NewsWatch Canada undertakes independent research on the diversity and thoroughness of news coverage in Canada's media, with a focus on identifying blindspots and double-standards. For the first three years as PCC, we compiled the Top Ten list of under-reported stories (stories that were considered significant but under-reported by the national news media). It began as a collaborative project of the communication departments at Simon Fraser University and the University of Windsor and the Canadian Association of Journalists. Co-directors were Robert Hackett, Jim Winter and Donald Gutstein.
Every year at SFU, students undertake media-monitoring studies. We focus on patterns of under- and over-reporting as NewsWatch Canada. The summaries on our Web site represent the work of the 1996 and 1997 student seminars.
Tax-deductible Donations
Funding for the research has come from the Goodwin's Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Increasingly though, we depend on donations from individuals and groups who recognize the need for an ongoing "media watchdog" in Canada, one which strives for methodological rigour and political independence.
Donations are tax deductible: please send a cheque payable to 'SFU'. Donors of $25 or more will receive, on request, a copy of our latest report on Canadian news media. Here's how to contact the project:
NewsWatch Canada
c/o School of Communication
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby B.C. V5A 1S6
phone: (604) 291-4905
fax: (604) 291-4204
e-mail: censored@sfu.ca