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Stay clear of my camera
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November 17, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: I'm a freelance photojournalist and I take photos of people on the town. Almost all of the photos I take are posted publicly. From time to time people ask me to take photos down and I typically ignore or refuse to remove the photos. I don't believe as journalists we have the right to selectively remove content when a member of the public doesn't like what they see. What are best practices in this situation? Answer by Andy Clark, senior photographer for Reuters News Agency based in Vancouver.
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Is my editor making me a plagiarist?
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November 10, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: My editor removed quotation marks from a direct quote I took from an online statement from a press conference. She says journalists have free reign to use any info presented by news release, public statement or interview, without accreditation. I disagree. Please advise. Answer by Winnipeg Sun columnist Kevin Engstrom.
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Know what your story is really about
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November 3, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: I cover a lot of court. A man pleaded guilty to contravening the National Parks Act for not having a licence for his rafting company. A quick search showed he'd been convicted of three counts of sexual exploitation and sentenced to 14 months in jail a couple of years earlier. Is this relevant to my story? Should it be in the lead, at the end or not in the story at all? Answer by Edmonton Journal reporter Karen Kleiss.
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Always question sources' motives
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September 22, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: In All the President's Men, I heard about the two-source rule on information that comes from an anonymous source. But I don't hear about it much anymore and have even forgotten what it is, exactly! What is the "rule", and is it actually followed by journalists today? Answer by Esther Enkin, executive editor of CBC News.
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Politics junkies in journalism?
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September 15, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: I worked as a political advisor to two cabinet ministers and ran as a candidate in a federal election. I know and understand politics inside and out, but have not been a member of a political party for at least four years. Is it true that news directors will not hire me to become a political journalist? Answer by Toronto Star Ottawa bureau chief Bruce Campion-Smith.
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The higher the stakes, the more verification is required
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June 30, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: I know I'm supposed to get outside verification for things told to me by anonymous sources. But how about named sources? When is a reporter expected to get independent verification for information that's properly attributed? Answer by Cecil Rosner, managing editor for CBC Manitoba and author of Behind the Headlines: A History of Investigative Journalism in Canada.
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Senior editors differ on value of j-school in mid-career
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May 26, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: Do you have any advice on which program I should take and do I stand any chance of finding employment when I graduate? I'm 43-year-old freelance photographer and writer. In spite of strong writing and photography skills, my feeling is I need to acquire skills in layout and website management to compete against more recent computer savvy graduates. Answer: Roger Gillespie, senior editor, training and development at the Toronto Star asked five senior-level newspaper editors.
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There are no dull assignments, only dull stories
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May 22, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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 QUESTION: What advice do you have for making tired assignments like weather stories and pet shows interesting for readers and reporters? Answer by Tom Hawthorn, Victoria freelance reporter and presenter at the recent CAJ conference in Vancouver.
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Access to Information blind to geography: be persistent
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April 20, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: I phoned the Elections Canada media line and was informed that as per the Canadian Elections Act a person must come in person to the office in Ottawa to make photocopies of invoices because the department does not have the capacity to fulfill requests from journalists outside Ottawa. I live in Alberta and it was suggested I find an Ottawa j-school student to get the documents I want. Is this true? Can this department refuse me this information unless I appear in person to get it? Can I fight this and how can this rule be changed? Answer by Dean Beeby, deputy bureau chief in Ottawa for The Canadian Press.
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Transparency online: don’t make invisible edits
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February 17, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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 QUESTION: I am responsible for a small community newspaper's web site. My boss, the editor, and I have been arguing about protocols for correcting web versions of stories. What are the conventions for editing the web version of the story if the print version was (a) corrected and (b) if the error or omission wasn't deemed worthy of a correction? Answer by Marissa Nelson, senior editor, digital news, for The Toronto Star and thestar.com.
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Traumatized by reporting: Get help now
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January 27, 2009 - Posted by Regan Ray
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QUESTION: My colleague is covering a graphic rape/murder trial and has started showing signs of extreme emotional stress. This person has expressed suicidal thoughts, but is determined to continue covering the trial and seems concerned about being branded as too 'squeamish' or unable to handle the crime beat. Our editor is aware of the situation, and has decided not to take my colleague off the story or the beat. Is this a good idea? Answer by Robert M. Frank, former freelance correspondent for Investigations desk of The New York Times and current director of the Canadian Association of Journalists' Education Foundation.
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Lunch with sources: who pays?
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January 8, 2009 - Posted by Robert Cribb
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 QUESTION: If you have regular sources with whom you meet for lunch, who pays? What about
eating off the sandwich tray at press conferences? How much of a stickler should
I be? Answer by Petti Fong, Western Canada bureau chief for The Toronto Star.
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Crisis in Ottawa? Talk to backbenchers
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January 24, 2009 - Posted by Robert Cribb
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 QUESTION: How should reporters cover a political crisis like the recent one on Parliament Hill? Answer by Jeff Sallot, former Globe and Mail Ottawa bureau chief, member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery and journalism instructor at Carleton University.
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Pushing the boundaries in small communities
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October 17, 2008 - Posted by Robert Cribb
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 QUESTION: I'm covering a story that involves an investigation by Ontario's Child Advocate into the suicide of a teenager who was in care. How far can I push the boundaries for describing the issue without identifying the individual? Answer by J-Source contributing editor Robert Washburn.
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edited by Robert Cribb
 Ask a Mentor provides answers to practical questions about the craft. Our mentors will steadily expand this fount of tips, traps and shortcuts on the trail to truth. Submit your question and we'll pass it on to a mentor for answering. Robert Cribb is an investigative reporter and deputy investigations editor at the Toronto Star, past president of the Canadian Association of Journalists and current president of the CAJ Educational Foundation. He is also a lecturer at Ryerson University and co-author of Digging Deeper: A Canadian Reporter's Research Guide.
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QUESTION: