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Sherwin

Research notes on defunding the police, from Halifax

Research notes on defunding the police, from Halifax

By Sherwin Arnott January 24, 2022October 4, 2022

The hard work of an important committee in Halifax has recently come to fruition. The Subcommittee to Define Defunding the Police have finished their research, their surveys, and their deliberations…

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White supremacy, doing journalism, and the explanatory comma

White supremacy, doing journalism, and the explanatory comma

By Sherwin Arnott March 7, 2021October 4, 2022

This particular Code Switch episode on the explanatory comma is itself a kind of extended explanatory comma, or perhaps an interrogatory comma, because Demby and Marisol Meraji take time to really discuss and think about their own discomfort with this practice.

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Headlines, cognitive processing, and problematic information

Headlines, cognitive processing, and problematic information

By Sherwin Arnott November 17, 2020October 4, 2022

Headlines matter. Publishers know it. Good headlines help with the understanding, reach, and impact of a story. Headlines frame articles, shaping the information in the article that follows, and alter reader comprehension.

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A new generation of queer love: Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

A new generation of queer love: Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

By Sherwin Arnott & Rebecca Cory May 30, 2020October 4, 2022

Bloom is a graphic novel about a young man in a small town, working in his family’s bakery. It is a meditation on patience and slowness and joy.

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Three unforgettable moments in [my] hockey history

Three unforgettable moments in [my] hockey history

By Sherwin Arnott January 14, 2020November 17, 2020

Where I grew up in Northern Alberta, hockey was a big deal. My big brother played hockey. And my dad, who was not a great skater, played hockey in a…

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I seen it

I seen it

By Sherwin Arnott August 24, 2019August 29, 2019

She was kind. But she was also ruthlessly attentive to my Northern Alberta dialect. Sometimes she would simply say it back to me. I seen.

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Journalism is the business of influence

Journalism is the business of influence

By Sherwin Arnott July 28, 2019November 17, 2020

Good journalists do what they do because they care. They have interests. The organizations that employ journalists also are guided by interests. They have purpose. The Washington Post wears their…

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Journalism’s allergy to substantive regulation

Journalism’s allergy to substantive regulation

By Sherwin Arnott July 27, 2019November 17, 2020

Misinformation is a big deal. Hate online is a big deal. And as the public catches up to their reach and impact, we’ll see more and more talk about regulation…

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Paul Wells, conservatism, satire, and Maclean’s footprint

Paul Wells, conservatism, satire, and Maclean’s footprint

By Sherwin Arnott July 25, 2019November 17, 2020

I like Maclean’s about as much as I like the National Post. They’re rightwing, partisan, and legacy. On my view they have courted hate and burned trust, undermining journalism along…

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Hyperlinking in Canadian journalism (Case study, IPBES report)

Hyperlinking in Canadian journalism (Case study, IPBES report)

By Sherwin Arnott May 11, 2019July 29, 2019

If news orgs are serious about being good partners in mitigating misinformation, they need to link meaningfully to relevant references and especially science-based organizations…

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My cell phone carrier has stopped spamming me

My cell phone carrier has stopped spamming me

By Sherwin Arnott May 8, 2019May 30, 2019

My local gym and community centre is awesome. It’s a little less than three kilometres from my home. The pool is great. The gym is nice. It’s got a kind…

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The dominant press is a giant inertia machine

The dominant press is a giant inertia machine

By Sherwin Arnott May 8, 2019May 30, 2019

But here’s an old idea: what if dominant journalism, by and large and in the long run, is actually a drag on progress? What if dominant journalism, and by that I mean the mainstream press, is actually a conservative force? On this view, it’s a drag on change…

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The dream of proportional representation dies again; long live pro rep

The dream of proportional representation dies again; long live pro rep

By Sherwin Arnott December 21, 2018May 30, 2019

I campaigned during the first and second referendums we had here in BC regarding proportional representation. We won the first one. 58% of voters voted yes for the Citizen Assembly…

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Map of earthquake liquefaction risks around Victoria

Map of earthquake liquefaction risks around Victoria

By Sherwin Arnott October 23, 2018May 30, 2019

My father recently sent me these amazing resources about various risks due to earthquake around Victoria. I immediately had to look at one, because the thought of the ground turning to liquid is terrifying to me…

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Tsleil-Waututh Nation versus Bill Morneau, the duty to consult, and the public interest

Tsleil-Waututh Nation versus Bill Morneau, the duty to consult, and the public interest

By Sherwin Arnott August 30, 2018May 30, 2019

Say it with me. The duty to consult Indigenous people does not conflict with the public interest…

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Martin Speckter, type design, and the interrobang

Martin Speckter, type design, and the interrobang

By Sherwin Arnott August 11, 2018February 27, 2021

99% Invisible did an episode on the interrobang recently. I was interested to learn that early Greek and Roman writing didn’t have spaces! Rack that up to stuff I took for granted. Apparently an ad man in the sixties developed the interrobang…

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Trinity Western University continues to defend anti-gay community covenant

Trinity Western University continues to defend anti-gay community covenant

By Sherwin Arnott June 16, 2018May 30, 2019

The Supreme Court of Canada, happily, was not moved by Trinity Western University’s claims that they weren’t hurting gay folks. And the Supreme Court was not moved by the claims by TWU that they…

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Canadian journalism fails at nuance when it comes to jihad

Canadian journalism fails at nuance when it comes to jihad

By Sherwin Arnott June 6, 2018May 30, 2019

On my view the news media in Canada have, by and large and in the long run, misrepresented the concept of jihad. They have positioned jihad as a form of villainy. In so doing they have portrayed Islam as a peril…

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Some notes on why jihad is good

Some notes on why jihad is good

By Sherwin Arnott June 3, 2018May 30, 2019

If you read Canadian journalists on the topic, you might not understand that jihad has some very nice meanings. Most Canadian journalists seem to commonly misrepresent the concept. It’s not just them, mind you. There’s lots of misrepresentation of jihad to go around…

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Ads versus articles in the Saturday BC Edition of the Globe and Mail, A Section

Ads versus articles in the Saturday BC Edition of the Globe and Mail, A Section

By Sherwin Arnott June 3, 2018May 30, 2019

Here’s the A Section of the Globe and Mail. It’s the BC edition for June 2nd, 2018. There are 19 reports and 5 opinion pieces. I counted the weather section…

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Some thoughts on microblogging with self-hosted WordPress

Some thoughts on microblogging with self-hosted WordPress

By Sherwin Arnott April 30, 2018May 30, 2019

So I’ve been experimenting with microblogging on Mastadon, micro.blog and Tumblr. I decided it’s time we have our own self-hosted WordPress microblog…

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Anadrome, semordnilap and levidrome: a whimsical example of problematic information

Anadrome, semordnilap and levidrome: a whimsical example of problematic information

By Sherwin Arnott February 4, 2018May 30, 2019

How a heartwarming news story about an interesting linguistic phenomenon widely mislead people that there are no words to describe that spell different words when they’re reversed…

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More nuanced theories of journalism needed

More nuanced theories of journalism needed

By Sherwin Arnott August 10, 2017February 28, 2021

A good theory of journalism helps us understand what media are not journalistic. And, equally important, a theory helps us understand what unconventional kinds of media are journalistic…

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UBCIC Rejects Canada 150 Celebrations

UBCIC Rejects Canada 150 Celebrations

By Sherwin Arnott July 1, 2017July 29, 2019

Republished with permission: “Canada150” is not representative of the history of our lands and territories, or of our present realities as Indigenous Peoples. We, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), cannot, in all good conscience, participate in, and will not celebrate…

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