Media Monday Edmonton: Update #91

Hard to believe it has been nearly a month since I last did a Media Monday news roundup! The election was obviously my focus. Anyway, here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

• I’m sure by now you’ve heard the big news from CTV Edmonton’s Carrie Doll – she’ll be retiring from broadcasting at the end of March 2014. Here’s a video of the announcement. There’s lots of time left, but let me say congratulations and good luck Carrie! It’ll be interesting to see who sits alongside Darryl McIntyre in April.
• Also moving on to new challenges is Global Edmonton’s Chris Hayden, known as the Global 1 traffic reporter. Here’s a Q&A that Global did with him.
• Congratulations to CJSR – they cracked $100,000 for this year’s FunDrive.
• The first meeting of the Edmonton Journal’s new Community Advisory Board took place on October 10. It’s a mostly new-look board, with just four returning members. Great group of people and I look forward to hearing more about the impact they’re having on the paper.
• For instance, editor Margo Goodhand wrote today that the Community Advisory Board helped to convince the Journal to send a journalist to Jordan and Lebanon. I don’t agree with the decision, but I’m glad to hear the board is able to have an influence.
• Do you think newspapers should continue the perhaps out-of-date tradition of endorsing candidates for political office? I criticized both the Journal and the Sun on Twitter for not endorsing a mayoral candidate in this election. Sarah O’Donnell blogged about the topic today. I started writing something, but shifted my focus to election day efforts before I could finish it. Maybe I’ll pick that up again.
• Mark Connolly is now the permanent host of Edmonton AM on CBC Edmonton and Portia Clark is taking over Radio Active.
• Ratings from BBM Canada show that CTV Edmonton “more than doubled Global’s coverage across the W18-49 demo with a 7.8 rating” on election night. They also saw a 165% increase in traffic to their website.
• Is there anything Emerson Csorba can’t do? At the beginning of the month he published an e-book called Leading U: Inspirational Stories from UAlberta Alumni & Students.
• No word on how regular a guest she’ll be, but here’s a post from Linda on her Alberta Primetime Pop Culture Panel experience. Oh, and she has started a series of posts called Social Media Notes. Great stuff!
• Julie Nolan has announced she is joining CTV Edmonton as an anchor beginning November 12.
• In case you missed it, Jay Runham did an interview with Adam Rozenhart, aka Bingofuel. They touch on Google+, The Yeggies, and more.
• Last week the Edmonton Journal launched Gastropost Edmonton, building on a Capital Ideas-like project that started in Toronto. If you’re a food lover, try a food mission today!
• With a letter of intent signed on September 30, the University of Alberta and MacEwan University agreed to collaborate on offering enhanced communications degrees.
• Speaking of communications, Alberta’s NDP Opposition is looking for a Communications Coordinator to handle media relations and oversee the implementation of a social media strategy.
• I wonder what happened there? Mike McGuire is no longer with The One FM in Leduc.
• Here’s the first column from Allison Salz who took over the social media column at the Edmonton Sun (now called “Grain of Salz”). She wrote about social media’s impact on the election last week.
• The Alberta Magazine Awards take place in March and they’re looking for judges.
• The Journal has been nominated for six EPPY Awards, sponsored by the American magazine Editor & Publisher. The winners will be announced on October 30.
• I didn’t know there was a Cottage Life TV network, but apparently it has a new show called Selling Big focused on Edmonton’s Ritchie Bros., which sold a record $1 billion of heavy equipment last year.
• The Edmonton Sun’s Christmas Charity Auction is back, with bidding starting at 9am tomorrow morning. Want to enjoy a meal with your favorite media personalities? Now’s your chance!
• Beginning November 12, Stuart McIntosh will take over as the Program Director for the Alberta NW Division of Newcap Radio. He’ll be based in Edson.
• I wanted to make sure to link to this from a few weeks ago because it is just so crazy. Fox News hopes its ridiculous newsroom will connect with younger viewers, but I think they’re crazy. If I do watch TV news, it certainly isn’t for the giant tablets I see on set.
• Here’s a long but very interesting back-and-forth between the New York Times’ Bill Keller and Glenn Greenwald who broke the Edward Snowden story.

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.