Wong, Globe still on the hook

From the Toronto Star (and not the Globe, it should be noted):

"An Ontario Superior Court judge has dismissed a motion brought by the Globe and Mail and journalist Jan Wong to have a lawsuit against them thrown out – and ordered them to pay $9,160 in legal costs.

...

"While employed by the Globe and Mail as a reporter, Wong impersonated a maid and then wrote about her experiences in a five-part series on low-income living. The newspaper published the stories in the spring of 2006.

Members of a Markham family are suing the newspaper and Wong, alleging they suffered "significant embarrassment and mental distress" after one of the articles contained details about their private lives and household.

The claim filed by Steven and Georgina Nitsopoulos and their son Angelo seeks $50,000 for deceit and invasion of privacy, plus costs. Toronto Maids, which is also named in the suit, has filed a cross-claim against the Globe."

Blogger leaked order to raid Hells Angels, Peter Edwards, Toronto Star

Today's Toronto Star reports that this week's nationwide raids on the Hell's Angels was "announced" by a blogger about a week ahead of time. Secret court documents were posted in late March. Peter Edwards reports in A section "Leaked on the Internet was a judge's order allowing federal authorities to seize the Hells Angels' fortified clubhouse on Eastern Ave. in Toronto, which was home to the largest Hells Angels chapter in Canada."

News use study isn't news, by Antonia Zerbisias

A look at a study that shows people who get news from a variety of sources tend to be more politically involved.

It's hardly surprising that, as a Statistics Canada study released yesterday reveals, Canadians' level of political engagement is related to their news usage.

The more news they consume, the more they are involved "in non-voting political activities such as attending public meetings; searching for information on a political issue; volunteering for a political party; expressing their views by contacting a newspaper or politician; signing a petition; or participating in a march or demonstration."

Blackmail journalism on the rise in China

An article by Edward Cody appearing in the March 18, 2007 edition of The Toronto Star.

At 9 p.m. in a dark Shenzhen parking lot, Dr. Bai Xiuyu handed over a plain envelope in what was supposed to be a discreet blackmail payment to a local reporter in this southern Chinese city.

The money in the envelope – 15,000 yuan, about $2,000 (all figures U.S.) – was to be paid to three reporters who'd threatened to go public with a story saying her health clinic was providing services it was not certified to perform, including abortions."

Metro story sounds like op-ed

During my morning commute, I came across the following in the Metro under the headline "Posters point to passengers." (Emphasis mine)

It's all our fault. According to a new TTC advertising campaign, the causes of subway delays have nothing to do with a lack of investment or poor TTC planning or anything like that. Oh, no.

A poster spotted on the subway yesterday said the top five reasons for subway delays are: blocking doors, holding doors, people getting hurt from not "minding the gap" between platforms and subway cars, pieces of litter that catch fire on the tracks (when's the last time you saw that?) and, finally, passenger illness.

It all makes sense; you shouldn't get sick on the subway because you're only going to slow people down. Instead, folks should be considerate and throw up – or have heart palpitations over the latest fare increase – once they're safely outside the station.

As for the people blocking or holding doors, it appears that has nothing to do with overcrowded trains. No, according to the TTC, it's all our fault.

Just to get my two cents out of the way, there's no way I'd mistake this for hard news and wouldn't think the paper was making a broad opinion claim. I do not, however, speak for anyone but myself. I think (and will find out for sure) that the Star has guidelines for marking op-ed as being clearly that. Regardless, they have not done that here.

There is no byline because it's in the Metro's news section, and it's sourced from Torstar News Services. It is not presented as a column and looks in no way different from any other news story on the page.

I found it on The Toronto Star's website here under the label Notebook (which I've never seen before) along with two other stories. At the bottom of the third story is what I presume to be the byline for all three -- "With files from Paul Moloney and Jim Byers."

Is this a reporters' blog for Star writers? Can anyone shed some light on this?