, etc, etc.
Long story short: Once upon a time… It COUNTS! … The end.
I have now knocked off 15 items on my list, and have a mere 86 to go.
Tweet me!
@HayleyWoodin