Role of news media

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

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Increasing restrictions could silence culture critics

Jen Zoratti 6 minute read Preview
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Increasing restrictions could silence culture critics

Jen Zoratti 6 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

It’s getting harder to see where reviews and other forms of cultural criticism fit in the current media ecosystem. Arts writing positions are being axed at outlets all over North America — but a landscape of all influencers and no critics means all promotion and no journalism.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

BORIS MINKEVICH / FREE PRESS

Deftones frontman Chino Moreno at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg in 2006, before photo approvals were a thing.

BORIS MINKEVICH / FREE PRESS
                                Deftones frontman Chino Moreno at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg in 2006, before photo approvals were a thing.

Trump suggests more US cities need National Guard but crime stats tell a different story

Ed White And Christopher L. Keller, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Trump suggests more US cities need National Guard but crime stats tell a different story

Ed White And Christopher L. Keller, The Associated Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, New York, Seattle, Baltimore, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, to fight what he says is runaway crime. Yet data shows most violent crime in those places and around the country has declined in recent years.

Homicides through the first six months of 2025 were down significantly compared to the same period in 2024, continuing a post-pandemic trend across the U.S.

Trump, who has already taken federal control of police in Washington, D.C., has maligned the six Democratic-run cities that all are in states that opposed him in 2024. But he hasn't threatened sending in the Guard to any major cities in Republican-leaning states.

John Roman, a data expert who directs the Center on Public Safety & Justice at the University of Chicago, acknowledged violence in some urban neighborhoods has persisted for generations. But he said there's no U.S. city where there “is really a crisis.”

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Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

Members of the Louisiana National Guard patrol at Union Station, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Members of the Louisiana National Guard patrol at Union Station, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution to stop printing as it transitions to all-digital news

Jeff Amy, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution to stop printing as it transitions to all-digital news

Jeff Amy, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will stop providing a print edition at year's end and go completely digital, a dramatic change for a storied newspaper founded shortly after the Civil War.

The decision will make Atlanta the largest U.S. metro area without a printed daily newspaper, although some smaller metro Atlanta newspapers continue printing.

Publisher Andrew Morse said in his Thursday announcement that the news organization will aim to expand its audience as it continues to report the news using online, audio and video products.

“The fact is, many more people engage with our digital platforms and products today than with our print edition, and that shift is only accelerating," Morse wrote in a letter to subscribers posted on the Journal-Constitution's website. The AJC has about 115,000 total subscribers, of whom 75,000 are online only; Morse has set a goal of gaining 500,000 online subscribers.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

Printed copies of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are shown on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

Printed copies of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are shown on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
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Winnipeg elementary school shoots for moon with stuffie design

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview
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Winnipeg elementary school shoots for moon with stuffie design

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025

A stuffed animal designed by elementary schoolers in Winnipeg could be launched into outer space on NASA’s Artemis II mission.

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Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025

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Royal School’s Luna the Polar Bear design is one of 25 finalists in a new NASA contest.

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                                Royal School’s Luna the Polar Bear design is one of 25 finalists in a new NASA contest.
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Winnipeg’s transit system has changed. Here’s your survival guide.

Free Press staff 4 minute read Preview
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Winnipeg’s transit system has changed. Here’s your survival guide.

Free Press staff 4 minute read Monday, Jun. 30, 2025

Winnipeg Transit's bus network is undergoing a complete transformation on June 29. The Free Press has created a survival guide to help you navigate the new system.

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Monday, Jun. 30, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESs fileS

A new bus stop sign on Notre Dame Avenue near Ellen Street. The overhaul of the Winnipeg Transit system focuses on frequency to make bus travel more attractive to riders.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESs fileS
                                A new bus stop sign on Notre Dame Avenue near Ellen Street. The overhaul of the Winnipeg Transit system focuses on frequency to make bus travel more attractive to riders.

