I was thrilled to have the opportunity to kick off BT Bloggers Week this morning on Breakfast Television Edmonton. This was my fourth time participating in the week-long-affair, and I’ve enjoyed it every single time. You can see the first and second segments here – we talked about What the Truck?!, downtown, and more.
I was also really happy that my friend and mentor Karen Unland could join me! Karen has recently started blogging again, using ShareEdmonton as a source to see what local bloggers are talking about. You can catch our joint segment here. And here is Karen’s latest post.
Other bloggers taking part this week include: VV Boutique Style on Tuesday, Kitchen Magpie on Wednesday, Jenna Pryor on Thursday, and the Unknown Studio on Friday.
Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:
- Could CBC kill the 6 o’clock evening news in Edmonton? Could they replace it with a province-wide show that would serve both Edmonton and Calgary? Can anyone unseat Global Edmonton? Fascinating piece on these questions and more in the Toronto Star last week.
- Postmedia last week launched a redesigned Ottawa Citizen, calling it “the first step toward the reimagination of all Postmedia products.” They call their new four-platform strategy “groundbreaking”. Really? Having print, web, tablet, and smartphone versions is groundbreaking? Ok. I guess we’ll see what the execution is like, because I thought they already had those things. I want to see them find success, but that sort of fluff just turns me right off.
- I also think the way they describe the four different products is horribly misguided – they seem to suggest that “Postmedia’s best journalism” is only appropriate for print, whereas the smartphone app is “designed for the skimming, sharing, mobile audience.” Apparently no one at Postmedia is paying attention to the trend toward mobile. For instance, more than half of Buzzfeed’s traffic comes from mobile devices, including to stories that are thousands of words long.
- That said, I do like the look of the new Ottawa Citizen. Here is some further information on the changes. I look forward to the rollout across other Postmedia properties.
- If you can believe it, Councillor Mike Nickel is trying to crowdfund a new television show that would be called “To the Point: With Mike Nickel”. So far he has raised $100 out of his $6,500 goal.
- Congratulations to the Journal’s Ryan Jackson and Karen Kleiss, recognized for their work at the News Photographers Association of Canada’s Pictures of the Year contest. They placed third in the “Team Multimedia Project of the Year” category.
- The Journal also won an International Newsmedia Marketing Association award for Gastropost.
- Imran Gill, the Social Media Specialist at Northlands, was one of the winners at the 14th annual You’re Welcome Edmonton Awards. Is that the first time that someone in a social media role has been recognized? Thanks Steven for the heads up!
- Friday, May 23 was the final day at Global Edmonton for Ross Neitz. He is moving on to the University of Alberta. “I’ll miss storytelling the most,” he said.
- May 18 was the last day at Global Edmonton for Shannon Greer, who left for Global Calgary.
- Here’s a fantastic feature on the What It Is Podcast.
- Jay Runham did an interview with Dookie Squad, a web series created by Angela Palmer.
- Did you enjoy the Edmonton Journal’s Goosecam? I enjoyed this take on the annual tradition: “It is an annual experiment by the Journal to examine the effects of round the clock anonymous surveillance on the avian brain. This year’s unlucky participant, Patience, has developed the same paranoia exhibited by mother geese in previous years.”
- The next Art of Conversation takes place tomorrow night at Tavern 1903. The event starts at 4:30pm and is hosted by Rob Christie, Audie Lynds, and Graham Hicks.
- Have you heard of YEGWEEKEND? Sounds interesting: “YEG Weekened, an interactive storyworld for locals and visitors, launches this Fall with 48 pages of augmented awesomeness.”
- Did you miss The Yeggies? Here’s a video recap from Lincoln Ho.
- The Edmonton Journal is looking to hire a Breaking News Reporter. The deadline to apply is May 31.
- In case you were wondering, Steve Zimmerman resigned from Newcap Radio and his post on K-97 as of May 2. “I’m burnt out & 3:30AM just doesn’t work for me anymore,” he wrote.
- The big news in Canadian media over the weekend was the death of former CBC anchor Knowlton Nash.
- The stories about Jill Abramson’s abrupt firing from the New York Times keep coming. This one looks at the gap between what female and male journalists actually make.
My spot on the BT Edmonton set!
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!
