The Next Big Thing

Canadian journalist and political insider Dalton Camp left behind a powerful legacy, including books, essays, and newspaper columns on Canadian politics and public policy.

To both celebrate his career and continue his passionate efforts to encourage and support the practice of journalism, St. Thomas University has held the annual Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism since 2002. In cooperation with CBC Radio’s Ideas, the series has become an annual highlight for listeners across the country.

Now, for the first time, the Dalton Camp Lectures have been gathered together in one remarkable compilation. Commencing with the foundational address “The Best Game in Town” by journalist and social activist June Callwood, about her love affair with journalism, and ending with the 2013 lecture “The Next Big Thing Has Finally Arrived” by New York Times business, media, and culture writer David Carr, the contributors collectively forecast the future of news and the public discussion of ideas in a vastly changing world.

Featuring contributions by Callwood and Carr as well as Nahlah Ayed, Sue Gardner, Chantal Hébert, Naomi Klein, Roy MacGregor, Stephanie Nolen, Neil Reynolds, Joe Schlesinger, and Ken Whyte, The Next Big Thing addresses the contemporary practice of journalism like no other book.

AUTHOR

Philip Lee

A journalist, lecturer, and bestselling writer, Philip Lee began his career as an investigative reporter on Canada’s east coast. Restigouche emerged from his long-standing interest in rivers and the people who love them. His first book, Home Pool: The Fight to Save the Atlantic Salmon, grew out of his award-winning reporting on the decline of the Atlantic salmon. Lee is also the author of Frank: The Life and Politics of Frank McKenna, a national bestseller, and Bittersweet: Confessions of a Twice-Married Man, which was long-listed for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

A professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, Lee developed the Dalton Camp lecture series, broadcast annually by CBC Radio’s Ideas and edited The Next Big Thing (a published collection from the lectures). When he is not writing and teaching, Lee spends as much time as he can following the currents of rivers.

Reviews

Canadian journalist and political insider Dalton Camp left behind a powerful legacy, ranging from books to essays, from radio broadcasts to newspaper columns. To celebrate his career and continue his passionate interest in politics, public engagement, and the practice of journalism, the Dalton Camp Lecture is held each year at St. Thomas University and broadcast on Ideas on CBC Radio.

Here, for the first time, gathered together in one remarkable compilation, are the Dalton Camp lectures in journalism. Beginning with journalist and social activist June Callwood’s inaugural address, “The Best Game in Town,” and ending with New York Times business, media, and culture critic David Carr’s “The Next Big Thing Has Finally Arrived,” the book centres on the journalist’s dilemma: how to find the stories that need to be told and the words that can best be used to tell them.

Featuring the lectures of Callwood and Carr as well as contributions by Nahlah Ayed, Sue Gardner, Chantal Hébert, Naomi Klein, Roy MacGregor, Stephanie Nolen, Neil Reynolds, Joe Schlesinger, and Ken Whyte, The Next Big Thing forecasts the future of journalism and its relationship to democracy and the free expression of ideas.