Here is my latest update on local media stuff:
- Here are some thoughts from Glenn Kubish on the media’s coverage of the Newtown tragedy. “Serious television news reporters have to make some kind of peace (and it can be made) with the fact their work, for the most part, is work that viewers will not pay for, or not pay much for.”
- Interesting read about how The Newtown Bee is covering the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. “To distribute news about the shooting, The Bee relied on digital technology. Unfortunately, the website was not accustomed to the traffic surge and it crashed multiple times…”
- There’s still time to make a donation to CBC Edmonton’s Turkey Drive. The goal is $230,000 (or about 9200 turkeys) but right now they’re at just over $62,000. You’ve got until Thursday to make your contribution!
- Don’t miss this story about an intriguing University of Alberta research project called Indigenous Twibes in 140 Characters or Less.
- I’ll admit I haven’t been paying much attention to this story, but I know many of you have been: Edmonton nightclub apologizes for checkstop tweet. I get why people are upset about it, but I think the whole thing was way overblown. Let’s say I’m driving to a Christmas party and I come across a checkstop, then when I get to the party, I tell everyone about the checkstop. Twitter is just a bigger version of that party, in my opinion. Besides, radio stations talk about the location of speed traps all the time, how is this any different?
- Great to hear that Chelsey Smith is back and doing some work for Alberta Primetime!
- This sounds like an interesting idea: The McCauley Family Life Video Project is “a series of short video vignettes showcasing life in McCauley and profiling families in the neighbourhood featured online through social media.”
- Congratulations to Linda on becoming a full-time employee at CTV Edmonton!
- Check out Marty Forbes’ good, bad, and ugly list.
- The latest Relinked column looks at the non-arena stories that were popular on Wednesday.
- According to the Canadian Magazines blog, entries are now being accepted for the 2013 Alberta Magazine Awards. The deadline for submissions is January 10, 2013.
- Come on down! The Price is Right Live! is coming to Edmonton in March. No, it’s not the real thing, but it could still be fun to check out.
- Citytv has announced its plans for New Years Eve: “In Edmonton, Citytv on-air personalities Ryan Jespersen and Bridget Ryan, alongside Liann Cameron from 91.7 The BOUNCE, and Brandy Taylor from SONiC 102.9, join forces to host celebrations from Churchill Square.”
- I’m sorry, this is news why? I’m sure the story about Fox News showcasing Edmonton’s economy was meant to make us feel good about our city, but I think the coverage actually has the opposite effect. It makes you think, “wow, look at that, we’re important enough for Fox to do ONE story!”
- The Chamber of Commerce is counting down its Top Ten News Stories of 2012.
- It hasn’t been enabled for me yet, but apparently Twitter is rolling out the long-awaited feature that lets you download all of your tweets.
- Pretty interesting to see that the New York Times is getting into the ebook publishing business. It makes sense to me.
- Venture is looking for an Associate Editor for Alberta Oil. Speaking of which, here are Seasons Greetings from Alberta Venture and Alberta Oil:
You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.
So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!
You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.
UPDATE: Linda’s latest column looks at how social media lending a hand at Christmas.
MasterMaq's Blog 
You’re brave Mac, comparing speed traps to checkstops… That debate was had many times on twitter.
Basic jist was the police publish in the papers/on their website speed trap locations. Checkstops not so much.
Amongst other reasons…
And at a party, you’d never tell a drunk person who was about to get in their car to go a certain route so they avoid the checkstops you just saw, right? You’d more bring it up as a conversation piece rather than advice. The bar wasn’t trying to have a conversation, they were giving advice. And the only people who could benefit from that advice would be people drunk driving
There are just so many assumptions being made. That drunk people are looking at Twitter. That they are actively wanting to avoid checkstops. That the tweet in question was actually accurate! I dunno, it just feels like people have made it into a bigger deal than it should be.
Sent from my Windows Phone
I highly doubt that anyone stupid enough to drive drunk is also wanting to run into a checkstop. That’s certainly an assumption we can all agree is true.
Drunk people certainly tweet (my feed is often a disaster after midnight on a weekend)
Drunk people driving actively want to avoid checkstops (unless they’re so drunk, in which case the probably literally cannot drive)
I am however assuming it was accurate. I’d imagine someone would have pointed out by now if it wasn’t (like the bar), so I’m assuming it was.
It was a big deal, and a very stupid thing for them to do
It’s bad enough that people tweet checkstops to each other, but for a bar to use their official Twitter account to do it is beyond the pale – regardless of how it happened. The wide broadcast of twitter is precisely why it differs from a party conversation (as an aside, I’ve never chatted with people at a party about checkstop locations – is this a common conversation topic?)
Yeah maybe that was a bad example. I know I have mentioned to friends or family or whatever that I got held up at a checkstop, but it’s just small talk, not a major thing.
“Let’s say I’m driving to a Christmas party and I come across a
checkstop, then when I get to the party, I tell everyone about the
checkstop. Twitter is just a bigger version of that party, in my
opinion. Besides, radio stations talk about the location of speed traps
all the time, how is this any different?”
Two things – first, I don’t think radio stations should do it either. I hope the public opinion and the police statements about the nightclub gaffe will make radio station personnel re-think this custom.
Then, the duty of care that I learned about in ProServe means that bar owners, servers, and other employees are expected to do what they can to see that bar patrons don’t endanger themselves or others on the way home. Anyone who works in or owns a bar in Alberta should have taken this course and should understand his or her legal responsibilities. If bar owners or workers had been persistent about tweeting out checkstop locations – or if they’d distributed that information widely in other ways, like having DJs announce them, offering text-message notification, or distributing an iPhone app, I imagine that the police would try more aggressively to make them stop, and prosecutors would be saving screenshots waiting for the next drunk driver to defend.