Media Monday Edmonton: Update #94

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

• Though I generally get annoyed at how early the Christmas stuff comes out, I am thrilled with the return of the Shaw Fire Log! Watch it on channels 222 (HD) and 165 (SD).

• Speaking of Christmas taking over media, Lite 95.7 will switch to all holiday music on November 27. Last year, up! 99.3 also switched but I haven’t seen anything about their plans for this year.
• The Christmas Bureau launched its 2013 campaign on November 18 with a fundraising goal of $1.8 million. As they do every year, local media participated in the Gingerbread House Decorating Challenge. Trophies were awarded in six categories (click to see their winning entries):
  • Best of Radio: Up! 99.3
  • Best of Print: Edmonton Sun
  • Best of TV: Global Edmonton
  • Best Team Spirit: Lite 95.7
  • Best in Show: City TV
  • Shameless Self-Promotion: Shaw TV
• Sunday, December 1 is World AIDS Day and to recognize the event, HIV Edmonton is once again organizing a roster of “celebrity baristas” to be working at different Starbucks locations throughout the city on Friday. Head over to the High Street location to see me, Dave, and Ryan!
• CKUA stopped broadcasting on 580AM on November 21. Here’s their saying goodbye page, complete with some history, photos, and audio.
• The Art of Conversation takes place tomorrow evening at The Common. The fun starts at 4:30pm! Also, mark your calendar for the Art of Conversation’s Christmas gathering, taking place on December 19 at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald.
• Leah Germain is the newest staff reporter at Metro Edmonton. She was previously with the Sherwood Park News.
• Edmonton Journal photographer Larry Wong has received the Paralympic Media Award for Best Photo for his image of Canadian swimmer Benoit Huot at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Congrats! Check out Larry’s website here for more photos.
• Cheryl Cottrell-Smith is “a budding Edmonton journalist.” She recently launched a blog to showcase her work. You may have seen her other blog too, wine + dine.
• I missed this, but Brittney didn’t! November 11 was the Edmonton Journal’s 110th birthday.
• Want to work for the Journal? Apply now to become one of their 2014 summer reporting interns.
• Starting December 4, Tricia Kindleman will be the producer of 630 CHED’s afternoon news.
• Dynacor Media is looking for a video editor.
• Here’s an Alberta Primetime story on Gerry Forbes. “Gerry has entered the upper echelon of Canadian radio personalities and created a legacy that will last for years to come.”
• CTV Edmonton’s Kim Taylor recently made the switch from late night anchor to Consumer Watch.
• Here’s a quick update on a media move I mentioned in my last entry – from Megan Voss herself!
• It sounds like Jennifer Martin is fitting into her new role as Program Manager at Shaw TV well!
• Vue Weekly has slowly been improving its website. It’s still very yellow, but the new responsive design is much cleaner. I like it.
• An article that Omar Mouallem wrote for Eighteen Bridges in 2011 called Under the Veil will be republished Pearson Canada’s 2014 edition of Nexus: A Rhetoric Reader for Writers. As Omar says, that means “it will be studied by first-year composition students in universities across Canada and the U.S.” Congrats!
• They’re baaaaack! The fifth season of the Unknown Studio kicked off with author Gail Carriger.
• And if you’re in the mood for podcasts, check out Mack & Cheese, the show I do with Graham Hicks every week.
• According to the folks at PSR, Sharon Taylor from Astral Winnipeg is taking over from Randy Lemay to run Newcap Edmonton.
• Coming up on Thursday, the Edmonton Journal and CKUA are hosting a Book Bash.
• I’m tired of Rob Ford news too, but this critique of the interview Peter Mansbridge did is worth reading.
• Big news in the TV and web worlds – Katie Couric is Yahoo’s new “Global Anchor”.
• Will the CMS determine the victors in the online-publishing wars? It’s hard to argue against the great stuff that Vox Media is doing. Here’s Felix Salmon on the importance of the CMS and here’s Jeff Jarvis explaining that the CMS is just an extension of editorial ego.

UPDATE: I also wanted to link to this editorial from the Edmonton Journal. It’s about as “rah rah, look at us doing important work” as you can get. Not that the work isn’t important – certainly we should have the right to know about the child welfare system and its flaws, and I’m happy that the Journal and Calgary Herald have pursued it.

UPDATE 2: Let me expand on that previous thought! As I said, I am glad the Journal and Herald have been pursuing the story. I wanted to link to the editorial because I found it interesting in the context of the future of media:

1. The editorial positions the Journal as being part of the story. That’s a somewhat unusual position for a “traditional” media organization to be in (though it has been more common lately). I’m interested in how the Journal navigates that territory, and so far it seems they want people to know that the Journal worked hard on this.

2. It is often said that if newspapers die, so will important investigative journalism. Here is a local example of what people mean when they say that. The Journal and Herald have exposed facts that would otherwise have likely remained hidden. Perhaps we’ll see more of this from the Journal? Or perhaps it is too costly?

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.