Police force’s demand for Toronto Star video interview flies under radar

H.G. WATSON | J-Source

Here are the facts of the case: A reporter interviews a person accused of heinous crimes. A story including parts, but not all, of the interview is published. Several months later, the police serve the reporter with a judicial order, called a production order, for the complete interview. The news outlet fights the production order in court—and loses.

You might think this is a description of the highly publicized Vice Media case against the RCMP. The facts are similar. But it isn’t.

This is a description of a production order brought against the Toronto Star by the Toronto Police Service in the very last days of 2016, a case that has gone completely under the radar.

And, unlike their colleagues at Vice, the Toronto Star has decided it will not continue fighting the production order in court. The differences between the two cases underline how Canadian law fails to protect journalists and their sources.

Read the whole story at J-Source.ca