This message is sent on behalf of the Laval University Canadian Journalism Standards Survey team headed by Colette Brin
Hello,
You are invited to participate in an international study, conducted in Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Brazil, with the aim of determining a minimal list of standards for professional news reporting, at a time when the very idea of such a set of standards is questioned.
The project title is Reporting news in a disbelieving age: standards of practice amid the crisis in journalism’s credibility.
Based on a review of the most widely cited codes of journalistic ethics and academic literature, our team produced an initial list that was submitted to specialists and journalism leaders in meetings held in Montreal and Toronto over the past year.
We are now reaching out to Canadian journalists to determine whether these standards resonate with their daily practice. You will receive this invitation from a professional organization or labour group representing journalists which has directly collaborated to the project. This organisation will not receive any information about whether or not you choose to participate.
Your participation involves completing an online questionnaire, which should take under 15 minutes to complete. The questionnaire is anonymous and all data collected will remain strictly confidential.
The Canadian Journalism Standards Survey team is headed by Colette Brin (Université Laval). This project is funded by the Centre d’études sur les médias (Center for Media Studies) and has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Laval University: (approval # 2025-486 / 03-12-2025)
We hope you will agree to participate in this research. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly for further information.
If you agree to participate, please find a link to the consent form and questionnaire in the message that was emailed directly to members.
We thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
Colette Brin, for the research team