What do you think about the way the national media, including The Globe, is covering the Pickton murder trial in British Columbia?
Is the media being fair to Stephen Harper? or to Stéphane Dion?
Do you have any questions about how The Globe covers national and political news?
Globe National Editor David Walmsley was online earlier today to take your questions on these topics.
Your questions and Mr. Walmsley's answers appear at the bottom of this page.
Mr. Walmsley is The Globe and Mail's National Editor. He previously held senior positions at a number of Canadian news organisations, including the CBC.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on Globe journalists or participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Welcome, David. Thanks for taking the time this afternoon to take questions from our online readers about national news and the way The Globe covers it.
Let's start by giving our readers some background. How many national bureaus does The Globe have and how many editors and reporters work for you on the National Desk and in the national bureaus? What priorities or themes does The Globe stress in its national coverage?
Globe National Editor David Walmsley: Hello, Jim. Many thanks for the opportunity to discuss national affairs with our readers.
National news is the spine of our newsgathering operation, connecting the country and defining the day's events in as authoritative a way as possible.
We have bureaus in Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. On the national editing desk, we have politicial specialists and other experienced hands that cover breaking news and longer form news features for the six-day newspaper operation.
Of course, the Internet never sleeps and our staff of reporters and editors work as hard as they can to update material as often as possible. We also like to use globeandmail.com to buttress our national coverage with value-added material that cannot fit in the news pages of The Globe.
We seek to ensure our coverage is authoritative and provides a blend of the urgent and fascinating. Integrity is key, mixed with a passion and courage.
Let's Be Prudent, Toronto: Dear, Mr. Walmsley: I enjoy The Globe very much, but I wish you would keep the Pickton trial on the inside pages below the fold. I wonder how many other readers have the same perspective but are silent and either stop buying The Globe or put it, mostly unread, in the recycling box. The story has to be told, but please, not in our faces day-after-day for the next several months . . By putting so much information into this nation's national newspaper, one has to ask if you are pandering to . . . our own baser instincts. Sadly, we have a man suspected of killing 49 innocent women. One has to ask why the total got to 49? Do our police need better investigative skills, case management skills, more manpower and/or other resources? If what counts is the future, then that may be the more appropriate story for the front page . . .
David Walmsley: Many thanks for your question, on a topic that has created a great deal of reader response.
News judgment is always a subjective thing, and the placement of a story is always based on the day's events. We have placed coverage of the Pickton trial in a prominent position on occasion. This is defensible because of the scale of the accusations and the extraordinary story the court in British Columbia has heard.
