Media Monday Edmonton: Update #68

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

• Congratulations to Bridget Ryan on ten years with BT Edmonton! No one has had a better view of her time at the station than Ryan Jespersen: “From humble beginnings as a fill-in weather host to being honoured as Edmonton’s Woman of the Year in 2010, it’s been one heckuva ride for the friend I sit next to in studio every weekday morning.”
• Congratulations are also in order to Tamara Vineberg on a very successful Meet the Media event last week! Here’s her recap, here’s a Storify, and here’s a great photoset from Trevor Boller.
• The list of recipients for the 2013 Alberta Magazine Awards is slowly being published. Congrats to Alberta Venture’s Mike Ganley, named Editor of the Year! The awards will be presented on March 14 in Calgary.
• I’m very excited for Elise Stolte – she has been shortlisted for the Canadian Hillman Prize, which honors excellence in journalism to serve the common good. The winner will be announced on March 19.
• CKUA is looking to stop broadcasting an AM signal because it can’t afford the $1 million in upgrades needed. I know there’s a bit of history here, but $1 million to support just 500 listeners in northeastern Alberta? I’m surprised they have kept it going this long.
• The most recent Edmonton Journal redesign has been recognized by the Society for News Design as one of the best redesigns in the world. Approximately 725 winners were chosen from more than 9200 submissions.
• Best of luck to Kim Smith who is leaving 630 CHED/iNews880 after two years to anchor the 6pm news on TV in Lloydminster. We’ll miss you here in Edmonton!
• CBC Edmonton is looking for a producer for the weekday TV supper hour.
• The contestants for Big Brother Canada have been announced, and there are two Edmontonians among them. The show will be hosted by Edmonton’s Arisa Cox (who recently came to our city from Toronto).
• If you have been missing Bryan Hall in the afternoons fear not, it sound like he is simply focusing on sales at the moment.
• I was on panel discussing media last week with Brittney and a few others such as Terry Evans. It was a fairly uneventful panel until the very end when Terry basically called our generation selfish, uncreative, and unimaginative, prompting a heated response from myself and Brittney. Judging by his follow-up tweet, either he wasn’t listening or chose to ignore the point we were trying to make:

• You’ve got until March 1 to get early bird tickets for the 2013 edition of iMedia. I’m going to be on a panel discussing strategic blogging.
• Chef and TV personality Chris Cosentino will be in Edmonton next month to serve as this year’s Chef in Residence at NAIT.

Vassey Kapelos and Julie Matthews from Global Edmonton with Bill Fortier from CTV Edmonton at Meet the Media! Photo by Trevor Boller.

Cheeky billboard from up! 99.3 FM

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.