Long-awaited Winnipeg Transit network overhaul goes live Sunday

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

Long-awaited Winnipeg Transit network overhaul goes live Sunday

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

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Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Student Winner Nnah at the bus stop on Portage Ave. at Polo Park Tuesday. Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                Student Winner Ninah at the bus stop on Portage Ave. at Polo Park Tuesday. Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.
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Gordon Bell students make history as first team from outside Quebec to win national finals at inter-school cooking competition

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview
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Gordon Bell students make history as first team from outside Quebec to win national finals at inter-school cooking competition

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

A group of local high schoolers are savouring the sweet taste of victory.

Earlier this month, five student chefs from Gordon Bell High School made history as the first team from outside Quebec to win the national finals of La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition, an inter-school cooking contest now in its 12th year.

“It’s a great honour,” says Matea Thiessen-Unger, who shares the win with her Grade 10 and 11 classmates Sebastian Salter, Avery Van Solkema, Yevhen Zinchenco and Cailyn Olshevski.

The competition is the grand finale of Kitchen Brigades, an extracurricular program designed by La Tablée des Chefs to foster an interest in cooking and healthy eating among secondary students across the country.

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Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

TABLÉE DES CHEFS PHOTO

Five student chefs from Gordon Bell High School made history earlier this month as the first team from outside Quebec to win the national finals of La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition, an inter-school cooking contest.

TABLÉE DES CHEFS PHOTO
                                Five student chefs from Gordon Bell High School made history earlier this month as the first team from outside Quebec to win the national finals of La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition, an inter-school cooking contest.
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Animal Services asks for help building sensory garden

Massimo De Luca-Taronno 3 minute read Preview
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Animal Services asks for help building sensory garden

Massimo De Luca-Taronno 3 minute read Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

The City of Winnipeg is counting on dog lovers to make life easier for furry companions who end up in its shelter.

Jennifer Medlicott, the communications co-ordinator at the Animal Services Agency, said there’s a desperate need to create a sensory garden in the facility’s outdoor play yards. The agency, at 1057 Logan Ave., generally houses more than two dozen dogs at a time.

“We’re just looking for opportunities to make the lives of the animals in our care better and I just think we just saw an opportunity,” said Medlicott on Friday. “We dream of a future where we have a large-scale transformation, but we were also trying to look at some short-term solutions and that’s where the sensory garden came up.”

A sensory garden is an area designed to stimulate one or more of the five senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. It incorporates trees, flowers, and any other elements in nature to help reduce stress.

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Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS

Sebastian, a two-year-old American Bull Dog mix, runs over one of the enrichment structures at Animal Services.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
                                Sebastian, a two-year-old American Bull Dog mix, runs over one of the enrichment structures at Animal Services.

Sometimes we’re left with the power of words

Martin Zeilig 5 minute read Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

I’m not a head of state. I’m not a general. I’m not a billionaire. I’m a writer. And in times like these, that is both a burden and a responsibility.

Racing in her blood: Rookie rider knows she has ‘big shoes to fill’ as she follows in jockey dad’s footsteps

Mike McIntyre 24 minute read Preview

Racing in her blood: Rookie rider knows she has ‘big shoes to fill’ as she follows in jockey dad’s footsteps

Mike McIntyre 24 minute read Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

Ciera Pruitt had pictured the scene since she was a little girl running wild on the grounds of Assiniboia Downs — her backyard, really — while her parents were hard at work nearby. Back then, she was the wide-eyed Winnipeg kid peering over the paddock railing, watching the colourful parade of jockeys from faraway places like Bermuda, Venezuela and Mexico leading majestic thoroughbreds toward the track while the bugle call to the post played over the loudspeakers.

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Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The jockeys and their horses walk out to the gate for the last race of the evening.
Ciera Pruitt, 23, is currently the only female rider at Assiniboia Downs (ASD) and just won in the 7th race of her career. Her parents Jerry and Lise both have long ties to the ASD.
Reporter: Mike McIntyre
250611 - Wednesday, June 11, 2025.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The jockeys and their horses walk out to the gate for the last race of the evening. 
Ciera Pruitt, 23, is currently the only female rider at Assiniboia Downs (ASD) and just won in the 7th race of her career. Her parents Jerry and Lise both have long ties to the ASD.
Reporter: Mike McIntyre
250611 - Wednesday, June 11, 2025.