Practical guides on journalism methods, data tools, media law and best practices for communicators who work with or alongside journalists.
The Flatoutserver Knowledge Base is a collection of free, editorially independent guides written by our journalism team. These resources are designed for communications professionals, NGO staff, researchers and anyone who needs to understand how journalism works — whether to commission it more effectively, cooperate with reporters on their own stories, or apply journalistic methods to their own communications practice.
Our guides cover the Canadian legal and regulatory context, practical tools and workflows used by modern newsrooms, and the ethical principles that govern responsible journalism. All guides are reviewed and updated by the Flatoutserver team. They represent our collective experience — not sponsored content or vendor materials.
If you have a topic you would like us to cover, or if you have a question that is not addressed in any current guide, please reach out. We aim to expand this library regularly with guides that reflect the real questions our clients and readers bring to us.
A step-by-step guide to the federal Access to Information Act and provincial equivalents. Covers how to write an effective request, typical timelines, how to appeal a refusal, and strategies for getting the documents that matter — including tips from our investigative team on structuring complex multi-part requests.
An up-to-date survey of the tools used by professional data desks: web scraping, data cleaning with OpenRefine and Python, statistical analysis in R, mapping with QGIS and interactive visualization with Flourish and Datawrapper. What works for small teams and what to avoid for beginners.
What journalists and their sources need to know about protecting confidentiality in Canada. Covers the Canada Evidence Act, key Supreme Court cases on journalist privilege, provincial shield laws, digital security tools (Signal, SecureDrop) and practical tradecraft for managing sensitive communications safely.
A comparative overview of video formats for journalistic web publishing: optimal length and aspect ratio for different platforms, captioning requirements under Canadian accessibility law, sound design for news video, and the trade-offs between self-hosting and platform distribution for investigative content.
If your project calls for professional journalism rather than background reading, we are here to help. Commission a mandate or book a media consulting session.