Community Knowledge Centre - Toronto Community Foundation

About this organization

Mission

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) boldly champions the free expression rights of journalists and media workers around the world. In Canada, we monitor, defend and promote free expression and access to information. We encourage and support individuals and groups to be vigilant in the protection of their own and others' free expression rights. We are active participants and builders of the global free expression community.

History of Organization

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression was born in 1981, and parented initially by the Centre for Investigative Journalism (now the Canadian Association of Journalists). Many of the Centre's members were shocked at the life-threatening conditions for journalists working in Latin America.

From 1979 to 1981, some 150 journalists had been killed or disappeared while in the custody of security forces in the region. Moved to action by this violence against their southern counterparts, the organization was formed to campaign against the kidnapping, torture and murder of media workers throughout Latin America. Working groups were created in several cities across Canada to monitor violations of freedom of expression and a "Red Alert" network was set up to react to reports of attacks.

In 1998 the organization changed its name to Canadian Journalists for Free Expression - this time to reflect the larger free expression mandate of the organization - as well as a significant expansion of activities of CJFE both in Canada and internationally. Throughout all of the changes that the organization has undergone, it has always been committed to watching over regions of the world where journalists are assaulted, threatened, kidnapped and killed for reporting the news.

Accolades and Accomplishments

• The creation of the International Free Expression Exchange (IFEX) in 1992 and the management of the network since then which has seen it grow into what is today the most important free expression network in the world.
• CJFE has a successful history of intervening on court cases before various courts including the Supreme Court of Canada on issues like protecting sources, access to information, defamation and electronic access to the courts.
• CJFE was presented with the Canadian Library Association’s Award for the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada in 2007.
• CJFE'S Gala: A Night to Honour Courageous Reporting is Toronto's biggest annual event honouring courageous journalists and press freedom.
• CJFE made THIS Magazine's List of 45 Rebels, Visionaries, Troublemakers and World-Changers in 2011.
• Over $200,000 given to more than 100 journalists in distress in 35 countries since 1999. CJFE also leads a working group of 19 free expression organizations which work together to share information, coordinate joint actions, and provide information to each other on these issues.

Programs

>Scotiabank/CJFE Journalism Fellowship at Massey College

One of the principal activities of CJFE is the management of the world's largest freedom of expression network, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).

Legal Interventions: CJFE advocates for and supports journalists and larger free expression issues through legal interventions at various levels including the Supreme Court. CJFE is currently involved with several cases including a case exploring the use of hyperlinks and defamation, the police practice of disguising themselves as journalists and a case of electronic access to the courts.

Research & Publications: CJFE publishes an annual Review of Free Expression in Canada.

Events & Outreach: CJFE holds regular events to explore different issues of free expression, often with a Canadian focus. The main purpose of these events is to bring these issues to the attention of the Canadian public. CJFE holds at least two major events each year in Toronto – one to commemorate World Press Freedom Day on May 3, and the autumn event – the CJFE Gala: A Night to Honour Courageous Reporting.

CJFE oversees the Free Expression page on J Source, a website that brings together Canadian journalists to discuss every aspect of the work of journalists.

Journalists in Distress Fund (JID): The Journalists in Distress Fund provides financial assistance to journalists and their families whose lives are at risk or whose freedom of expression has been seriously infringed upon.

CJFE/Scotiabank Journalism Fellowship, Massey College; This is a new partnership between the three organizations to create an academic fellowship for a Latin American journalist. The 2011 Fellow is Mexican journalist Luis Horatio Najera.

Scotiabank/CJFE Journalism Fellowship at Massey College

The Scotiabank/CJFE Journalism Fellowship at Massey College is a two-semester fellowship at the University of Toronto’s Massey College for a mid-career Latin American journalist. The goal of the project is to enhance inter-American understanding among journalists and the public, with a focus on current issues in journalism and freedom of expression.

The Scotiabank/CJFE Journalism Fellowship at Massey College will provide a qualified Latin American journalist with a mid-career sabbatical in which she/he will spend an academic year at Massey College in Toronto. The journalist will audit courses of her/his choice, make connections with the Canadian media, expanding her/his work related to an issue of significance with a view to applying her/his learnings to ongoing work upon return to her/his country.

The eight-month Fellowship includes transportation to and from Canada, accommodation at Massey College and a modest allowance. There is also the possibility of accompanying other international Fellows on one or more awareness-raising trips to various countries as part of the Massey College program – in the past these have included Finland, Germany and Mexico among others.

Funding and Program Partners

The program is funded by a generous grant from Scotiabank and Massey College at the University of Toronto is the major program partner.

Program Impact

The Journalism Fellow is engaged in public and media outreach to build understanding about the challenges facing journalists in his/her country. In 2009, the Fellow met with young journalists in the Toronto Star Internship program - here's what one of them said :

"Every bit as interesting were his observations of Canadian journalism -- it's always good to meet reporters from outside of our tiny little journalism world in Toronto. I also met up with Eric one more time after our initial meeting -- as a young journalist, it's great to have made a connection with someone like Eric Lemus and obviously that would have never happened if not for the CJFE fellowship."

Toronto's Vital Signs® indicator(s) addressed by Program

"Many in the Toronto Region access media in their own language, but much greater effort is required to represent and reflect Toronto’s diversity in the leadership of print and broadcast media." (Toronto's Vital Signs® 2010)

Participant Vignette

"Sharing the fellowship with Eric changed the way I think about my profession. Every journalist struggles for honesty, fairness and open discourse. But Eric works in a world where those values are threatened to the point of extinction and where the fight to foster them can be deadly."

Kevin Robertson, Journalism Fellow at Massey College, 2009

This quote captures the reaction of many of the people that we talked to who had worked and studied with Eric Lemus, the 2009 Journalism Fellow from El Salvador.   Eric helped many journalists and others that he came in contact with through seminars, workshops and events, gain a broader and deeper understanding of the politics and press freedom situation in El Salavador and the region.