University of Alberta professor Wenren Jiang writes that the conventional media narrative on China doesn't paint the whole picture.

From an Aug. 9 column in The Star by j-prof Kelly Toughill:

She quoted long-time ATI researcher Ken Rubin.

The act was not written to open the government to public scrutiny, he says; it was written to codify secrecy. It is the job and responsibility of journalists to fight that trend to secrecy.

"It is still about straight persistence and struggle. You have to keep up with it. You have to persevere."

I spent big chunks of the last year in countries where journalists risk jail, exile or violence for criticizing elected officials. When I returned, a friend rather smugly asked if it was wonderful to be back in a land with a free press.

Not really.

It is an insult to journalists who fight for basic freedoms to take for granted the freedoms that we have in Canada. Instead of luxuriating in our ability to work without fear, we should be pressing for better access to information. We should be forcing federal, provincial and municipal governments to open up their hard drives and filing cabinets so that Canadians can truly understand the hard choices at hand, and participate fully in democracy.

From AP via CTV.ca:

Newsstand sales of U.S. magazines fell 6.3 per cent in the first half of 2008, an industry group said Monday, as rising gas and food costs led consumers to cut back on non-essential spending.

Most top titles, including best-selling Cosmopolitan and O, The Oprah Magazine, had sharp declines. Of the top 10 sellers, only People, the entertainment news magazine, and In Style posted gains.

Bill Dunphy blogged about newspaper website coverage of the big ka-boom, along with those of two high-profile blogs -- the Torontoist and Blog.TO. Update: Some Rx from T.O. journo Tom Popyk.