Past Events:
(Click for access to archived video, audio)
Is Investigative Journalism In Canada Dying?
centre for free expression public zoom forum november 21 2024
Hundreds of local newspapers have been shut down; investigative units that flourished have been eliminated in all but a handful of outlets. CTV cancelled the weekly W5 program. What went wrong? What’s at stake for the country and what does the future hold? Five of Canada’s top investigative journalists tackle the challenges.
Co-sponsored by Canadian Association of Journalists, PEN Canada, TMU Journalism Research Centre
Panelists:
Rob Cribb, Toronto Star and the Investigative Journalism Bureau.
Allya Davidson, Executive Producer at CBC’s the fifth estate
Marie-Maude Denis, Host of Radio-Canada's Enquete
Anton Kuschany, former executive producer of CTV’s W5
Cecil Rosner, Investigative Journalism Foundation, Winnipeg
Moderator:
Julian Sher, Senior Fellow at CFE and former investigative journalist with CBC, the Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail
CELEBRATING A PIONEERING BLACK DOCTOR FROM CANADA
Dr. Augusta Portrait Celebration – November 7, 2024
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Trinity College – Seeley Hall (2nd Floor)
6 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto
https://forms.office.com/r/cupbNWWujR
Come to a celebratory unveiling of a portrait honouring Dr. Alexander Augusta. A free American Black who came to Canada because he could not get an education in the United States, Augusta completed his medical degree at Trinity Medical College in Toronto in 1860 and became the first Black doctor in the country. He worked for several years as a physician in Toronto and advocated against racism. When the American Civil War broke out, Dr. Augusta wrote to President Abraham Lincoln to volunteer in the Union Army, becoming one of the highest-ranked Black officers. He used his skills during and after the Civil War to promote civil rights.
Keynote Speakers:
Heather Butts, Columbia University, author of African American Medicine in Washington, D.C.: Healing the Capital during the Civil War era
Julian Sher, author of The North Star: Canada and the Civil War Plots Against Lincoln
The Battle to Cover the War in Gaza - CFE Forum AugusT 27, 2024
With more than 100 media workers killed and few foreign correspondents allowed into Gaza, the ever-widening war in the Middle East has become one of the most devastating and yet most difficult to cover in recent years. How can journalists get access to what is happening when they are being obstructed in every way possible from first-hand information? How do they bring troubling news and analysis that might disturb people -- regardless which side they are on -- while not whipping up the tensions and hatreds swirling around the conflict? .
Akram Al Satarri, freelance journalist in Gaza who has reported for NBC, Reuters and other outlets.
Gideon Levy, award-winning Israeli journalist, author, and columnist for Ha’aretz
Tracy Seeley, Senior Director of Newsgathering, CBC
Moderator:
Julian Sher, journalist, author, CFE Senior Fellow, who has filmed documentaries in the Middle East and trained journalists there.
On June 4, 2024 the Atwater Library and Paragraphe Bookstore in Montreal co-hosted author and broadcaster Nahlah Ayed in conversation with journalist Julian Sher about her new book The War We Won Apart. T
The book tells the story of one of the most decorated couples of World War II, Sonia Butt and Guy d’Artois, who made their home in the Montreal area after the War.
Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum Lecture:
The North Star: Canada and the Civil War Plots Against Lincoln
February 7, 2024
Algonquin College Pembroke Ontario November 28, 2023
“UNTIL YOU ARE DEAD” Talk on my book about the
wrongful conviction of Steven Truscott and the movie
”Marlene” based on the book.
More information on the book and the case here
October 22, 2023: Seminar on Writing Historical Non- Fiction
Quebec Writers’ Federation - First come, first served. Limited to 12 people
Writing original and entertaining non-fiction is hard enough.
But when you set about writing historical non-fiction about true events and real characters that happened many years, decades or even centuries ago, your challenges only increase. You cannot interview your main characters, they are long dead. Archives may be hard to access or expensive. How do you bring to life your locations and scenes and make them accessible and understandable to the modern-day reader?
This all-day workshop with best-selling author and journalist Julian Sher takes you through the steps to make your next project a success – or at least achievable.
THE NORTH STAR: CANADA THE CIVIL WAR PLOTS AGAINST LINCOLN
October 30, 2023. A talk at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
Watch the video here
Civil War Round Table - Washington DC
A book talk by Julian Sher
September 21, 7 pm - Montreal
Quebec Writers’ Federation: Artificial Intelligence and Writing
I moderated a panel with three experts on how AI will impact writers, writing and society.
CBC RADIO IDEAS - September 12, 2023
Listen to my one-hour interview with host Nahlah Ayed.
CHICAGO BOOKSHOP EVENT - AUGUST 23, 2023
A Zoom event Wednesday August 23 at 1 pm ET out of Chicago as the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop hosts a presentation about my book The North Star. Watch the one-hour discussion.
